🔥🫒 INTEL: L’ROCA OPENS IN STORIED ELBO ROOM
L’Roca Restaurant & Lounge, Delaware Ave, Albany
170 Delaware Avenue, Albany | lroca-restaurant.com | IG: @alrocarestaurant.com
We like it for: Lunch, dinner, cocktails at the bar, solo dining, casual date night, group dinner with friends
Must try: Whole crispy red snapper, churrasco skirt steak, oxtail stew, birria tacos, Dominican cocktails
Vibe: Vintage c. 1960s wood-clad tavern with a sleek face lift. Original wooden ceilings, cozy but stylish green velvet seats.
Sound: Latin playlist runs from Sensualidad (bad Bunny, Prince Royce, feat. Mambo Kingz & DJ Luian) to Pa’ Ti (Jennifer Lopex & Maluma) and Abrázame Muy Fuerte (Juan Gabriel).
Our take: Taking over the vintage 1960s Elbo Room (which closed permanently in 2020,) L’Roca Restaurant + Lounge is bringing Dominican flavor to the storied tavern on Delaware at the corner of Morton Ave. From it’s quirky shape and wood-shingled exterior to new green velvet banquettes, original chunky bar, large rear dining room (where the pool tables used to be), Latin dishes and impressive, well-balanced cocktails, it’s a gem. In fact, we’re so surprised by the whole package that we almost wanted to gatekeep — but that’s not what we do.
Backstory: It turns out this is the second restaurant from Niurka Durosier, owner of the popular Lo Nuestro Dominican on Central Ave which, for now, only has a wine and beer license. To accommodate requests for cocktails during their popular Latin nights, Durosier was looking for a new, larger space. But since opening on September 6, L’Roca has been surprised by the demand for dine-in dinners and the neighborhood’s desire for a community restaurant-bar.
Eat: Open the upscale illuminated menus and pick whole crispy red snapper drenched in lime and served with their signature coconut sauce, plus your choice of various sides from rice and beans to plantains. Mofongo, bistec encebollado, churrasco skirt steak, roasted pernil (pork) or oxtail stew will all hit the spot, along with a familiar crop of street tacos, birria tacos, fajitas, a Cuban sandwich, and a L’Roca burger all as crowd-pleasers. Don’t skip the patacon (chicken, pork belly or Cuban-style.) The crispy snapper was the standout dish; our birria tacos were thickly filled with seasoned beef and cheese, but the shells had not not pre-dipped and pan-fried in the accompanying dipping broth.
Drinks: For cocktails, a Mezcal-based Flor de Oro served in a terracotta vessel packed with the fine snow cone-ice, is a balance of sweet-sour tamarind, passionfruit and agave nectar, with a fresh flower and rosemary torched at the bar. It’s cleverly off-sweet, lightly tart, and aromatic from the burnt herbs. Meanwhile, the Caribbean Duchess takes tropical direction from a pairing of añejo rum, pineapple, fresh lime and cinnamon syrup. From non-alc options - mostly Mexican soda and juices - choose a classic Dominican morir soñando, a sweet, creamy orange-and-evaporated milk drink on ice.
Good to know: Happy hour Monday to Friday, 4 to 6 p.m: $5 wings, apps, cocktails, wine + $3 house shots + chips/salsa
There’s a large basement space with faux fire, bar and it’s own separate entrance for parties and catered events.
Parking: Huge onsite parking lot.
