Yayo’s

Great place to get your fix if your craving good Spanish food. Very professional and friendly staff. Always willing to accommodate their clients. Prompt service and good portion for the price. Great for special occasions but on Mother’s day it is best to make a reservation since it gets very busy.

Great chicken noodle soup. Love dipping their bread in it. Tastes great. A little too oily sometimes but as a whole has a grest flavor

Pork chops and steak were totally overcooked. Could barely cut into porkchops, & steak was well done when it should have been medium rare. Never brought bread even after we asked for it. Sangria very good.

First time here on a Saturday. We were a group of 8 with reservation for 530 pm. It is now 706 pm and we still have not gotten our appetizers (order was placed over 1 hour ago.)
Took about 40 minutes to get our drinks, only to get a horrible mango mojito, which I sent back. Ordered a piña colada after tasting my husband’s; of course they brought me one with no alcohol.
Hoping they make up for slow/​bad service with amazing food.

The food was mediocre for «authentic» Latin cuisine, but they make up for it with the service.

Frequent this place and must say that each and every time it’s an enjoyable experience… prices are reasonable and the food is served in large proportions… service is always pleasant and all dishes are full of flavor… one of my favorite is the Seafood Mofongo… The plantains are tender and the Seafood is plentiful… always a pleasure visiting and eating the fresh food and good service

We came here as a larger group on a Friday night. They easily accommodated us towards the back of the restaurant and we were seated by another group. Other than that there were not many other people in the restaurant. The menu, while not small, wasn’t very expansive either. This being my first time here, I wasn’t sure what to eat but a friend who was familiar with the restaurant and suggested the Yayo steak. I enjoyed the dish, the steak was thin and cooked well, topped with onions and peppers. The plantains and rice that it came with were also good. I ordered a mai tai cocktail which was good as well.
The service was quick and friendly but the atmosphere left something to be desired. The music was very loud and it was difficult to have any kind of conversation. We were also eating later on in the evening and there were bar patrons sort of wandering around while we ate. The combination of the music and the bar activity made it feel like we were out of place eating dinner there.
Overall the food was good but I’m not sure that I would return.

Really cool ambiance here. My friend brought me here for the first time around 8pm on a Saturday night. It wasn’t very busy. The bathrooms are located down the stairs where there are rooms for hosting parties.
I ordered yayos steak which was delicious and came with fried sweet plantains, a salad, and rice.
I wasn’t a fan of the salad it came with but everything else was delicious and very flavorful.
My friend ordered the steak with chimichurri which he orders regularly.
Portions are great and very fulfilling. I’d go back if I’m in town and want some yummy Cuban food.

Excellent Latino food.
The steak was flavorful, the paella was out of this world, the pernil was amazing, however the roast chicken was dry.
The deserts are just ok (skip the deserts), and the service is good.
Weak selection of appetizers.
Come for dinner and nothing else and you will not be disappointed.

I went to this restaurant with expectation that I would find good Latino cuisine. I was very disappointed. We ordered the ensalada de pulpo, avocado, yuca frita, as appetizers. As entrees we ordered pollo guisado with rice beans, we ordered the Yayo skirt steak (2), and a pernil dish that tasted old and over cooked. The stewed chicken was actually very good and tasty. All the dishes were served with rice and beans. The Yayo dish came with a very stiff over cooked steak. It came with sweet plantains n salad which were good. I had two Yayo beers too. The cost was $ 129 which included the gratuity. Three out of four dishes were bad. The pulpo was very stiff and bland — I would not order this again. I feel the only way I would return would be to have a beer and to listen to the music.

My husband and I stopped in for dinner before the Muse concert on 1÷27÷16 that was playing at the Barclays Center, which is pretty much right next store. Its interesting because it almost seemed like Yayo’s was three different places in one, and we sat in the bar room, so it was a little loud. After a very frustrating time getting to Brooklyn and parking for less than $ 50 cash (upfront) I needed a drink, and the piña colada that I ordered was great. I got the yayo steak, which was deliciously marinated with and topped with peppers and onions. It also came with (grilled?) plantains and yummy rice and beans. Totally hit my need for some Caribbean food like my grandmom used to make. My husband got the burger (which.why?!) but he said it was very tasty and he was happy with it. The food was super filling which helped not to spend money on over priced Barclays food.

I came here with a group of high school students. Jerry (the owner) helped me with the reservation and assisted me in selecting the proper pre fixed menu. The service was excellent, the staff was friendly and the food was very good. I’m very pleased with my selection and happy that my students had a good experience.

I am a foodie by appointment, friends gave me the label! So I take my friends to «Yayo’s» good food! good staff! Again Good food! Note the chicken noodle soup hits the spot in the winter months.

This area is really upcoming and turning around in a positive way. I was recommended to come here since I was looking for a good local place for Mofongos.
It’s really cute and clean décor but still causal attire. I ordered the Paella which was enough for two ! Had a lot of fish wish wad good but a little bland for flavor. I expected a little more flavor with the seafood and rice. The menu was kind of decieving and I would recommend to ask waitress what other specials or if you want a certain item if they could make it. We also had the yuca sticks which were not on the menu but I highly recommend those as a appetizer!

I came in here with some family before the Powerhouse concert at the Barclay Center. There is really nothing to look at inside… sort of an upscale hole in the wall, but it had a homey feel like I was about to eat food that someone’s Spanish abuelita made. I was not disappointed. I ordered the oxtails, rice and beans, maduros, with an avocado salad. The avocado salad was nothing to write home about, but was a refreshing addition to the rest of my meal. I had to add salt, oil, and vinegar. The rice was some of the best tasting I’ve probably ever had. Oxtails were tender and flavorful.
The mojito that I ordered had too much lime…
Overall, nice experience.

I come here for fried pork chops, that’s it! I love them, so delicious! A must try…

Pork sandwich was a little dry, but sitting at an empty counter and paying 5.95, instead of fighting the crowd at popular burger places in the area, or being raped inside Barclay’s center for food, had me liking this place. Good place, in the middle of it all.

Always excited to try new places around the Prospect Heights area.
El Viejo Yayo, more simply known as YAYOs is right around the corner from the back of Barclays Center. Serving up tasty Latin American dishes like Pernil, Arroz con Pollo, and Oxtail to name a few.
Authentic flavor and well seasoned dishes make this a good find.
The rub is, do not expect the have a your meal expedited. These are dishes that are made to order, so timing is critical. Leave yourself at least an hour to have a meal here, depending on the time of day.
The restaurant is large and boasts three separate rooms, each with dinning room tables, two contain their own bars.
This is not your quick meal spot. Be prepared to enjoy some cocktails while you wait for your food to arrive. Not a good place for people who are in a rush to get to an event at Barclays.

My husband has dragged me here on numerous occasions, because he loves the chicken soup. I have never been wowed by the food or the ridiculously high prices, but last night took the cake.
The place was incredibly busy because of the Kevin Hart comedy show happening across the street at the Barclay’s Center.
We were a party of 4 and sat without service for 20 minutes. We flagged down a busboy who got us a waitress. We all ordered drinks and entrees, and waited another 35 – 40 minutes for our food. I get that they’re busy, but the waitress didn’t even bring the drinks — they came after the food. The food was served one item at a time. It was bad. Everyone had their food at least 10 minutes before me.
I flagged down the waitress to ask where my $ 25 mofongo de camarones was, and she proceeded to tell me that the restaurant is busy and the food is coming. I asked her to check on it, and she just said again it was coming. She said it rather condescendingly, calling me love and sweetheart. Super annoying and unprofessional.
When I demanded a manager, she changed her tune, and brought our drinks asap.
My food was so underwhelming. Basically 5 or 6 shrimp bathed in an almost flavorless tomato sauce, and a solid dry cylinder shaped block of mashed plantain.
Definitely skip this place, they feel they can charge a premium for sub par food because Barclay’s is across the street.

Long overdue review (my visit was back in November 2014).
Came here with a friend after a game at the Barclays Center. We literally just turned into the nearest street and blindly walked in here since we were both starving, and we were pleasantly surprised because the food was so good.
I was always just eh about Spanish food until I came here and had the pernil (roasted pulled pork). It blew me and my palate away. One of the most delicious dishes I’ve ever had. The meat was so incredibly tender I might have let out an accidental moan when I chewed. It went really well with the rice and beans too. Friend got one of the steak dishes that was pretty good too, but I was too in love with my dish to cheat.
Huge portions so I asked them to bag up the leftovers, but either the server didn’t hear me well or they forgot to bring it to us along with the check, I never got the rest of my pernil. Needless to say, I was legitimately sad on the way home.