Lareira Restaurant

The food is wonderful here at this long time Mineola old school Portuguese restaurant. Nearly as good as the food is in Lisbon, the cooks here know what they’re doing. I been coming here many years and the menu has changed. They no longer offer the braised rabbit, however, I came on a lucky night. I asked if they had rabbit in the kitchen and they had it. Score! They still have a nice selection of meat and seafood dishes, not so much rodizio, more like home cooking. Service is welcoming and helpful. Prices are a bit high but the quality of the cooking will forgive the $ 70 and up tabs. A great place to come for dinner and highly recommended.

Had dinner with friends and ordered grilled octopus as an app and pork with clams as main dish. Food was Ok but it did not wow me !!
The restaurant was like a third full on a Saturday night which is not a good sign.
Service was good but I would try another place if you have a choice.

I just had the most delicious salmon in dijon sauce. Just perfectly cooked. This restaurant is a favorite of local Portuguese community. Menu is heavy on fish, as Portuguese love their fish. The specials are worth ordering, the rest of my family chose from the specials menu and their fish dishes were perfection. I had caldo verde, very good but I like my kale cooked a little softer but would order again. Service was attentive. They have enormous pasteis de nata, order one and share it. Yum! But this is a great restaurant for real Portuguese food.

The best Portuguese food around! Amazing food, and amazing service! Will be coming back and recommending Lareira restaurant to everyone I know!

This restaurant exceeded our expectations. We came to the area for a restaurant that ended up being closed on Mondays and walked down here for dinner. We shared many appetizers — clams, mussels, chorizo and ham pot for two (AMAZING), grilled octopus special which was very tender, grilled calamari, sauteed quail, grilled sardines, and Caesar salad. The last two they made to order specifically for us. We had some great wines that were hand picked for us. Dessert was fresh and delicious. I can’t say enough about this place. 5 enthusiastic stars and kudos to the chef!

I would have posted this sooner, but I only recently started « Unilocaling». This review is 2 years overdue, but I feel obligated to warn everyone who would consider going here.
My mother, my sister and I went to dinner here while having an intense craving for paella about 2 years ago.
The service was fine, the paella was decent, although I’ve had much better, and the ambience was nice.
Being a pastry chef and having spent significant time in restaurant kitchens throughout the country, I expect a basic standard of cleanliness when I pay good money to eat somewhere.
About 2 bites into our paella, I feel something drop on my leg. Thinking it’s a piece of rice, I brush it onto the floor and continue eating. My sister then looks down at what had fallen on me, and it’s MOVING. A MAGGOT or LARVAE of some sort is squirming around the floor. Our faces all turned white and we quickly scanned the dining room for its source.
After thinking it was a one time thing, which is already cause enough for a visit from the health inspector, I look up and see the ceiling directly above our table (first table as you enter the dining room) is COVERED IN MAGGOTS. My gag reflex kicks in as we realize what was falling all over our table and food, as several more maggots drop down.
Still horrified, and too shocked to say anything and demand a refund, we pay (for some ridiculous reason) and leave quickly and quietly. Looking back, I wish i had drawn more attention to this, to spare the next people who eat there.
If the ceiling of the dining room is this disgusting, I can’t imagine the condition of the kitchen. Maggots don’t just infest somewhere out of nowhere, there is almost always a root cause.
Since this horrific incident, and warning all of our family and friends in the neighborhood, we squirm in our seats every time we drive past Lareira.
TURN AWAY NOW, and spare yourself and your stomach. Even if Lareira’s under-​seasoned, subpar food was significantly better in the future, you couldn’t pay me enough to eat there ever again. I already feel nauseous just writing this.
Clean up your act Lareira! This is disgraceful, to say the least!

I love this place. It’s intimate, romantic and serve really delicious Portuguese cuisine. The service is as professional as your going to find on Long Island. From the bread basket & spicy pickled olives to wonderful entrees and odd, but yummy desserts Lareira achieves greatness. Look at my plate of seafood how could one not enjoy that? Oh, they threw in a pair of empanadas on the house! This is place has always ranked high with me and this dinner reaffirmed why it’s such a gem.

I have been passing this place for YEARS, and always said, I need to try this place. I regret never having done it sooner. Everything was amazing, from the staff to the drinks and especially the food. This was a memorable meal and dining experience. I will be back!!!

Wanted to try a Portuguese restaurant with friends, and knew there were several in the area, so we looked a few up on Yahoo, checked the menu’s, read the reviews and chose Lareira. A truly EXCELLENT choice. Our first visit and we were greeted with a big smile by the owner who seated us. Started with a pitcher of Sangria. Great. Menu is varied with several specials for the evening. Mixed green salad was nice and fresh, onion soup was very good with creamy cheese. My wife had paella with tons of seafood, delicious, tho the rice a little ‘loose.’ I had one of the specials. a stuffed veal chop, filled with ham and cheese, topped with mushrooms and sauce — fabulous. Our friends had veal and chicken dishes, all were excellent and all served with roasted potatoes and vegetables. Desserts looked great, we were full so we shared one Tartufo, enough for four to share. So many other menu items we saw looked fabulous — Will definitely be back.

My wife and I literally just left Lareira. With our busy schedules I wanted to make sure I left a review. I’ll keep this short but sweet. I must say this place is truly excellent in every way! The décor has been freshened up and still keeps the traditional charm. We’ve dined here before and the food is even better than I remember. Everything on out plate had top quality ingredients and tasted excellent! The owner, Pedro, was in the dining room and made sure we felt at home and that everything was perfect. We’ve eaten at all the local restaurants and must say this is one of the best, Portuguese or not. There’s something on the menu for everyone and the prices are very reasonable. I can’t wait to come back and bring some friends. Go for it, you’ll be back too!

I’ve been coming here as a guest with another family for a few years now. I’ve never been to a restaurant that welcomes its guests with open arms but when you’re here, you’re family. This is a family-​run restaurant and the old world décor makes you feel right at home. The veal chop stuffed with prosciutto and cheese was amazing. The cheese just melted right out of it. Perfect! We enjoyed a sampling of stewed goat as well as roasted goat that was like nothing I’ve ever tasted. To top off the main courses we had some insanely delicious sangria and flan. I don’t think I could’ve ask for anything else except for a wheelbarrow to roll myself out. Well done and can’t wait to come back! The staff is simply wonderful.

What a wonderful taste of Portuguese cuisine! This was my second visit– and it was delicious! I like to go during the week when it’s completely dead– feels like I rented out the place for myself! I always order the white sangria– which is delicious and strong ! For dinner I ordered the chicken stuffed with shrimp and spinach. I would highly recommend this dish– it’s really great and large portion– my only complaint is that it can be a little salty — I just drink a little extra sangria ;). They also provide empanadas as an appetizer, bread and olives all on the house. Last time I went it was for my friends birthday and we had multiple rounds of shots on the house. The bartender and server were really phenomenal. Dinner for 2 with a pitcher of sangria ends up being about 100 (including tip) I think it’s well worth it!

My family has been frequenting Lareira for over 30 years for its charming old world setting and wonderful Portugese menu and friendly staff. Was there last weekend and with friends and started with wonderful Sangria with the Portugese chips and olives in spiced olive oil and grilled shrimp in Garlic sauce. I had the Duck which is always good, my wife had stuffed flounder with crabmeat an shrimp. Guests had Mariscada in green sauce and another fish dish which was good to the last drop. We will continue to return to Lareira!

I was very impressed with the food here. Service was excellent. We had grilled squid, snails in garlic and white wine and a complimentary empanada for appetizers. Entrees were roast duck with orange sauce which was fantastic, Paelha Marinheira & Paelha Valenciana. Sangria was good too. I would go back in a heartbeat… and probably will soon. Parking is limited/​nonexistent so you will have to park down a side street.

The service was good the people were nice but unfortunately the food was mediocre at best. I’m giving them a 3, mostly for the good service…
Clams casino — Was decent
Chilean sea bass — sauce was bland and looked like key-​lime jello only pureed

This place was amazing I had the tiger shrimp as an app. and the veal chop stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella absolutely delicious and some of the best sangria ever.