Hotel Chelsea, El Quijote NYC: hours, menu, prices and the mural room since 1930
El Quijote NYC is the Spanish restaurant on the ground floor of Hotel Chelsea, opened in 1930, with tapas from $9 to $48 and seafood paella at $58. It serves dinner every evening from 5pm, until 11pm Sunday to Thursday and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
Who El Quijote is for
Why go
You want dinner in one of Manhattan’s historic rooms, where Andy Warhol held court, whether you stay at Hotel Chelsea or not.
The billWhen to look elsewhere
You are after the city’s most decorated Spanish cooking: for that there are the 7 Spanish restaurants the MICHELIN Guide lists in New York.
Other Spanish tablesUnder the Chelsea’s sign since 1930
El Quijote has lived through nearly a century of Chelsea: the poets’ years, Warhol’s, the closure for the works and the 2022 reopening.
The restaurant calls itself “desde 1930” and says it opened when the Great Depression had already begun (El Quijote’s history). The dates do not quite agree: Wikipedia’s article on the restaurant places it at the same address for some 88 years when it closed for the works, the one on Hotel Chelsea has it moving into the hotel in 1955. By the restaurant’s own date it is 96 years old in 2026; the Resident, in April 2026, counted 130.
In the mid-1960s Andy Warhol held court at the back table, as a photograph on the hotel’s page shows; Patti Smith, who lived upstairs, recalls walking into the bar one afternoon in 1969 (El Quijote’s history). The room also appears in the film I Shot Andy Warhol (Wikipedia).
El Quijote reopened in February 2022, a month before the hotel’s rooms (Wikipedia). The restoration cleaned the windmill mural that runs the length of the room, white brushstrokes on a caramel ground, and The New York Times, on 12 April 2022, wrote that the place was tilting back towards its old glamour. The menu now looks to the Basque Country (the hotel’s page).
We read the scores on 4 October 2026: 4.1 out of 5 on Google from 596 reviews, 363 of them 5-star; 4.1 on Tripadvisor from 322; 4.4 on OpenTable, but from only 7 reviews; 8.2 from The Infatuation, in September 2024. The MICHELIN Guide does not list it among its 7 Spanish restaurants in New York.
El Quijote, the staircase, Café Chelsea, a suite with a balcony
El Quijote’s dining room with its windmill mural and chandeliers, then the red bar; the neon sign on 23rd Street and the dishes on the table; the wrought-iron staircase hung with paintings; a soufflé at Café Chelsea; a suite’s living room out to the balcony doors.
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An evening at El Quijote, from booking to the last glass
Prices are from the menu El Quijote publishes, read on 4 October 2026, before tax and tip.
- Booking
You book on Resy up to 2 weeks ahead, for up to 5 people (the hotel’s page); for larger groups there is the phone, 212-518-1843 (El Quijote’s site).
- The bar
Doors open at 5pm. Walk-ins sit at the bar, first come first served, and order from the dining room’s menu (the hotel’s page); cocktails cost $18, sangria $15 a glass or $68 a pitcher (menu).
- To start
Marinated olives with piparras at $9, patatas bravas at $14, garlic prawns at $23, jamón serrano at $19 or ibérico at $48 (menu).
- Paella and lobster
Seafood paella with Calasparra rice costs $58, the chanterelle arroz meloso $38, grilled sea bass $54. Grilled lobster is at market price; the Daily Double, a 10 oz ribeye and half a lobster, $72 (menu). In Google reviews lobster is the dish mentioned most (Google).
- Flan and Basque wine
The goat’s cheese flan costs $19, rice pudding $16; a glass of Getaria txakoli $18, the bottle $72 (menu).
- The Lobby Bar
A few steps through the hotel door, the Lobby Bar stays open until 2am and welcomes non-guests too.
El Quijote and the other Spanish tables from Chelsea to Union Square
El Quijote is inside Hotel Chelsea. Txikito is a 7-minute walk away, Tía Pol 11 minutes, Casa Mono, towards Union Square, 20.
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Recommended for you
- El Quijote226 West 23rd Street, the door beside the hotel entrance
- Txikito240 Ninth Avenue, Basque cooking: 7 minutes on foot
- Tía Pol205 Tenth Avenue, tapas since 2004: 11 minutes on foot
What the menu prints, and what it leaves out
The menu is on El Quijote’s site; prices in dollars, before tax and tip.
On the menu
- Tapas: olives $9, patatas bravas $14, garlic prawns $23, jamón ibérico $48
- Rice: seafood paella $58, chanterelle arroz meloso $38
- Mains: sea bass $54, burger $32, Daily Double $72, lobster at market price
- Desserts: goat’s cheese flan $19, rice pudding $16
- Drinks: cocktails $18, sangria $15 or $68 a pitcher, spirit-free $15, Spanish wines $16 to $23 a glass
El Quijote’s rules
From the hotel’s page and the restaurant’s site, read on 4 October 2026.
| Who gets in | Anyone, staying or not; booking is advised |
|---|---|
| Hours | Sunday–Thursday 5–11pm, Friday and Saturday 5pm–midnight |
| Booking | Resy, up to 2 weeks ahead, up to 5 people; beyond that, by phone |
| The bar | No booking, with the full dinner menu |
| Address | 226 West 23rd Street; telephone 212-518-1843 |
| Dress | Business casual per OpenTable; neither the hotel nor the restaurant states one |
| Private dining | A full buyout for 60; the Cervantes wine room for 10 per the hotel, 12 per the restaurant |
| Since | 1930, according to the restaurant and The New York Times |
Sleeping above El Quijote
The dining room is open to everyone; staying at Hotel Chelsea swaps the taxi after the last sangria for the lift.
The Petite Suite, 42–52 m², has the Juliet balcony over 23rd Street, right above the sign; The Chelsea, 28–37 m², is the room with a king bed and a sitting area. On Google Hotels, read on 4 October 2026 for 2 adults, the cheapest night was $429 on 3 January 2027 and $738 on 18 October 2026, before 14.75% tax and $3.50 a night.
The 12 rooms and suites, with photosEl Quijote or Txikito, Tía Pol and Casa Mono
Hours from each restaurant’s own page, read on 4 October 2026, and the minutes on foot from Hotel Chelsea.
A few blocks away there are 2 more Spanish kitchens: Txikito, Basque, on Ninth Avenue, closes an hour to an hour and a half before El Quijote; Tía Pol, a tapas bar opened in 2004 on Tenth Avenue, also serves lunch on Saturdays and Sundays and is closed on Mondays. Casa Mono, towards Union Square, serves Costa Brava tapas from noon to 11pm. 3 things to correct: Booking and Expedia list El Quijote as the hotel’s only restaurant, when it has 4; an old hotel page still carries its name with 5–11pm daily hours; the Resident gives it 130 years.
| Restaurant | Where | From its page | From Hotel Chelsea |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Quijote | 226 West 23rd Street | Since 1930; Sunday–Thursday 5–11pm, Friday and Saturday 5pm–midnight; Resy or the bar. | You are here |
| Txikito | 240 Ninth Avenue | Basque cooking; Sunday–Thursday 5–10pm, Friday and Saturday 5–10.30pm. | 7 minutes on foot, 560 m |
| Tía Pol | 205 Tenth Avenue | Tapas since 2004; Tuesday–Wednesday 5–10pm, Thursday–Friday 5–11pm, lunch too on Saturday and Sunday; closed Mondays. | 11 minutes on foot, 811 m |
| Casa Mono | 52 Irving Place | Costa Brava tapas; daily noon–11pm; 13 tables and 15 bar seats. | 20 minutes on foot, 1.5 km |
Minutes on foot computed on OpenStreetMap’s paths from Hotel Chelsea on 4 October 2026, the day we read each restaurant’s page.
- What diners say about El Quijote
On Google El Quijote scores 4.1 out of 5 from 596 reviews, read on 4 October 2026: 363 five-star. The dish mentioned most is the lobster, then the tuna crudo and the anchovies. On OpenTable, from 7 reviews, the ambience scores 4.6 and the food 4.3.
Questions about El Quijote
Who can go, how to book, what it costs, what to wear and how old it is: what people ask before they go.
Do you have to stay at Hotel Chelsea to eat at El Quijote?
No: the restaurant has its own door on 23rd Street, at number 226, and welcomes anyone. Booking is advised; without one there is the bar (the hotel’s page).
How do you book El Quijote?
On Resy, up to 2 weeks ahead and for up to 5 people; larger groups call 212-518-1843. The bar cannot be booked (the hotel’s page, the site).
How much is dinner at El Quijote?
Tapas run from $9 to $48, seafood paella costs $58, the Daily Double $72, desserts $16–19; a cocktail $18 (menu). Tax and tip on top; OpenTable puts it in the over-$50-a-head band.
What is the dress code at El Quijote?
Neither the hotel nor the restaurant publishes a dress code; OpenTable gives business casual.
How old is El Quijote?
Since 1930, according to the restaurant (its history); Wikipedia, in its article on the hotel, dates its move into the Chelsea to 1955. It closed for the works and reopened in February 2022.
Can you book El Quijote for a private party?
Yes: the whole restaurant takes up to 60 people, and the Cervantes wine room 10 per the hotel, 12 per the restaurant. Prices are not published (private events).
Is El Quijote in the MICHELIN Guide?
No: on 4 October 2026 it was not among the MICHELIN Guide’s 7 Spanish restaurants in New York. The hotel it sits in holds one MICHELIN Key.
Book on Resy up to 2 weeks ahead and ask for the mural room; without a booking, take a seat at the bar from 5pm
El Quijote’s page
Written and checked by Lumina, independently of Hotel Chelsea. Lumina sells no rooms or tickets: every link leads to its source.
Sources
- Hotel Chelsea, El Quijote: hours, bookings, rooms
- Hotel Chelsea, Lobby Bar
- Hotel Chelsea, the old “Japanese” page
- Hotel Chelsea, rooms and suites
- El Quijote, official site
- El Quijote, menus
- El Quijote, history
- El Quijote, location and hours
- El Quijote, private events
- The New York Times, 12 April 2022: El Quijote review
- Wikipedia, El Quijote (restaurant)
- Wikipedia, Hotel Chelsea
- The Resident, 2 April 2026
- Google Maps, El Quijote
- Tripadvisor, El Quijote
- OpenTable, El Quijote
- The Infatuation, El Quijote, 4 September 2024
- MICHELIN Guide, Spanish restaurants in New York
- Google Hotels, Hotel Chelsea price calendar
- Booking.com, the Hotel Chelsea listing
- Expedia, the Hotel Chelsea listing
- Txikito, official page: hours
- Tía Pol, official page: hours
- Casa Mono, official page: hours and room
- OpenStreetMap, walking routes from Hotel Chelsea
