Cervo’s

Reliable is a loaded word. All too often, it’s used to describe something that’s dependable, but also a little boring—like a hair tie, or a certain heavy-duty brand of sock.

But when it comes to restaurants, being reliable is a good thing. A great thing. Even, in some cases, a downright irresistible sexy trait. Imagine eating a plate of clams swimming in garlicky white wine, and knowing that they taste this excellent every single night.

Cervo’s, a Spanish seafood restaurant on the Lower East Side (from the same team as Hart's , The Fly and Eel Bar ), is reliable. In a sexy way. It’s a place you can undoubtedly depend on, with fried shrimp heads, anchovy-draped lamb burgers, and steady streams of vermouth that are anything but boring.

It’s also not too difficult to get a table here. As long as you reserve a week in advance, or snag a walk-in on the earlier side, you can eat those garlicky clams whenever you want, either in the skylit back dining room, at the long bar up front, or on the prime people-watching patio looking out onto Dimes Square .

Start with the shrimp heads, which are so delicately fried, they might shatter under the sheer weight of the earth’s atmosphere. Then move on to other small plates—some of which are seasonal, like a pile of slippery cucumbers and whitefish salad-like tuna conserva. Most things involve fish, either as the star of the show—as in the white shrimp a la plancha—or as a punchy sidekick, like the marinated anchovies draped over a plate of smoky eggplant.

Follow that up with some unexpectedly perfect roast chicken, or a fried skate wing, and finish with a seasonal dessert or a third glass of vermouth. Whichever route you choose, know that this is one of those places where it’s downright impossible to order wrong. Maybe Cervo’s has an off night every now and again (because thankfully, we still let humans run our restaurants). But we’d never be able to tell.

Food Rundown

Sourdough Bread

It’s from She Wolf Bakery, so if you frequent restaurants who place great emphasis on olive oil, it’s likely nothing you haven’t seen before. Still, it’s an essential order. You’ll need the bread to sop up all the sauces, oils, and aiolis.

photo credit: Tanya Gelman

Cantaloupe with Moscatel and Aged Manchego

A lot of the vegetable- and fruit-forward small plates at Cervo’s change seasonally, but they’re all reliably great—like this cantaloupe, swimming in olive oil and covered in ribbon curls of manchego. The cantaloupe is soft and candy-sweet; the manchego is crunchy with salt crystals.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

Crispy Shrimp Heads

Forget french fries, forget potato chips, forget nut mix. The premier bar snack is a fried shrimp head. They’re shatteringly crisp on the outside, soft and crunchy on the inside, and best paired with a glass of vermouth.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

Louisiana White Prawns

The bottom of those shrimp heads can be found here, so by ordering both, you are consuming shrimp in full. How sustainable of you. They arrive seared, splayed with their legs intact, and swimming in lemony olive oil.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

Manila Clams with Vino Verde

Precious little clams soaking in what tastes like a whole bottle of white wine. In the very best way. Use your bread here.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

Grass-Fed Lamb Burger

When people talk about restaurants, they really love to say that the starters are the best part. At Cervo’s the starters and small plates are of course fantastic. But the mains are just as good, like this soft and luxurious lamb burger, topped with a celery-forward slaw and that same aioli you’ll dip your fries in, or swipe a bite of spanish tortilla through. You can add marinated anchovies for $3, and if you’re a little tinned fish freak, you definitely should.

photo credit: Teddy Wolff

Half Chicken With Piri Piri and French Fries

This is a perfect plate of food. A half chicken is smothered in piri piri sauce and pressed flat, arriving at your table extra smoky and delightfully crisp, with shoestring fries soaking up all the juices, and aioli. We’d almost recommend coming here on a solo date night and ordering just this and a glass of wine at the bar. But then you’d miss out on everything else.