El Cofre
“I usually just go there to pick it up, delivery is okay, but can run a bit long if it's busy.”
“For $10 you can get an order of oxtails with white or yellow rice, black or pinto beans, and a side of tostones (fried green plaintains).”
“Good thing this place is out of my area because their Pernil (Roasted Pork) was too good !”
El Cofre
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
5 reviews
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DINERS BEWARE…Lesson of the day, ALWAYS follow your instincts.
The small restaurant was pretty quiet on a Friday afternoon at 4PM. We had literally just walked in minutes after the lunch special had ended. Despite our best efforts, we were told that we had to order from the dinner menu. The servers seemed nice, but looks can be deceiving (literally).
The menu itself is confusing. You can't order white meat during dinner time since it's only available during lunch. What? Huh? You only have yucca available for breakfast, but can't understand why when customers have repeatedly asked for it throughout the day. The original server seemed overwhelmed by our questions about the menu and sought assistance from her colleague who picked up our table for the remainder of our dinner. Talk about the red flags that popped up during our dining experience.
I thought since the second server was honest enough to tell my colleague that the plantains were not sweet then we would be okay. Boy, was I wrong.
I opted for a chicken salad, which on the menu was listed for $7.99. One of my regrets was that I did not take a photo for my own records. The second regret was that I actually dined here. A little premonition would have been helpful on Friday. Anyways, there was just the chicken salad. It did not specify that I had a choice (ex. bbq, curry, grilled, baked, stew). It just said chicken salad. When my plate arrived at the table, I was given a grilled chicken salad. It was a decent plate for $7.99 and honestly I wasn't in the mood for many of the items that were on the menu but didn't want to be the only one on the table without a meal. My salad was still soaking in water too, how nice! I guess that was to reassure that the salad was rinsed before it was plated. The salad was okay, but there were some burnt pieces of chicken. I did not make much of a fuss since it was minimal and a little char is standard when it comes to grilled chicken.
Everyone else in my group seemed satisfied with their meals except for one of my colleagues who provided the server with feedback. Then came the bill. Remember earlier when I mentioned my menu choice, well the first server opted to charge me $12 for a dish that was listed on the menu for $7.99. I immediately asked for a price check and she stood her ground. When I asked for the menu, she looked down and said yes it's $12. Lies! When I asked to see the menu, she hesitated before eventually handing it over knowing that she was lying about the price. Her backup and colleague came to address the discrepancy and only caused the matter to escalate.
Never argue with a customer, especially when he/she is correct. The receipt said that I ordered a bistec salad, which is translated to steak. I had no steak on my dish since I rarely eat beef. They tried to claim that I ordered a salad that had avocado in it. I HATE avocado so try again. Plus, I had taken a photo of my dish which was already posted on Instagram and tagged to the restaurant hence my time stamp. She then rudely said that I should have specified which type of chicken i wanted. Wait…are you kidding me? Again, the menu only said chicken salad and did not note that there were options to choose from. She went back to the register and never returned to my table who was patiently waiting to settle the bill and start the weekend. How do you proceed to serve other customers when you clearly have unsatisfied customers waiting for you to inform them as to whether or not the bill will be adjusted? Who does that? Most of my five-member party was already outdoors so it wasn't as if we were still seated and chatting it up.
Realizing that the manager was non-existent since I did ask for his/her assistance and how rude the server was, I knew that I was not going to make any headway with this situation so I paid my bill but no tip was left. No apologies were offered. No attempt was made to remedy the matter. I just wanted to get out of there already.
I have NEVER in recent memory been treated so poorly. If you opt to dine in this establishment, be mindful that they are manipulative and the menu is not what it seems. Be thorough and ask as many questions as possible before you dig in. You might be surprised when it's time for the check.
I will NEVER dine at this establishment…case closed. Good riddance!
This isn't the best Dominican food place I've ever had but it is good and what's really solid is their breakfast. They have at least 3 or 4 different types of sausage and I absolutely love it for one of those days you want a good breakfast without having to shell out the cost of an NYC brunch or some fancy menu item.
If you're not too familiar with this type of restaurant think diner but spanish.
The food is tasty, but definitely on the greasy/unhealthy side. We got a lot of food for $21 and here's what we got:
1) two large pieces of chicken that included the thigh, wing and drum stick. It was almost a half chicken each piece. The flavor was great and the chicken fell off the bone but it was soaking in grease. She asked if we wanted 'gravy' on ours, which is another word for fat/grease and we passed thankfully. Even without it there was a puddle of oil at the bottom of our tin.
2) White rice. Average nothing special!
3) Red beans –tasty!! More soupy/than beans but very good over white rice.
4) mixed veggies with broccoli, corn, onions and bell peppers. I love veggies and these were great!
5) Plaintains. YUM. Love these pan fried nuggets of heaven.
The reason I am giving it 4 stars is because there were no prices listed (shady for a business) and it was clear she was making up prices on the top of her head. We weren't given a receipt so we're not sure how much each cost and wonder if we would be charged the same amount of we came in and ordered it again.
El Cofre is a serious place, by which I mean that the portions are huge, the food is really tasty, the service is very friendly, and the prices are low.
First, to avoid confusion, there is a queue by the door at El Cofre- that's for folks getting to-go orders. If you want to eat in, just walk right by that queue, sit down, and wait for someone to give you what is, I think, a mindblowingly extensive menu (though, you should know, that El Cofre runs out of things — yesterday, for example, when I asked for the stuffed chicken, the waitress just shook her head. Apparently it's a popular item!). All of the chicken dishes we sampled were tasty – breaded chicken (a huge, flat piece of chicken served with rice and beans, fries, or plantains), and the deliciously garlicky garlic chicken (also served with rice and beans, fries, or plantains).
Dinner for 2 (with enough leftovers for at least two more meals) : $27.
Es Dominicano? Well… Rice and Beans all the way baby! Their food is cheap for the portions they give and just good home made latin american comfort food.
Every time I call they are so sweet to me, surely it helps to make the order clearer and less confusing sometimes if you speak Spanish. Their delivery are not among the fastest but it does arrive in a decent amount of time.
Chicharron de pollo: Yummy yummy. If you go to a Dominican cook's place.. this is common one of the safest and tastiest dishes. It is very different from the American breaded fried chicken. Have it with Tostones (fried green plantain) or Rice and beans (they make great Habichuelas!) or with Yuca (boiled Yucca topped with vinegar and onions.. yummy.. I'm getting hungry as I type this…).
Monfongo: El Cofre's only gets a passing grade on this one.
Breaded Beef: Thin but big piece of breaded fried beef fillete. Not the crunchy type. Good flavor, yummy.
Bistec (t-bone): Ermm.. Don't recommend. Didn't look appetizing. They can't manage to cook to the degree that you ask for. Also way too much sazon and garlic on the bistec, overpowering the meat itself.
1 entree + the side is good enough to share among 2 people (unless you are overly active and needs more food). More bang for you bucks!