Located in University Plaza, Mayaguez
I realized this food place was in this shopping center very recently. I’d spotted the sign along with the rest of the store signs on the major sign post. So I knew it was there. I go to Walgreens often enough that I see this sign posting each time. But it never ocurred to me where precisely it was located. My ‘hubby’ enlightened me and just this week I decided that we should go to it. So we set a date for tonight (I wrote it into my agenda and everything so I wouldn’t forget) with the express purpose to give it a try and for me to write all about it.
I have to admit that we went into it with fair hopes. We were open enough to desire giving it a fair shot. After all, we like trying out new places and seeing what sort of food they have especially since I began writing reviews on my blog. There are our staple places for certain foods but we still like to try others. It’s not unusual for us to go out on dates like this one. Unlike other Puerto Ricans, we do not fear stepping out of the food box.
Upon entering the establishment, I sort of wished I bothered with sunglasses. The place is painted an unusually bright color. We march across the long length of tables and head over to the food counter/checkout area. First we carefully examined the menu, checking out the prices and everything. I do not take my selection process lightly. The guy behind the counter informed us that the roasted chicken would take 15 minutes or so because it wasn’t done. We told him that was fine and I thought to order some chicken breast. I was informed that it was cooked as ordered, and I was impressed.
Sadly, I wish to say that my experience at this place continued along nicely. Unfortunately, as we asked about other things on the menu, even the supposed specials of the day, they didn’t have anything. To quote scizor, “I hate this place, it doesn’t have any food.” So we sat down to wait for the chicken to be done. When it was, the guy behind the counter said he hadn’t rung up our order. When he asked me what mine was, I repeated my chicken breast order… which apparently they did not take nor had any notion of. {This is the part where I gave the boy an even stare and arched a brow. Scizor says that that was the moment I glared him to death and flustered him so much that he hurried to the back to see what he should do.)
Resigned, we ordered the roast chicken with different sides. The selection seemed to be typical Puerto Rican fair.. the rice, the beans, the amarrillos, the yuca, the sweet potato, the guineos, etc.
Incognito pic taking for blogging!
Now, because scizor ordered up some mofongo, this proceeded to take another 15 minutes of us waiting with the rest of our food. This was annoying and bothersome. We’d already waited some 15 minutes before for the silly chicken! But, I have to say one thing… it was worth it to see scizor’s face…
Of complete and utter disappointment
because his mofongo was pale and tiny.
I am shameless, so I admit to laughing so hard that I actually started crying. But not so hard, mind you, that I couldn’t take the picture. If it’s blurry you’ll now understand why.
The mofongo wasn’t bad even though the portion was small and bland. The rice portion was way too much so I gladly shared with my ‘hubby’. I’d also gotten the guineos en escabeche so I shared that too. It seemed that they served him more chicken than they served me. The chicken was the only truly good thing of the meal. It was moist and pretty well seasoned. We both agreed on that. The soda was decent too. Although I’d served myself up something from the iced tea fountain. But when I drank it, it turned out to be soda but without the bubbles. Of course, anyone else might have kicked up a fuss but I am actually fond of flat soda. Still, it wasn’t the iced tea it was labeled as.
For dessert we had a chocolate tres leches and a passion fruit cheesecake. The funny thing was that scizor took up the former and I had the latter, but after we each had a bite of both, we switched. He said the tres leches tasted funny, but I said it was cake soaked in chocolate milk and served with a swirl of chocolate mousse on top. The cheesecake supposedly had passion fruit in it, something I really love. But it just tasted like a regular cheesecake. It was a bit too heavy for me but scizor seemed to have enjoyed it.
The people who worked there weren’t helpful nor did they bother to explain how to order. The menu was confusing and most of the things on it were not available. One ate from styrofoam containers, not even real plates. The soda fountain didn’t seem to have much ice in it and I ended up with flat soda instead of the proferred iced tea. There seemed to be quite a few people running around in back with the food, but only one person was up front taking orders. The wait seemed long for any sort of food and the food was actually some sort of disappointment.
The actual seating area is large but the tables were slightly tilted. There was music played throughout the establishment but it was random and didn’t hold any type of genre. There were only one set of grabage bins and those were located in the back, not very convenient as you had to walk back to throw things out before walking the entire length of the restaurant in order to leave.
Overall, we had a good time which had little or nothing to do with the food or service. It just so happens that we know how to laugh even when a lot of things seemed to have gone wrong. I hate to say it, but I can’t say that I can recommend going to eat at this place. I’ve never stated this and I truly don’t know how to proceed with it. But, I’m always honest and try to be as fair as possible. I even asked around to see what other people thought and I also asked friends to see if anyone else had gone to eat there. Sadly, no one seemed to have anything good to say. I doubt I’ll ever go back to it and scizor and I are currently taking bets to see how long the place lasts before it folds.
