Just ordered some food here with my family. My husband was especially excited because it's Puerto…read moreRican food. The restaurant is cozy. I can't say. Much about the service since we just ordered and picked up. The person in the front was a little awkward though. Not sure if she understood English much. We ordered papa rellana, maduros, pernil, and chicharron mofongo. All were pretty good. Our order came with rice and beans. Wish my mofongo came with the sofrito. I had to use the sauce that came with the papas. Overall not bad! We will definitely be coming back!

A restaurant that serves comfort food and every dish is happiness !!…read more We've all passed this restaurant 100's of times, as we sit on Rte 9 South. As we sit in our car, waiting for Aldrich light to change, we look over and see the signals say to ourselves, "I should go there, it looks nice...." We'll folks... it is!! Stopped here on Friday night after work with the hubby. It wasn't busy yet, but by the time we left, it was. We were seated quickly and looked over the specials, we decided to order the beef stew with rice & peas, grilled chicken with white rice & beans along with an order of maduros and 2 Pepsi's. The rice was seasoned so well, light, fluffy, and the beans, so tender. Hubby enjoyed his chicken and decided to only eat 1/2 so he could enjoy lunch on Saturday. Chicken was juicy, tender, and very flavorful. I did the same and took 1/2 of my beef stew home, but I really wanted to eat all of it there. I'm not gonna lie.... it was even better the next for lunch!! The young lady who was the only server at the time was amazing. She was taking orders, serving, laughing with the customers, obviously some of them are regulars, she was smiling the whole time, and it got busy, but she just made it look so easy, you can tell she really enjoys her job and made everyone walking in, feel welcome. Hubby and I are so happy we finally made the decision to stop here for dinner. We will definitely be back again. Please, give Raines Kitchen a try.... oh, and those maduros??? We should have made 2 orders. They are. That yummy.

Well, our first attempt to try out this business met with failure since when we walked in the door,…read morewe were told that they ran out of food. It's a tiny hole in the wall, which has just a few tables inside, but they were packed, which is a good sign. We'll come back and try again.

Small little space. Cute mom & pop shop. Not big enough for a whole family to come eat. Better for…read moretake-out. Good portions. Food is authentic Ecuadorian food. They even have Ecuadorian snacks, candies & holiday drinks (non-alcoholic). Service was good.

Huge servings and everything was delicious. Hole in the wall place but well worth the visit.read more

Omg this place does not look it but it was an amazing place. It definitely deserves the rating it…read morehas. Upon entering it is a little tight with tables close together. The waitress was nice and helpful in getting the order the way we wanted it. I got the Bandeja Latina which is basically a skirt steak with rice beans and tostones. The meat and tostones were done amazingly well. The beans were not to my liking but still good. My husband got the NY strip steak in medium which came out medium well ( which is what he wanted always got to leave room for error). He said it was a great steak and cooked well. If you are in the area definitely stop by. NOTE: their menu prices are not updated on their menu so always ask.

Very bad food, I don't recommend this place to eat, the portion is very small and unpleasant…read moreflavor, and was expensive, minutes after eating I started to have a very bad pain in my stomach and it caused me to vomit I will never order food here ever ever again, I never do this before but this time was bad bad.

Good average Service is good and atmosphere is decent…read more I will try the place again Thank you

This was our third visit to El Familiar. Today was Father's Day 2026…read more First, my daughter had made reservations for 15. They didn't hesitate. We showed up at 12:30 pm. We were seated almost immediately. The restaurant had just a few tables occupied. The restaurant was clean, quiet and our seating was spacious. We were promptly attended to. Second, we were given a Father's Day menu which was a very abbreviated version of their usual menu. Our server was quick to point out that if there was anything we wanted that was on the normal menu that we remembered, all we had to do was ask. We were delighted. We placed our drink orders. We were given plenty of time to review the menu and discuss what else we might want from the regular menu. We placed our orders. The wait for our meals was commensurate with the number of people. The food arrived piping hot. Everyone was served within minutes. The food was absolutely delicious and the portions enormous. I ordered 2 appetizers thinking they were going to be reasonable. I fed most of the table while still having enough for myself. Needless to say, to-go containers were necessary. Last, I want to say again that this was my and my wife's third visit. Each time we were served and attended to by Danna (?). I can't say enough positive things about her. She was attentive, friendly, warm, patient and very happy and helpful. She was very accepting even though I was doing my best with my high school Spanish. For my wife and me, I will ask for Danna to be our server and will be as much of a regular patron as possible. I would highly recommend El Familiar. You can't beat the ambiance, food quality and service.

Visited this restaurant with my family and we all loved the food. There were so many options on the…read moremenu and all were delicious. They even have a drink menu with fruit juices that are a must try. The service was great, waitress was very kind and patient especially with my newborn being there. The ambiance was nice, families were present. I'd definitely come back.

After concluding an art class nearby, my friend and I visited this small but mighty bakery. It was…read morenear Mother's Day, so the aromas of all those baked and beautifully decorated Mother's Day cakes were plentiful. My friend spoke Spanish to the lady behind the counter, and we wanted something fruity. We were led to some baked treats, and we purchased Apple-filled turnover, cherry turnover, and a guava turnover. All the pastries were delicious. The crusts were flaky, but I wish the filling were more abundant. The fillings were not made from scratch, but it does scratch the itch. The next time I visit, I will be trying their sweet breads.

Delicious pandebono! Nice crunchy bite on the outside with a soft, bouncy, and cheesy texture on…read morethe inside as expected - $2.50 each. There are a few small tables available inside to sit and enjoy your baked goods. There's a language barrier (Spanish speaking), but as long as you point to what you what and tell the employee how many, you can get by. I was confused when I asked if they accepted Google Pay; she said yes but just stood there staring at me. It took me nearly 30-40 seconds of waiting to realize that I have to get my phone to the Google Pay screen and actually give her my phone for her to scan behind the counter instead of having the payment more accessible for me to scan it myself lol.

We came here for dinner after reading the reviews and were excited to try it. We got here and were…read moreimmediately seated. The restaurant is small, with walls that are white on top and brown on the bottom, 3 booths lining the left wall and 2 booths on the right, and regular tables seating up to 4 guests. The Mexican flag is hung up on the right wall while Ecuador's flag hangs on the left and cultural items surround them as well. The drinks refrigerator can be seen in the back and the entrance to the adjoining store is found on the back by the left wall, with decorations on strings hanging over the entire restaurant. A soccer game was playing while we were there. We ordered the following: Lengua Forrada; Arroz y frijoles- Hubs thought this was ok. We weren't expecting an uncut tongue. Normally, when we order lengua, it's all diced up and put on tortillas. This time, we got a couple of whole tongues. It was a little weird. LOL. The rice and beans were good. Flautas- corn tortillas filled with chicken or steak and fried topped with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and cheese. I chose steak. I actually liked it because the flautas were nice and crispy. Enchiladas Mexicana Bistec; salsa Verde- corn tortillas rolled and stuffed with choice of shredded chicken or steak, topped with either red or green salsa. Daughter chose the steak with green salsa and said that this was pretty good. She thought it was flavorful and meaty and that it hit the spot. Tres leches - I got it to go. I found mold on top of the tres leches. You wouldn't be able to see it if you didn't open the lid because it was underneath their label. I don't know what made me open the lid but I'm glad I did. I returned it to the server and showed it to her but she never removed it from the bill. I didn't say anything about it but counted it as part of the tip. I'm giving this place 3 stars because of the mold on the tres leches and the server didn't take it off the bill after I returned it to her. I didn't say anything about it because there was a language barrier and I didn't know how to approach her saying it. While service was quick and friendly, I won't be returning here because of the mold and we got billed for it, anyway.

TLDR: Nice flavors in a low key spot…read more The food had a nice balance of heat, sweetness, and salt. Some of the pork was overcooked and hard though. The salad was fresh and crisp - a welcome addition to the rest of the rich plate. At $20 the plate was an ok value. The restaurant was bustling and low key. I would consider coming again, but with so many other restaurants in the area I'd probably try something else first.

This burger deserves to have people lined up to buy it. It was delicious, the plantain was fried to…read moreperfection the burger was so full of flavor and then the bacon and toppings made this a real experience. I have a new favorite and can't wait to go back. Gabi is the sweetest. Always welcomes everyone with a warm smile. This is the type of establishment that makes you want to come back. Go have one and thank me later!

After reading a review online by one of the newspapers (I forgot which), I wanted to give this…read moreplace a try. I've never had Venezuelan cuisine and wanted to give it a try. Upon entering, the place is small, with white walls that have a gray wainscoting. Pictures of food adorn the left wall while food-related canvases adorn the right wall and various flags for different countries hang from the ceiling. Since we went here during FIFA, soccer ball decorations hung from the front windows and entrance. Medium-sized drink refrigerators are near the back by the ordering counter and a display case can be seen on the counter as well. A mounted TV plays in the back for ambiance. We were immediately seated and ordered the following: Hubs got the Cachapa Criolla, which is a sweet corn pancake stuffed with Venezuelan hand cheese and shredded llanero cheese on top, Venezuelan cream, accompanied with fried pork belly. He said that he liked it and that the chicharron was good. It wasn't hard like most places. Hubs also liked the corn pancake. The cheese was ok but he said that he'd ask them to put less of it in the future. The lime was a nice touch. Daughter ordered the Arepa Pabellón, which has shredded beef, black beans, fried egg, white cheese, and sweet plantains. She liked it a lot and said that it was really good and hit the spot. She was craving for arepas. Lastly, I ordered Patacón Maracucho, which is fried green or sweet plantain, ham, protein of your choice (meat, chicken or mixed), lettuce, tomato, onion, Venezuelan hand cheese, garlic sauce and pink sauce. I chose fried green plantain with meat and thought that the plantain was ok but the meat was overcooked and tough. I also got the Tres leches to go. This was nice and sweet and pretty good. I was stuck with giving this place either a 3 or a 4. I felt my entree was a bit overcooked but Hubs and Daughter liked their meals. Wish I could do 3.5 LOL. But, the place was clean and service was quick and friendly. Glad I got to try Venezuelan cuisine!

Given the many excellent options in Mercer County, this place is where my money votes (it doesn't…read moretake much $ either) most often. The senora cooks in the back and I eat great house food. Ask for the salsa picante for your costillas. I hope not many of you read this because it gets crowded fast. Nuff said.

I just had a shrimp ceviche! The best I ever had by far, there were two men working there, very…read more friendly . Price is ok but they did not take too long to make my order 15 min tops. This place is more like a take out!

Recently visited this food truck at the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets. We ordered the Maine Lobster…read moreRoll. With tax it was over $27. This "Roll" is small. It wasn't worth that amount of money. I asked to have it cut in half so that I could share it and they said they weren't allowed to and I see why. All this fancy packing and boxing for what was an OK sandwich.

The Freehold truck came down to the Hamilton Mall parking lot area between the Macy's and main mall…read moreentrance for Valentine's Day 2025. I had been wanting to catch them on one of the other many Fridays they announced being in our area and finally made it. I did not use there app to pre-order. I decided to make my way to the mall and grab a lunch/dinner and one of the blue berry Maine Root soda. S to go with it. I ordered the Lobster Grilled cheese (which I was pleased to see came with tater tots even though I did not realize that from the menu description). And the Maine roll. The service was rather quick. This was in part to: there not being any line to wait, the use of the credit card for payment, and the kind cashier taking the orders and dispensing them once they were ready. The wait time for the food was about within 10 of placing the order. Maybe less. The grilled cheese was luxurious. The chunks of lobster meat and the quantity of gooey cheese were the right ratio to my taste. The tater tots were crunchy. I decided to add my own Mike's Hot honey to switch up the flavor a bit. But, there really is no need. Later that evening, I took my cold Maine roll out of the fridge and this was equally well stuffed and flavorful. I would definitely consider making the splurge again. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. The wind was brisk so not the best for hanging around to enjoy the meal outside if you'd bring a folding chair. Still, worth the round trip ride to grab what turned out to be my lunch and dinner for the day. Thanks to the @Cousins Maine Lobster -Freehold for adding our area to their culinary rounds.