Every time I take Military Hwy to Nice Thai, I'd see the old Burger King and the work being done to it. Over time, you could tell a new resto was going to take it over - in this case, it's El Fogon. El Fogon is a restaurant combining many Latin cuisines. Per their website (https://elfogonrestobarandgrill.com/), they offer food from Columbia, Peru, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. That's quite the variety, and when my mom and I looked at their menu, we were both surprised and excited. Fogon's interior looks nothing like the Burger King that it used to be. There's plenty of flair and bright colors - my attention was definitely focused on the esthetic and decor. It was a lot... busy, but I came away impressed, especially since everything was clean and organized. Our server sat us, gave us menus and took our drink orders. She was the only one on the floor and seemed to also be the bartender on duty. There was only 1 other party when we were sat, but roughly 3-5 separate parties arrived after us. After taking some time to look over the massive menu, we decided on the chicharrón appetizer, the tacos de carne asada (mom), and Lomo Saltado. I liked the chicharrón, while the Lomo Saltado was fantastic. Mom seemed to like her tacos, so that's a plus. Neither of us could finish our food, so we had leftovers for later. Although the food was fantastic, the service was... slow. Our server was nice enough, but she was pulled in many directions during our visit. What's worse, she didn't really move with any urgency. Our drink orders took a bit to hit our table; and after we ordered the chicharrón, it took a while for her to come back around to take our entree order. We spent most of our visit waiting - problematic, at best. When we were finished with our entrees, it took a long time for our server to return. My mom has this routine where she starts looking around the restaurant to find and flag down our server. Our server wasn't on the floor - I know for a portion she was tending to the other parties and what have you. But since she was the only server on the floor, it was simply no fun waiting. There was a manager on duty, but he was busy chatting up a four-top that came in. They all apparently knew each other, so there were portions where the manager was ordering our server to get things for this four-top. The manager did nothing but chat up this table, and I decided to shoot him looks because our server wasn't coming through. Mr. Manager finally got the message - he said something to the server, and she immediately came over. We got togo boxes, paid and that was it. As we were walking out, the manager thanked us. So El Fogon may suffer from the same issues I experienced at the Shore Dr Lendy's - lack of staffing. It doesn't help, though, when the lone server on the floor doesn't appear to be hustling. At the same time, I would've liked to have seen the manager help out (to be fair, there was a food runner, but he was a little slick because he made sure not to actually look at other tables while he was delivering food; he just went to tables, dropped off the food, and went right back into the kitchen, head mostly down). I want to drive home the notion that this was only 1 visit. Their service could be impeccable when fully staffed (although I've read a couple of Yelp reviews that seem to support my observation). They are a new establishment - sometimes it takes time before things begin to run smoothly. If El Fogon wants to thrive, they need to address their quality of service. I like their food, though, but if I have to wait this long during each visit, I will quit visiting. Thank you, El Fogon. JV read more

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Whatever issues this spot may have had with service/the wait/etc surely got fixed by the time we checked out El Fogon. Drinks were delicious and strong. Very large menu with lots of variety on what to pick! Service was friendly and attentive as well. We'll be back to try different things on their menu. read more

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Cute establishment, friendly service, Met up with ex colleagues for lunch. They serve colorful tortilla chips with 2 dips. Self serve carafe for water. Met the owner Angel who was so welcoming and generous with complimentary mangonada for all of us! My friends ordered chimichanga and steak and rice. I ordered the pork belly tacos. The cilantro and onions in each taco were fresh. It came with grilled cactus. The pork belly was fried and was a bit dry and too salty. The menu had breakfast items but note it's not all day breakfast! I'd recommend this place to try other menu items. read more

El Fogon Restobar And Grill - Mexican Near Me - Chesapeake, Virginia

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The decor is beautiful at this restaurant is beautiful. They recently opened so I was excited to try it out. I think they are working out some kinks in just opening so I do want to visit again after some time has passed. There churros were hot and fresh, but no cinnamon sugar which I expected on my churro. They did ask if I wanted a Oreo or plain churro, I went with what I thought was an original churro, but it had no cinnamon sugar on it and was drizzled with chocolate sauce which I'm also not a fan of that. I ordered their steak which was $30, it was definitely overpriced in my opinion. They also asked how I wanted it cooked, which doesn't make sense because it was so thin and well done regardless. When I came in at lunch time by myself, one of the staff asked me if I was from grubhub or Uber eats one of those services. I was not a fan of that. They had an interesting menu and I will return to try their food again and I'm sure it will be a better experience. I consider maybe this was an off day or maybe I started off with a not so good impression. read more

El Fogon Restobar And Grill - Churros - Mexican Near Me - Chesapeake, Virginia

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As it is my first time here, I had no idea what to expect. The menu has so many delightful choices, I had to rely upon my gracious and patient waitress, Andrea, for suggestions and recommendations. I tried the Pupusa Revueltas and also added a Mangonada for a drink. Sooooo delightful and flavorful!!! Lately, food has been tasting on the bland side to me. Well, it's just been the wrong food - I am not losing my sense of taste at all. El Fogon is a treasure and I can't wait to come back and try different dishes!!!! read more

El Fogon Restobar And Grill - P1. PUPUSA REVUELTAS - Mexican Near Me - Chesapeake, Virginia

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El Fogón is a yummy restaurant in Chesapeake with great décor. Do not expect to be in and out quickly. Leave plenty of time in your schedule when visiting. The atmosphere here is really cool, its fire/harth themed décor makes a warm cozy feel. There are little electric faux fireplaces all over and this was an enjoyable part of the experience. El Fogón has a great bar and Jorge was doing a great job keeping drinks moving for customers. He also did a great job at directing the food runners to the right tables so as orders trickled out of the kitchen customers could get their food. The food at El Fogón was good, I ordered the burrito California. It is a large burrito packed with meat, french-fries, and cheese. I do think a few ingredients were missing (pico de gallo). Overall service is slow. There are a few employees who were hustling and knew what they were doing but the majority seemed lost. El Fogón has a great social media presence that seems AI generated. My party was 2 people an from the time we were seated until we ordered as over 10 min, and then we waited over an hour for our food. Both dishes were incomplete. I didn't send back my food since I didn't have another hour to wait. The food is delicious when you get it, just be prepared to wait a while. I am not likely to return. read more

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El lugar es bonito Comida rica pero la atencion no me gusta se tartan mucho en atender se nos derramo la mesa y llame no me attendieron deverian educarlos por la atencion al Cliente read more

El Fogon Restobar And Grill - Jugo de Guanábana una delicia - Mexican Near Me - Chesapeake, Virginia

I've been hearing about El Fogon from people excited about a new restaurant in town! The place is decorated beautifully and has amazing art murals. The food and drinks get 5 stars ! It's delicious! I had steak nachos and a Pisco Sour. Presentation of drinks and food is nice which I see why they look so good on social media. The promoting of El Fogon is top notch as they pop up on Tik Tok and have promotional videos on YouTube etc. Now the food is living up to the hype BUT the service , sorry it was not good . I slowly started seeing customers leave around me because they had been waiting for their food for too long . It took me 1 hour to get steak nachos. The communication between the waiters , orders, and the kitchen is very poor, there is no flow. The servers are so stressed they don't check on customers. El Fogon 5 stars for food and drinks, but 1 star for service . La comida esta riquisima pero la espera de comida y el servicio necesita atencion! Thank you! I hope El Fogon finds a good flow and rhythm soon. I'll be back for the food , yum! read more

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Must say, very delicious food. I'm from LA, wasn't expecting for the food to be very authentic and delicious. Waitress was very attentive. Definitely recommend this place. read more

Went here for lunch today and really enjoyed it. I enjoyed trying a pupusas for the first time and it was amazing. Would definitely get again. Also enjoyed some queso and a side of rice. read more

Food was great. Service excellent. The decor is beautiful. We went for lunch during the week and I have no complaints.

The El Fogon Restobar & Grill is outstanding! There are food offerings from several Latin American countries and everything our party tried was delicious! The décor was bright and inviting. I am not local to Chesapeake, but it is my new favorite restaurant in that area and we'll definitely go back! read more

Customer service is very good! I loved the food and my beverage. The server was exceptionally nice and food was brought out hot and promptly. I would recommend this business to my friends and anyone looking for something different but very nicely decorated. The music was also great. read more

El Fogon Restobar And Grill - Creole dish with rice and salad - Mexican Near Me - Chesapeake, Virginia

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During my first visit to this fairly new Latin restaurant I had the Peruvian ceviche and Chupe de Camarón (shrimp soup). They were both delicious. The waiter was courteous and friendly. I will definitely return to El Fogon. If you are interested in trying more than just Mexican food, I highly recommend El Fogon. read more

Bad service, worst ever that I have experienced in a very long time. It took 15 minutes for a server to greet us, we placed two orders and only received one, not sure what happened. Bad service, stay far away, I don't recommend! read more

The food here is amazing! Customer service is one of kind. If anyone is around this area I would recommend to come and try them out!

Food was amazing! My service was great my first 3 visits. My fourth visit not too good. I ordered food and was not told kitchen was closing. I waited a while only to b told I couldn't get my entree that I already ordered 20 minutes prior. My fifth visit didn't go well either. I ordered the half peruvian chicken. My food came out and it was the quarter chicken. I told the server I ordered the half chicken and he says "we out,that was the last". I decided to settle for the half but could tell iit was kinda old. I returned the meal. No apology etc..nice place and good food but it seems they can't handle busy demand and lack customer service skills. Disappointed two times in a row read more

My wife and I Megan went there last night. Had a reservation for a party at seven. We were treated very well. Food was great. It's very authentic angel in his staff know how to take care of their customers. This is the best place in the 757. read more