Updating my review (don't worry, it's still 5 stars) because El Gordo is single handedly getting me through the worst cold I have had in a very long time. If you are like me, and you also crave nothing but delicious, homemade chicken soup when you are sick, look no further. When my mom is too far away to bring me her soup, I get the Caldo De Gallina from here. Its delicious and warm and so nourishing. It has a rich broth, veggies, potatoes, and a chicken leg. Perfect for when all I want is broth with some bites of chicken and veggies in between. I also got an order of the steamed veggies as an add on and was really wonderfully surprised by them. They were so much more delicious than I anticipated. Perfectly steamed, heavily seasoned and a good dose of veggies. Thanks for keeping me sane and fed during a nasty cold, El Gordo! read more

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amazinggggg food! the service was very fast and cool and the ambiance was perfect! I ordered a very cool dish and the taste was splendid and the food was perfectly cooked! read more

El Gordo - super cool food - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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Appetizer peanuts were horrid. The food was average at best. Peruvian food is repurposed Chinese food. Not sure why they think making a sit down restaurant is necessary. Their food is no better than a Chinese take out. In fact, Chinese is better. If you put their fried rice against Chinese, they would lose. If you put their Lomo Saltado against their Mongolian Beef with Fries, they would lose. Sorry, Peruvian is not it. read more

Not sure why I didn't know about this place! Ordered takeout from the heights in light of the hoboken water crisis just to be safe and it was delicious. We got a chicken, yellow rice, tostones, and fries with those little sausages. Everything was soo good. But the show stopper was the green sauce. I was wondering why they sell bottles. I will be getting a bottle next time. read more

El Gordo - Chicken, Tostones Papa Fritas - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

I had a Lomo Saltado from El gordo. It was a delivery order. My plate was full with meat, vegetables (tomatoes & onions), French fries and white rice. My coworkers like their food a lot and decided on ordering from here today. I would definitely recommend this restaurant as I just tried it out myself. I unfortunately did not take any pics, I was so hungry I completely forgot to take pictures. 10/10 Peruvian restaurant rec. read more

I love this place. Their green sauce is so good its the reason I keep going back. Although I wish the steak ratio for the lomo saltado was more. It tends to be more French fries than steak. read more

Ordered delivery via DoorDash and even though it took almost half an hour to get our food, it was fresh, hot and delicious. We ordered the mixed chaufa, lomo saltado, and some rotisserie chicken. Everything we got was absolutely fantastic, seasoned, and delicious. Even then, adding some green sauce on op made it even better. I highly recommend ordering a bottle of the stuff on top of what comes with your order. Next time we are in the area, we will be visiting El Gordo again. read more

I take any and all roasted chicken recs, as it has slowly become my favorite food. It is the perfect intersection of being a relatively healthy meal while still being delicious. All this to say, my guy Blake told me about El Gordo, an authentic Peruvian spot in Jersey City, so we made the push over there. Peruvians tend to slang top tier, roasted chicken, so I was juiced. We both got half chickens with a side of yellow rice and plantains. El Gordo's chicken is marinated in a blend of Peruvian spices before being slow-roasted. The result is tender, juicy chicken with a crispy, flavorful skin. This was some SOLID bird, sliding in right in my lower A-tier ranking. It was just missing some of that wow, fall off the bone factor, but it just may not have been their best day. A lot of this is just personal preference at the end of the day. This green sauce was LEGENDARY. Some of the best green sauce I've ever had. My only regret is that I didn't realize until after that they sell it by the bottle. Peruvian Green sauce up there for the most underrated sauce. IG @jnov_ Tiktok @jnov__ read more

If you are looking for rich, well seasoned, fall- off-the-bone authentic PERUVIAN pollo ala brasa this is the place. But this place is more than just pollo; they offer a lot of other typical peruvian dishes that looked amazing. The interior is clean and cute, but the restaurant is snug so I wouldn't come here if I had a group of like 4 or more to eat in since it seems to be popular. (Unless you have reservations) Not too expensive. 10/10 would eat here again if I'm in the area. read more

El Gordo - Pollo ala brasa - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

We stopped by El Gordo while on a food tour and had the Ceviche, Chaula, and Chicha Morada. The Chaula, or fried rice, was fantastic. I ate the entire thing, despite already having shoveled down a quarter of a sandwich, pupusas, and birria tacos at our previous stops. The ceviche was quite good as well, very well flavored. I had to sacrifice the corn and onions though, just to save space for our other stops. We don't have a go-to Peruvian spot in the area, so this was a welcome discovery. In fact, we're considering getting food from here with my in-laws when they're in town for Thanksgiving. read more

Food is amazing here! They serve great, delicious portions, and the servers are very friendly. Their music playlist always has great choices while we eat too, lol. Would definitely recommend visiting!!! Try their ceviche or tallarín saltado for sure. :) read more

Food is OK here. Over the years their flavor has become subdued and their portions have become more anemic. This place use to be my go-to spot for Peruvian food but the last few times we've ordered the food has been underwhelming. The beef in the lomo saltado has been dry and a really small portion of it. They increase volume by adding A LOT of onions. Overall, it's an OK option. Not terrible but def not the best. read more

The chicken was So Dry, I had to drown it in green sauce to try and resuscitate. I had high hopes. Also had the lomo, it was ok but wouldn't order again. I had the chaufa rice which was best out of the dishes. I might try their seafood but otherwise came, saw and conquered, next. read more

El Gordo is one of a handful of solid Peruvian restaurants in The Heights, serving classic dishes (ceviche, lomo saltado, bistec a la pobre) and some great pollo a la brasa. I ordered a half chicken with maduros and a tomato and onion salad. Delivery was quick, with the food arriving hot and fresh. The maduros were sweet and barely greasy, though the chicken was a little saltier than expected. read more

A disciplined diet of sandwiches and microwavables tends to give way to Uber Eat benders late in the week, and El Gordo was a fine choice. Yes, I got the #2 combo, no I didn't eat the whole thing at once. As expected, the skin of the chicken was action-packed enough that you should try it plain before piling on the spectacular green sauce. The interior was juicier than usual. The salchipapa is recommended too. The order was quick and carefully composed. read more

Ordered delivery as I was craving for some fried rice one day. Their chaufa special didn't disappoint me in terms of ingredients and flavor, however the rice was a bit mushy. Also ordered arroz con pollo con huancaina - wasn't a huge fan for the potatos and creamy sauce but thumb up to the green sauce, which was sweeter than the ones I've had from other restaurants but not bad. read more

El Gordo - Chaufa especial - good - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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Third time ordering delivery and they haven't failed. I've only tried the chicken & especial chaufa and 1/2 chicken. Everything is extremely flavorful and fresh. Glad I found this restaurant! The rice is your typical Peruvian chaufa and comes topped with green onion. The 1/2 chicken had nice crispy skin and was juicy. Their rice and means are delicious as well! read more

El Gordo - Chaufa Especial - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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Love this place! My wife's favorites are the Chaufa and ceviche but i love love love the chicken with the green sauce. We have been ordering here a lot as of lately. The owner is a sweetheart and the delivery is always packaged well (which in my opinion is a big deal) give them a try! Well worth it. read more

El Gordo - Ceviche de Camarones - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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Placed an order here through grubhub they didn't have the items I ordered and called me. I asked them to cancel the order and who ever I was speaking to didn't understand English. She then passed the phone to Monica, to whom I repeated if they don't have the items I want to cancel the order. She the proceeded to just hang up on me. When I called back she stated "You want to cancel the order don't you?" I said yes but you gave no confirmation and just hung up that is not the way to treat customers. I told her I would call back to speak with management or the owner. She said have a nice day and hung up on me again. The amount of money I have spent at this establishment to be treated like that is crazy. I will no longer eat here or at any of their other locations. read more

We love this place. My Peruvian friends would say "Que rico" after trying their food. We have never been to the restaurant, as we discovered it once the pandemic started - but we have been ordering from them once a week for the past three months. The food always arrived on time and with the correct order, and it was always delicious. Must tries are : Chaufa Especial, Papa a la Huancaina, Aji de Gallina, Chicharron de Pescado - but everything ( and we have tried a lot these months) is just delicious. On top of the food, they have this incredible salsa verde which is delicious. We use it for the delivery, but try to always save some for when we are cooking normal seafood the following days. Back a couple of months ago, we had ordered something (on Grubhub) and I had the wrong number on my profile. They tried to call me a thousand times (I discovered in hindsight) to tell me that they couldn't fulfill a full portion of the order because out of stock - but since they didn't want to leave us without it, they gave us whatever they had left for free. For us, this is definitely going the extra mile for clients. We recommended to anybody who likes good food, at a fair price. read more

El Gordo - A mix of everything on one plate - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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This place used to be the best Peruvian food in town, but that is no longer the case. Today, this place is garbage, the food is subpar, and if you question them, they tell you to calm down, as if you just got mad out of the blue. Employees are rude, and they can care less if you go somewhere else. To the owner, this happens when you underpay your good employees; they will leave and leave us with the idiots you have today. Unfortunately, this place is no longer what it used to be. You deserve 0 stars. read more

El Gordo - Order eggs on the Lomo salteado and the eggs are not edible. - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

Being new to the area, I'm on the hunt for my next go-to Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken place. I was a big fan of the Sardi's chain, and given the reviews of El Gordo I was excited to try it out! The chicken was extremely tender so props to them for that. Unfortunately, it was really greasy and lacked seasoning. The dips too were just OK. I'm not sure I'd go with the rotisserie chicken again here, although they seem to have a wide menu so I might try some of the other options instead next time. read more

Excellent place for ceviche! I am Peruvian so I can verify that this is the real thing and it's sooo good! They have Inca Cola and it's BYOB. I also tried the arroz chaufa special El Gordo (out of the menu) with three types of meats. This one was just ok, for me it needed more flavour. Nevertheless, I will come back to try other items in the menu. The service was excelllent, friendly staff. read more

El Gordo - Ceviche - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

Not what I expected, but my daughter lives around the block & she said the food Is better eaten on site. What we had was ok. Noting special, but I'd give it another shot with us dining in. read more

Great food, nice addition to the heights. The grilled meats are always done right the rice is flavorful and the rotisserie chicken is awesome. Good service! read more

I've been to El Gordo a few times and have tried several dishes from them and I can say I have yet to be disappointed. I grew up eating authentic Peruvian food so I have a pretty good sense as to what's the real deal and this is it! I've had the pollo a la brasa, tallarín verde con bistec, y lomo saltado (con pollo)- all we're very flavorful and delicious. My only compliant was that my quarter chicken piece from my last visit was super tiny! I usually order a quarter piece at other restaurants but maybe next time I'll get half instead. Also don't forget to order the chicha morada to wash it all down! The staff are friendly and relatively attentive. Street parking only but it's not too hard to find a space nearby. read more

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Food is not bad ! Portions are VERY LITTLE !! But their rules are ridiculous with what you can order in their green sauce . They sell 2 extra in addition of what comes with your food but god forbid you like hot sauce because you cannot ( 2 is THE LIMIT ) buy anymore than the little 2 containers which do not even come full ! But guess WHAT THEY WILL SELL YOU a whole bottle of green sauce ! ! So instead of paying $1.00 for an extra one ---- noooope not an option Basically ! They are making you buy their labeled bottle for $11.99 or $10.00 thru Uber eats . In another words ! They want to limit you according to them --- but they will sell you a whole bottle no problem .. the bottle is NOT limited ! This is such a scam to get you to buy the whole bottle .... not cool ! No other GOOD Peruvian restaurant does this and their sauces are much better ! This is not the way to hook your customers into spending more! Customers will spend the money by having great food , great service and ambiance . Shame ! read more

El Gordo - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

I have been coming to central Ave every other weekend but never tried this place. One of my friend recommended this so I decided to try it. It was a sunday afternoon and was crowded so me and my husband decided to ask for to-go. We had one half chicken(around $7) and it was ready in few mins only. It smelled really good. It was so delicious, very juicy and so fragnant and I really regret for not getting more things. I will definately come here again to try other items from the menu. read more

El Gordo - Half chicken - 6.75$ - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

The last 2 times I ordered for pick up I only received half of my order but I was charged full price. I didn't know until I got home so I called the restaurant and they insisted they gave me the full order. This place is way over priced especially when they don't even give you the full order you paid for. I would understand it happening once, but twice? Never again. read more

Dropped off our son at his Hoboken apartment and felt like Peruvian food. Our usual favorite place El Rinconcito Peruano was closed and google found us El Gordo. We ordered ceviche which luckily not made with tilapia, anticuchos, Tallarin Verde and chichas to drink. The ceviche was fresh but too salty as was the rest of the food. The only think that was not too salty was the chicha which was way too sweet. The service was friendly and attentive, the dining area was clean. I don't think we're going back there again. read more

Ohhhhh Snap!!! CHICKEN SOO GOOD I LOOKED AT MY FAMILY DIFFERENT!!!!! This place has some of the best amazing chicken out! Seasoned more than NY Seasons!! It's just amazing!! Rice!!! Beans!!! Fries!!! You name it!!! Service is like home!! Like I swear they are family to me now!!!! Love this spot!! Give it a try!!!! read more

We liked the place a lot, we visited the location in Union NJ. it is small but with modern, casual, nice deco, very clean, natural flower and hand sanitizer on each table, with nice Spanish music, the waiter was very friendly and efficient. We ordered : papa rellena delicious, tasty chaufa el gordo and ceviche, natural juices, excellent. Also the best alfajores I have ever tasted, a very good representation of Peruvian food. We will be back soon. read more

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El Gordo has become one of my top 5 places to eat in The Heights. Lets start off with the fact that is BYOB. Then lets discuss their GREEN SAUCE and the chicken *drool* man their chicken... Okay so lets dive right in, you come in and right away they put Peruvian corn and green sauce that you can't help but want to eat a million pieces of. We usually order the same thing: whole rotisserie chicken, fries, salad and of course a side of the maduros. Their chicken is so juicy and perfectly cooked, the maduros are sweet and the fries are of abundance. Their green sauce... I need a gallon of it just pour on every piece of meat I eat. Theirs is not too spicy but not bland my only complaint is that I want more lol. This last visit we had everything was just so perfect: the chicken, the maduros even the salad dressing. I don't know if they got a new chef but I almost felt like their chicken was even better than the last time we went. Owner and staff members are so attentive and help with any questions you may have and always have suggestions. I hope this place continues to do well! read more

Been trying to order a whole week off postmates but seems like they are too busy to take my money! If you're not serving on postmates then get off their site!!! read more

El Gordo - Been a week that this place has not taken orders - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

Question: Who does rotisserie chicken better than the Peruvians? Answer: No one. El Gordo holds up that hype! Pros: Excellent pollo a la brasa, rice and beans, plantains, skirt steak a little tough, but delicious flavor. The green sauce from heaven! Extra Pros: BYOB!!!!!! Cons: None I had food from here twice -- once as take out and once in restaurant. Hooked. read more

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I was really hoping that a closer proximity to Patterson would give this highly rated place some cred, but was really disappointed in the food. The food wasn't bad. It was just bland - a word that should never be used to describe Peruvian food. Even the green sauce was bland. Bland Peruvian hot sauce is a tragedy. Trio de Papa - bland and salty Seco combinado - bland, but the beans were good Cau cau - bland and super salty Maybe the chicken is better. read more

El Gordo - Seco Combinado in front, cau cau in the back - Peruvian Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

Nice little Peruvian restaurant with huge portions. Food taste fresh and made to order, attentive waitresses. Ceviche and Lomo saltado are ours go to items on the menu, usually with a Papa a la huancaina as an appetizer while we wait. Street parking, but always a spot opens up. Highly recommended for a good meal with an accessible price. read more

The sad thing about El Gordo is that it isn't established where I live BUT I make the drive to JC (no delivery up here in NB) simply because the quality and flavor beat any Peruvian restaurant I've been to in my town -- HANDS DOWN. I've had lomo saltado and the ceviche before. The ceviche is fresh, doesn't have a "fishy" smell to it and they give a good proportion of it, enough to bite that craving. The staff is very friendly, the place very clean, and just an overall good vibe feeling. I definitely recommend El Gordo to all of my friends and now yelp friends lol. read more

We were pleasantly greeted by our waiter Santiago and a dish of seasoned corn and the most delicious green sauce. He was very helpful with our choices for dinner. Started with Fried Yuca with Creamy Cheese Sauce. The cream sauce was luscious. Then tried the 1/2 of roasted chicken with fried rice and sweet plantains. The chicken was perfectly cooked, moist and flavorful. Will definitely return to try some of the other dishes. read more

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Decent Peruvian, cute indoors. The chicken is great, the ceviche is good. Satisfying fried rice. Sounds petty but the fries could use more seasoning considering it's incorporated in so many of the dishes, meaning the Lomo Saltado left me a bit underwhelmed. Knowing that, you won't regret chowin there if you're looking for hearty Latin food. read more