Amazing food . Nice staff My favorite place for Latin food. I've had their pastelon and it is delicious. Spaghetti was good too . And I love their baked chicken with vegetables . read more

I really wanted to like this place The food looked good and the place looked nice I was doing my laundry next door and wanted a bite to eat while it was in the dryer I don't speak Spanish unfortunately and the staff did not really speak English I ordered a steak sandwich and was told 10 minutes 25 minutes later it was still not out so I had to get my clothes I came back and still not ready I was about to Lexus leave when it came out It was hot but had stuff on it I dud not want I will try one more time read more

New place to stop by in Belleville ,NJ to get my Dominican delights i did enjoy all I got keep up !!!!

I ordered two Chicken Empanadasnfor my granddaughter. On her first two bites she almost choked on the chicken bones. Why would you put bones in a empanada. My granddaughter didn't eat it because she lost her appetite after finding the bones in it. Be careful if you order them. read more

El Merenguito Restaurant - Chicken Empanada...chicken bones inside - Dominican Near Me - Belleville, New Jersey

Came to grab lunch today after being here 2-3 times previously for breakfast (mangu). Unfortunately, my opinion on this place changed significantly. I ordered a lunch special of rice, chicken stew, and Maduros. The yellow rice was flavorless, my chicken looked dry and reheated (mind you, chicken stew should have broth...), and they gave me 2 maduros. I paid $12 with a can of soda. Once you pay, the ladies stand and stare at you until you tip. My food was to-go, but I still have the lady who served me a $2 tip. I sat and my car and observed as they did the same thing to every other person. This place has a lot of potential! They have parking and are on a busy street surrounded by a predominantly Latino community... but a lot of things need to get fixed. They need better service, more consistency with food flavor, and they need to reevaluate their portions. read more

My friend told me about this restaurants opening and i was excited to go to their location as i am a fan of buffet style restaurants like this. At first glance you can see that the location is new inside and out. They have a small parking lot but that is better than most establishments in the area so that's a plus. Inside is nice and new with space for about 6 small tables. Buffet looked promising as there were a lot of selections but most of the food looked a bit dry. Regardless i went with the yellow rice with beans and beef stew to go. The stew came in a very small container and the rice came in a container 3 times that size. Weird portioning. As i was checking out the total was $12 - pretty pricing for the size and what i'm used to from these type of buffet styled restaurants. I got home hoping for the best but honestly the rice had no flavor and the stew was extremely full of fat. I probably would not come back again - i rather go down a few blocks to Mi Tierra that has much tastier food in well portioned sizes at half the price. read more

El Merenguito Restaurant - a buffet full of food - Dominican Near Me - Belleville, New Jersey

Terrible service! Staff doesn't acknowledge you and just looks miserable. There were 4 staff members when I entered, not one greeted me or took my order until I spoke up...mind you the place was empty! Food is subpar. I ordered a mangu tres golpes and they only gave me one salami, one piece of cheese, and one egg!!!!!!!!!!!! Very disappointed, I wouldn't come here again. This establishment needs new management. read more

They will charge u extra for anything. U want the food in the same plate? Extra! Want the food separate? Extra! Portions are small and their prices went up like crazy. I used to buy a lunch for 8$ now it's 12.80$ AWFUL read more

horrible experience! if you do not speak Spanish the staff is unwilling to help you. server was very rude and disrespectful. highly discriminatory!!! read more

Literally just walked out because the night staff is rude and nasty. When I finally places my order I stood there over 5 min waiting to be served because they were texting on their phones. I huffed and puffed to even get some type of recognition and not even that! I walked out because these people are extremely disrespectful. read more

Horrible experience! Would not be wasting my money here. The staff is miserable and rude. Denise is nasty with an attitude. The food has been horrible lately. Would never order the empanadas, rabo or anything anymore. Sad because I use to love this place but definitely has gone down hill. Save your coins and don't visit this restaurant. It has great potential but definitely needs a revamp. read more

Ordering was tough as I don't speak Spanish, but we fumbled our way through it. Luckily, the empanadas were delish! Everything was well seasoned and cooked. The outside was perfectly crispy. Beef was better than chicken IMO. read more

What is the evening staff here being so rude and unprepared!! The morning ladies are delightful but save yourself the trip after 3pm lol the young ladies just seem to hate their jobs. In the evening food looks cold and unappetizing. Desserts often taste old. read more

horrible made up dominican food, charged me 50 bucks for 2 lunches and 1 order. Food was flavorless, not real dominican and wasnt even enough to feed 3 people wont be ordering from here again. read more

I would give the 0 stars if I could. Those women are so unfriendly and will over charge without telling you !!! Complete rip off..

Damn I'm mad I have to give this place one star . Smh...so I walk in and I was approached by some still face woman behind the counter. She prepares my order puts it in a bag rings me up gives me my receipt and a pen and walks away to stand next to her friend who was also behind the counter. So I came home with this food for me and my husband and it was trash trash trash. DRY ASS PERNIL AND CHICKEN. My Husband's black rice was grainy as hell. So with the attitude you get along with the horrible food I don't see how going to this place is worth it. Also businesses usually come and go at that location so good luck guys but you won't have my business or anyone else's that I know . Toodles. read more

Taste was good - but for price charged, need more protein and less rice, and my order was a take out.

I only had breakfast there. The Especial consisted of Mangu with eggs, salami. It was really good! read more

El Merenguito Restaurant - Dominican Near Me - Belleville, New Jersey

They have made huge strides in improving the customer service. The food is great, it's spacious. Great spot

Food has been delicious everytime I want something to eat with flavor. Price is perfect for the quantity they give, almost enough for 2 ppl. I Would highly recommend, especially for a late night if you're craving some good food! read more

I went in for my first time on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty packed. I decided to do takeout and ordered bistec con tostones with a morir soñado. The total wait time was about 30-45 mins for my simple order and came out to $19.. Once I got home to eat my food I noticed they put the salad over my steak rather than putting it in a separate container.. When I took my first piece of steak it tasted like I was eating salt. It was so salty I had to return back to the restaurant. I spoke to the owner mainly because I was starving and was highly disappointed with my food after waiting over 30 mins for it. They made me a new steak and gave me fresh tostones. It wasn't the best steak I've ever had but I guess at least it wasn't salty. read more

El Merenguito Restaurant - two bowls of food - Dominican Near Me - Belleville, New Jersey

So so so good! Been here a few times and I'm never disappointed. Parking is small but many places in that area don't have parking so that's already a plus! read more

El Merenguito Restaurant - Dominican Near Me - Belleville, New Jersey

The worst service!!!! The server did not want to take our order!! None of the prices were correct!!! We ordered from the menu and she said the menu is wrong and the prices was much higher!! I told her that this service is horrible and I will be writing on yelp and the worker said she did not care!!! Please people do not waste your time and money on this place!!! It's a joke!!! read more

FOOD IS GOOD . Authentic Dominican food . You can't go wrong , Ordering Delivery.... DONT , they never pick up the phone

Rudeeeee girls. I just hate the attitude. You walk in and it's stank face along with girls either on their phones or talking to each other completely ignoring that you're standing there. Every time I go I always get so irritated and swear it the last time. The only reason I can HONESTLY say I've ever stepped foot back in there is cause I don't feel like driving to Newark & it's pretty much the only Dominican restaurant around the area. I'm sure if a better one came along this place would lose business ASAP read more

I'm from NY and recently moved to Belleville. I was missing the small Latin restaurants from NY so was excited to find this place. The first time I went my friend and I ordered the pernil, yuca, rice and beans and bacalao, all was fantastic. I've been back twice and have had the sancocho and the baked chicken. I'm on line now thinking of what to get next! Highly recommend! read more

Horrible service. Waited nearly an hr for chicken rice and beans. Food is below average. Never going again and I suggest you do the same

I came on a Saturday night at almost 8pm and there were 7 girls but a lack of service and availability in food. It took about 30 minutes to get served in a buffet style restaurant. They kept saying they ran out and had to check if they had more in the back. The service was HORRIBLE. However, the ladies were extremely kind and tried their very best but it seems as if they were all just hired and clueless. I asked simple questions and they had to run to other people to find the answers. The food was delicious. I ordered yellow rice, beans, and yucca. My cousin ordered yellow rice & beans, maduros & carne guisada and my little sister ordered pernil with yellow rice and beans. They enjoyed their meals. read more

Sorry....but so many women to tend but all standing around...I've been there in the past was pleasant admostphere..now no one cares except for Victor head waiter...others don't even know what they are serving you...had party of three my sandwich came out last even forgot my salad...there meals came out with less portions than the past...one guest was allergic to butter...we said nothing with butter...they still added...plus they raised the prices 4 dollars more on many items...not even a year in business and Bam unknowledgeable waitresses....raise prices...less food unless you want just rice...gave 3 for the chef... everyone else F grade.... sorry....need diversifi the staff and better understanding of what there serving read more

This place is great.. open on Sunday's made my morning. Looking forward to trying other dishes from here. The mofongo was really tasty.

I stopped in here last night to buy some food for my mom. A bunch of trays were completely filled up still and it was already 7:30 pm. My mom asked how much a plate of arroz moro, black beans, and a pork chop would cost. However, the lady behind the counter said she couldn't buy black beans because it already came in the rice? She had a bad attitude, but it was such a strange response. Both trays were full and hardly any customers were there. I don't understand how someone could refuse to sell them food when they could obviously benefit from their business. We simply said "ok no problem" and left. Judging from the reviews, I'm glad we did. read more

Was a bit skeptical after reading reviews but came in for a quick bite. Ordered 2 empanadas and a soda. Both empanadas where delicious and typical in flavor which made me happy. I preferred the chicken to the beef but that is just me and my personal preference. The service was quick just not a fan of the checkout girls being on thier phones. The variety of food was good and will come back to try other menu items. Don't write off a spot with low reviews until you check it out yourself. read more

Came in on a Saturday for late lunch early dinner. Place looked busy but to the extreme. There was no line system so I approached the line of food. The food looked okay, kind of dry. I stood there for about 10 minutes making eye contact with each employee walking by and no one bothered to make sure if I was taken care of. I approached the cashier and asked where do I order. She pointed to where I was and just continued to look through receipts. Went back and waited for another minute or so and just ended up leaving & going to Mi Tierra read more

Kind of a lackluster experience, which was a letdown since the menu options have so much promise. I ordered a cuban sandwich, but I don't think this place knows what the contents are-one would expect the key ingredients:ham, pork, swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles. What they brought out was a sandwich with pork chunks, a scarce amount of lettuce and tomato, and american cheese. When I mentioned this to our waiter he looked like we sprouted 2 heads, and seemed overall annoyed in general. It also took awhile for our food to be brought out, so we'll probably never come back here again. read more

The food was delicious we had Mangu with eggs and salami and the service was outstanding. Loved it.

A friend introduced me to this place and I was excited as I love Dominican food but I was disappointed the few times I've been there and things have not improved. The customer service is lacking in a very big way as the ladies just seem to walk be walking around looking busy but I have no idea what they're doing as other customers are just standing around also. When I finally get assitance, the ladies don't speak English or barely speak English. That's sad as we non Spanish people do love and enjoy ethnic food. Unless you go early in the day for breakfast or lunch, the food in the trays usually look dry. I love chicharron but there needs to be a sauce of some kind to cut through the fat; they serve it with ketchup and some kind of mayonnaise sauce. Not a good fit for chicharron; maybe some kind of lime based sauce would be great. I don't think I'll be frequenting this place again. read more

The food here it's great and delicious. But the service is horrible. I 've been waiting for half an hour to get my food, there was only one person in front of me and five others that came after me, and they all were serviced before me. Even still as I'm writing this review I still have not gotten my order. Ridiculous read more

Food was great! I had white rice (arroz), beans (habichuela) and stewed chicken (pollo guisado) and it had a lot of flavor, also had the mofongo con ajillo (smashed plantain w/ garlic) w/ fried chicken bits (chicharron de pollo) and it was absolutely delicious!!!! So glad I can find my Spanish Caribbean food close to home, all I need now is a beach and a corona! read more

This place will definitely rank higher if their costumer service was better. Was waiting there for 15 minutes just to be acknowledged very nasty attitude towards people that are not Dominican. read more

Need to do better because I was over charged for a meal that ended up being an empty container of two small pieces of chicken and no stew. Waste of time money or gas and it was intentional since there was plenty of food and no line. I won't be going back there are better places in the area read more