Disappointed. Won't be back. Stopped by El Príncipe on Lehigh around 10am and had a really frustrating experience. The food came out cold, and when I asked about it, it was just microwaved--not even properly reheated. I still ended up eating cold food, which made the whole meal pretty unappetizing. On top of that, the portions were super stingy. I ordered mangu with eggs, salami, and cheese--got one tiny slice of cheese. Seriously? Same thing with the pork--barely any on the plate. For the price, I expected a decent serving, but it felt like they were cutting corners on everything. The vibe from the person serving wasn't great either--just didn't feel welcome at all. Save your money and go somewhere that actually serves hot food and isn't so cheap with the portions. I won't be back read more

I actually enjoyed my food, I came after having a cold and having little to eat . I got stewed chicken & arroz con habichuelas (yellow rice pigeon peas). I got the last of the rice for the night and maybe that made it a little sweeter but the gold was the Ajo (garlic paste sauce) ask for a tiny bit and it elevates everything will be back. Park in the gas station parking lot cuz there is barely parking - I was in and out read more

Best authentic Dominican food in the area. Always tastes the same. Def recommend. One of my favorite places to order take out from at work.

No organization.. you have to grab a number.. order and wait.. but there is no way to know any of this. Also no prices shown for food so we were surprised... the food 9/10.. ensalada, habichuelas, tostones, arroz con gon gandules and the juices were delicious.. the chicken and the experience.. not so much and it's actually why I won't be returning. I will just stick to cooking Dominican food in my own kitchen and save the 90+$$ that we were charged. The server was great so no hate to her, the others not so much. Very rude attitude, and one woman who looked in her late 30s that had a hair net and thick drawn eyebrows kept walking past my husband winking at him and trying to lick her lips to get his attention. Desperate isn't even the word. He paid her no mind, but this really sucked for me as I enjoyed the food but if the atmosphere is off we won't return to a place. I visit Philly often so this was a bummer. My advice would be to fire the help.. because this place could be a lot bigger than it is with the right staff. read more

Food is really good here as I have been here in the past (while back) but came back recently to get some Dominican Sopa de Pollo (Chicken Soup). Since it was just that, they didn't take the order over phone so I went to pick up. There was SO MUCH food on display at the front counter, I wanted to eat a little bit of everything lol. White rice, yellow rice, beef stew, chicken stew, goat stew, peppered steak, roast pork. They even had what would be known as a "breakfast" meal like eggs, salami, etc. The place is small and they do get a lot customers which is great but can get tight in there while you're waiting to be served. When you walk in, make sure to take a number ticket as they go by numbers for ordering your food. I didn't know that until someone who came in after me was served before. SMH... Will go back for something else soon. read more

I honestly hate when people don't take orders and work slappy I ask for dry eggs and look what they give me and send me the food like they bored or don't want to do there job . Never again read more

El Principe Restaurant - Bad service - Latin American Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

They have no understanding on how to treat a client, especially a loyal client. They are rude and nasty individuals. I am pregnant and I visit this restaurant every Sunday to purchase food for our employees, I treat them very well and I'm a great tipper. They made a mistake on my order after driving miles to deliver the food myself, they would not return my money back for the error they did. They handed me the wrong order and made me out to the bad guy. I will never go back their again. The place is extremely small, there's no space, they do not follow covid guidelines, the place is always filled with people and they allow people to order without masks. They're food is not good but it's convenient that's the only reason why I go, but that will not happen again. read more

this place has best Spanish food in north Philly and they take credit/debit and cash too

We live near the suburbs, so it is a treat to get to Spanish restaurants. Now, paying $17 for a drink and this...wow, boy was my husband pissed! So pissed he ended up stopping at Freddy and Tony's to eat. The 4 pieces were all bone inside, the guineos were hard. Apparently, onions cost extra(rolling my eyes). Go to Maria's Restaurant on 5th and Lycoming for real chicharrón and guineos at a good price instead. Lesson learned. read more

El Principe Restaurant - 4 boney chicharrones and hard guineos. - Latin American Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Food is great, and the girls are very nice. Place is clean. Everything is fresh. Would recommend this spot.

This place is fantastic. Delicious yellow rice and chick peas. Lots of good meat and vegetables. Salad comes with every meal. Very beautiful and helpful service. Make sure you go to El Principe when you stop by a Philadelphia. There is a statue of the Blessed Mother in the window. Ave Maria! read more

When you walk in, the steam table is packed with Dominican cooking, featuring stewed meats and enough pork to make me believe that Heaven gets its catering from El Principe. Speaking Spanish definitely helps when ordering. If you don't, just make sure you are really good at pointing. The ladies hacked away a portion of artery death meat, known as chicharron in Latin American cooking, and sent it my way for $5 (more pricey when compared to the pounds of other meats they serve up cheap, but luxury has its price). These are just the porkiest bites found in nature. I couldn't bring myself to eat the pure fat parts, but the skin and the fat clinging to it got the job done. This wasn't just some sexy looking skin that didn't deliver once you bit into it; the crunch was perfect, just the right amount of teeth required to tear it apart. 4 measly dollars gets you a big serving of stewed chicken. One poke of your fork and the meat is off the bone. I didn't think much of the beef, but guess what- it too was awesome. It was totally moist and drenched in a savory oily juice (like the one the chicken comes in) that made me feel unhealthy just looking at it. Yum! Behind the chicharrones was even more pork, a gleaming pork leg with a few lonely strands of meat falling off it. I wanted it as the star of my platter and the ladies told to wait while they got a new leg from the back. That was a thing worth waiting for. The $8 large combos, like the roast pork platter, come with repollo (vinegar-lemon cabbage salad) and white rice or yellow "moro" rice. A platter makes a great lunch; good luck finishing it all. Of all the meat choices, it is really hard to pick my favorite. I would probably stick with the roast pork, followed by the above mentioned beef. Other choices included goat, stewed pork, roast chicken, oxtail, salt fish, and liver. If you are getting the roast pork instead of one of the meats that come with gravy, ask for some gravy on your rice. They are even nice enough to give you a container of sauce if you aren't eating right away. Smaller platters are available for $6. If you are in to mushy things, be sure to ask for mangu. You won't find it on the steam table, but they will bring you a plate from the kitchen. This was my first time having this Dominican mashed plantain dish, though I have had mofongo (the Puerto Rican, pork heavy version) quite often. It was different without the pork bits, but I found myself piling more on my plate. The mild mushy stuff tasted comforting and matches up well with any of the sauces from the other platters. read more

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It's a nice little spot, but I recommend to get a to go order then to sit down, they was charging me close to 20 dollars for a small plate of rice beans and steak...horrible read more

I am Dominican af and this place is like a piece of home with a side queso frito and salchichón. The food is super authentic- the beans are delicious and if I could eat here everyday I would. My one complaint would be that the portion sizes are a little off. They always seem to give more rice and mangú than cheese and salami or meat or beans. I want more beans! I want more cheese! I want more of that delicious bistec/pernil/pollo guisado! Also please work on the delivery times. I once waited over an hour to have food delivered to my house which is like 15 minutes away because the driver didn't know how to use Google Maps. read more

This place has VERY tasty food, and my favorite drink. ¡Jugo de parcha! (Passion fruit Juice). The staff only speaks Spanish though. Which I like because I get to flex my Spanish capabilities, but can be scary for others. Also, not a lot of vegetarian options here. I'm not a vegetarian, but I am a veggie enthusiast. I've never tried the deserts here, but I'm willing to go out in a limb, and say they're pretty tasty too! I say stop in if you're in the area. You won't be disappointed! ¡Buen Provecho! read more

Went here on my lunch break. Had a plater of pernil (slow roasted pork) which was actually very tender and spiced nicely. I just wish the skin was crispier. It was that rubbery, tough skin. The rice and beans were good and they give you alot of it. Lastly I had a little salad with a vinegar dressing which breaks up the saltiness of the rest of the platter, which is pretty damn salty, but what do you expect from Spanish jawn in the hood? One big negative, and this is big, I found a piece of cellophane wrapper in my salad. Not good at all. Also, if I didn't bring my co-worker that speaks Spanish, I would've had a little trouble ordering. The staff's English is very poor. Pros: good (hood) Spanish food, fair prices Cons: cleanliness is suspect (plastic wrapper in salad), also no ingles spoken here read more

The food is good but I was there recently and was (if u want to call it served) by one of the owners daughters. I really felt that like she didn't want to attend to me because I was female. I was there with two other ppl ordering take out separately so I saw her interact with male customers and WOW what an attitude change. I felt as if I was bothering her. I've worked in service before so I always tip even for takeout but for this bothered individual I did not. The food is good and the other wait staff are great it's sad that one individual makes u not want to revisit and support a neighborhood small business. read more

I know the place is a hole in a wall, but the food is amazing! If you are looking for authentic Dominican food, well seasoned and doesn't break your wallet? Then this is the place to go. My only wish is, that the place was a bit larger and accommodated more people. read more

All the girls working here are sexy. All wife material. They need to shave their arms and eyebrows down though. And they don't speak English well. It's always packed here. Such a tiny place. Very hard to find legal parking and the front door doesn't open all the way. Oh and the food is great. read more

If I can give it 0 stars I would. This place used to be great. I think they use to love doing what they do and no it's as if they do not care about their business. I went to get 2 platters of mangu and I'm telling you, the food was NOT fresh AT ALL. They give you allllll this mangu, and 1 piece of cheese. And the salami was way too fat. The food didn't taste fresh at all. It's like they heat it up in the microwave. It wasn't fresh or good at all. And I'm not lying when I felt like vomiting when I stopped eating it. It was just nasty. I think they should be more motivated to do the food better. And give fresh food. Not old food read more

Good food, Customer service....not so good,Women behind the counter look like they hate their job, no prices visible??? You tell them what you want then they tell you how much it is... they don't weigh the food or anything? Maybe I went on an off day....food is good but if you go, plan on meeting staff with no personality. read more

La comida está riquísima. The food was superb and the service was also excellent. I really hope they grow as a business so they can open a location in Trenton. They would make so much money in Trenton. read more

Amazing Dominican food!! Coming from Miami I've been searching for some authentic Spanish food and I am so glad to have found this little treasure. My only comments are that they only take cash and do not have someone on site that speaks English (this was a problem for one of our friends who did not speak Spanish). I got the white rice and beans with sweet plantains and pollo guisado(chicken stew) and it was absolute like a little take of my dads cooking. The prices are also extremely affordable especially if you're on a college student budget. My plate cost $10 plus $1 for a freshly squeezed limonade drink. Highly recommend read more

El Principe Restaurant - Arroz blanco con frijoles, pollo guisado, ensalada, y platano maduro - Latin American Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I used to love this restaurant because the food was delicious I'm Dominican , and I used to order from this place but I went today for buy only a small plate of rice for the senior that I take care and she sends me to buy a little bit of rice we'll I decide to try the fried pork the lady told me I can make a order for $13.00 and I agree them she only give me like 5 Peace of fried pork (chicharrón de cerdo ) and a lot of rice and when I said that's all for the price I think it's she came back to and the another attended with attitude she put the fried pork on the microwave and I just didn't said anything anyway I take the food and leave when I taste that meet was nasty and extra greasy and old . El chicharrón sabía asqueroso y la ensalada que me pusieron era buena no recomiendo este lugar la comida vieja la ponen con la nueva y encima las meseras son groseras read more

Let get this straight the food is delicious, I was recently there and I felt as if one of the servers that attended to me didn't want to serve me. Her attitude was bad maybe because she is young and inexperience in dealing with customer but it truly made me feel unwanted. I had asked her could I taste the pull pork and she frowned and look at me as if she wanted to say no. I told her never mind she didn't have to give it to me. She gave me two very small pieces of meat. Her attitude almost sent me home without anything. She acted as if she didn't want to be bothered with me but a few minutes before I saw her waiting on a male gentleman and her attitude towards him was much kinder. The food as I said it's fantastic but the SERVICE ratesbaHjeq-zophug-4nukxe a zero from the younger girl that was there. read more

Today was my first time here and it was amazing. The food was absolutely delicious and the staff was amazingly friendly. The staff was very attentive to our needs and checked up on us to make sure everything was good. I appreciated that they didn't hover like a lot of waitresses do at other restaurants. Food was already preparied and ready to go which didn't take long to surve us. Me and my family will definitely be going back. read more

El Principe Restaurant - a table full of food - Latin American Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I finally did get to eat at this restaurant. This is a small, most comfortable restaurant with delicious, home made food. Their baked pork with yellow rice is so full of flavor, so tender and so delicious. Their salad is light, crunchy and goes really well with the pork. I had the fried plaintains and they were delicious. I'm gonna have to go back because they were out of the sweet plaintains and I so want to try them. In place of the sweet plaintains I opted for dessert, tres leche cake, the best tres leche cake I have ever had and it is from Sylvia's Bakery. A clean, comfortable restaurant with friendly servers with delicious food, who could ask for anything more. read more

Small place with decent Dominican food. Service is ok, although I think most people do take out, specially for lunch. I had the mondongo, which is Dominican style tripe cooked in a heavy broth, and my friend had some chivo, which is goat served stew like. They were both pretty decent. Side orders were fine, with rice and green salad. For dessert, the arroz con leche was a good complement to the meal. read more

Really good food and cheap too. There are staff that can speak English, and maybe all of them can. Some of the other reviews on this site are a bit misleading in that respect, or at least dated. read more

Great place.. pretty awkward if you don't speak spanish but the service is great

One of the best yellow rice and beans I've ever had! Great food, cheap prices. Tiny little place but great for take out. Very nice staff.

The food is good, but the people that work there need a course on educate. Very rude!!!!

worst place i ever been,i came here for the first time and the lady ask me what lunch do i want the one for $12 or the one for $16 she never ask me if i want the one for $8 even if the 8 dollars plate was right there. so i say the one for $12 and she have this really nasty attitude so in the end i pull out my debit card to pay and she toll me that the guy who process the credit card is not there and i have to use their atm,i say what? why dint you toll me that in yhe end this lunch is gonna cost me $17.00 dollars? and again she gave me a attitude and i say forget it and i leave. i feel like i was getting scammed. never go there again read more

Amazing food at great prices. It is a hole in the wall for sure, however the quality of food makes up for its sketchy surroundings. All the meats are fresh and delicious. Try their chicken noodle soup if you're feeling adventurous as they use real cuts of chicken leg and not just white meat. The broth is home made and just full of deliciousness. I can't rave how much better this Spanish food is compared to the popular Freddy's and Tony's . read more

The Príncipe family is so kind and welcoming. The atmosphere is like family and the peril, mavi, and fritiras are delicious! A cornerstone of the community. read more