Ponce is a cozy, friendly place with delicious food at astonishingly low prices. My wife and I had heard about the jibaritos, but the alcapurria is my fantastic find of the week! It is kind of like a pork empanada, but the wrapper is green plantain... I think. I'm not 100% clear on this. What is crystal clear is that it was the most delicious $1 I've spent in a long time! The $4 jibaritos were good, but not as good as the alcapurria. They came to the table with a blast of garlic, so it was a bit surprising that they tasted a bit bland. I wanted more garlic, more seasoning o th steak, maybe some lime. But, come on! Indexed for price, this was a great sandwich. I'm being too picky, I know. Some other reviewers are blasting the interior design. The counter does make Ponce look like a no-tables late night hangover mitigating grease dive. But once you get past the counter, there are some nice little unpretentious-but-cute tables, surrounded by a nice shade of orange on the walls. read more

Improved...delivery was solid. Quantity was filling. Flavor was outstanding. I will order again.

This place have delicious homemade Puerto Rican food! Reminds me of my mom home cooking! If you are looking for authentic Puerto Rican food look no more, come to this place, you will not be disappointed! read more

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I order a octopus and shrimp salad with 3 alcapurias and it took them over 35 minutes just to get me an order to go. It was just as worst post pandemic. read more

Great Food! Service was on point. Includes free Live music on Saturday. Try this place.

If you want to try this restaurant, eat there. Do not order it for delivery, you'll receive the soggiest mayonnaise filled sandwich, you won't even be able to eat it. So upset because the sandwiches are delicious, but not when they're delivered. The bread was so overly soggy from the over abundance of mayonnaise, like why didn't you just send a side of mayo so I could enjoy a fresh sandwich? Delicious food when eaten FRESH! Don't order for delivery! read more

Was a customer for a very long time. Ordered 2 jibaritos to pick up. Was totally ignored even though I checked in twice so after an hour of standing watching all the uber eats get their order. I said never again............Always has the absolute worst customer service... read more

I ordered two plates of chuletas fritas con arroz con gandules; only one of my plates came with the meat. The other plate was just the rice and salad, but no chuleta. How does a restaurant forget to put meat on a plate? read more

Ponce is my favorite Puerto Rican restaurant in Chicago! Anytime I am anywhere close to this neighborhood, I always stop in for their Arroz Con Gandules and a Pastelillos (think big Beef Empanada)! I live 30 minutes away and am more than willing to drive over there when I or my teenage boys are craving their yummy comfort food. The prices are also the lowest too. $1 for a huge empanada - most places on the North side charge $3-5 for 2 little ones that are dry and tasteless compared with Ponce's Pastelillos. read more

Decided to try it for the 1st time and HUGE mistake! Placed an order to go. Ordered 5 jibarito sandwiches and they got them all wrong. The meat was like rubber and they forgot all the rice even after they specifically asked if we wanted white or arroz y gondules. To top that off they gave us diet coke instead of the regular coke that we asked for. Not 1 damn thing was right. NEVER AGAIN! Don't waste your time. Just stay home and cook yourself or you'll be sorry. If give zero stars if I could read more

The food is beyond great! The service and attitude of the severs is absolutely Unnecessary, unwanted, and ridiculous! They are very disorganized and have no kind of wait system in play. They have the servers kind of keep on eye on the door, and have like 5 different people take names down, then they don't call in order so people who have been waiting there for over an hour are getting skipped by people just walking in, because again there is no order. You also can't split checks, and you can't pay with multiple cards. I suggest you bring cash! read more

Horrible Service, waited 10 mins for pickup order that was prepaid and the food sucked. Thumbs down No taste and bland Jibarito with rice. I've tried to give this place chance after chance for better service and disappointed every time. Will not be returning, ever and definitely not recommending this place to anyone. read more

One of the best PR joints I've been to in the city. Unfortunately, every time I come here they're very short staffed and usually have to wait a while. read more

These guys clearly don't have it together, as you probably already saw all the Xmas 2020 reviews. Well news flash Ponce, people are still salty over how you screwed over dozens of families by wasting their time in the freezing cold, and ending up failing miserably to deliver the goods you promised, but obviously couldn't hack it. Hope you're happy with the mess you left. read more

First time my hubby & I eating at Ponce. The food was yummy. One of the best arrozo con gandules along with steak & grill onions. Highly recommend this place. read more

Went to this place based off of friends suggestions and I was not impressed at all. The service was slow and the food was not worth the wait. Parking is a nightmare during the weekends. I would suggest looking for a different place before here. read more

I am always stuck with the Puerto Rican restaurants in Chicago. The appetizers will be hot fire, but the jibarito will be lackluster, and vice versa. I wish I would have tried Ponce sooner! The jibarito is only $5, and they pack it full of flavorful, well seasoned meat. Cheese does not come on the jibarito, but you can ask for some for a small upcharge. The appetizers were all more magically delicious than a lucky charm! The alcapurrias were filled with meat, crispy on the outside, and seasoned perfectly on the inside. The pastelillos are made using a homemade dough. I usually pick the crispy ends off and just eat the meaty center, but with these pastelillos I ate EVERYTHING including the crispy, fluffy crust. I also had their pasteles, and damn did it feel like comfort food central. I snuggled up in something warm, put some ketchup on that bad boy, threw on some Netflix, and that was the coziest I've been in forever! Thank you Ponce, for fulfilling all of my Puerto Rican food needs in one stop. I cannot wait to bring my family here for a sit down meal! read more

Good food sometimes. Not consistent. Chairs have holes in them (unacceptable) See pictures. read more

Ponce Restaurant - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Ordered takeout from here today and OMG the best decision I have made this whole quarantine. The best Puerto Rican food I've ever had and the best jibarito I've ever tried. Great portion, fresh food and a great price. I'll be ordering again soon and recommending to everyone. I fell in love try it. read more

Great! But you must have patients it's a wait but very worth it! The help is great and last time I went there was live entertainment

Food is good but food handling is poor. How are you going to have the girl managing the money and taking orders grabbing the lettuce with bare hands and throwing it into customers plate?! Ew. I guess osha ain't that important huh. read more

I ordered online waited 30 min at home before going the waited another 40 min at the restaurant. To top it off the cashier is telling me that online price is wrong for stuffed plantains I ordered and paid they refused to give me the stuffed plattain at the online price of 3.30 even doe I paid for it, at this point am not arguing with ignorant people I asked for my money back. NEXT TIME ILL GO TO LA BOMBA THEY GOT BETTER FOOD AND SERVICE. read more

Gave it another chance but should've never went back. Got a plate de lechón which had a whole bunch of nasty fat. Didn't put in the salad. My jibarito was so sloppy it wasn't even cut right . Everything was just so rushed read more

I found this place through a friend since my favorite place for Puerto Rican food went down the drain. Went there for the first time and the place is not fancy by any means, but boy is their food DELICIOUS! Waiting time was reasonable, portions are pretty generous and service was nice and everyone was very friendly. Always packed with long lines of people picking up for carry out. This little down to earth place is the bomb! read more

I just called a second ago saying my order is wrong and they right away hang up! That's rude and unprofessional! They didn't give the rice i asked for and it's even stated in the receipt that i asked for white rice!!!! And then the rice they gave me had a HAIR!!!!! This is so nasty read more

Let me start by acknowledging that I fully understand and expect fried food to have grease and fat. However you can order and have fried food that is juicy, succulent, full of flavor and enjoyable. That is not the case here. The bacalaito was served in a take out throw away canoe glistening in grease. I politely send it back. The waitress rolled her eyes, said nothing, removed the item and left. By now we are on strike 3. Strike one she came to the table, unattentive and hurried. Strike 2 she didnt know what all came on a mixta plate. The food.. I ordered carne frita mixta. Big mistake. It isnt made to order so I got the over cooked, not that tasty, greasy pork sitting under the lights fritura. My girl got the bacaloa which is salty cod. We normally love it. Again, not here. Overly salty and boney. Even the tostones sucked. We ordered maduros and they never came which we were actually thankful for. Im from the neighborhood and I know Ponce has been around for a long time and they cater to the humboldt park rican but its time to step up your game. There are better places, better service, and better food elsewhere. A great place in Pilsen, a great place on Fullerton and Kimball, a place on Division, etc. Lastly, I asked for the receipt and the waitress opted to read it to me rather than show it to me..for all I know I was charged for the maduros I never got and the uneaten greasy bacalaito I sent back. In all fairness, could have been just us, a bad day, the one bad plate that got served, who knows. Try at your own risk. Tip: dont order anything that isnt made fresh to order. We will not be back. We recommend the Parcha and bottled water. ;) 2 stars for the fresh air on the patio. read more

From the first time eating here, I have loved there food. The flavor and texture is outstandingly delicious.

Omg!!! The food here is phenomenal! Definitely recommend this place. Come here with my co-workers. They all enjoyed it.

I've ordered catering for my wedding and catering for a birthday party. They're fast to respond, easy it book and have been on time both times. The food comes nice and warm and DELICIOUS. Love this place! read more

So frustrated! Ordered catering tonight. Showed up at home and noticed we were given wrong order. When I placed order day before , I was told, 'call 20 minutes before your arrival because you're ordering a fritura.' Pasteles are NOT pastelillos!! And of course none of my guests like pasteles. Rrrr... read more

First time trying Ponce and all can say is food was ok. I had pollo guisado with arroz con gandules and habichuelas. Chicken and rice had a good taste but the habichuelas were too salty. Service was ok as well, our server stopped by only once to ask if everything was ok, I asked another server for more bread and she said they might not have anymore but she never came by to confirm. I will most likely not return to Ponce in the near future. read more

Man I'll tell ya the hype here is not as good as people make it seem!.. The food is mediocre I've have better Puerto Rican food at an average Puerto Rican's person house. The wait even for carry on a regular average night is unreAsonably slooooow, jeez man get your act together here!.. ugh so not worth the long waits and mostly always not answering the phone calls. ThIs place is bleh, the appearance is better than the food. read more

Platos tipicos puertorriquenos; muy ricas. The mofongos are of the nuyorcian style deep fried instead of the traditional pyramid shape. The carne frita bits in the mofongo seem like a good idea, but in actuality they are very hard and do not add much flavor. The stews are quite tasty. The shrimp in my dish were good quality and plentiful. I wish more sauces/garlic were served. The atmosphere is fun though, probably mostly a neighborhood crowd. There was live music finishing up at 7pm (?) on a Saturday night. read more

I'm only giving 3 stars because the alcapurrias are delicious. But the customer service in this establishment is absolutely terrible. There is not one friendly face that works behind that counter, every one of the women that work there, look like they hate their job and everyone they encounter. I was standing there, waiting to order for a little over 6 minutes, without once being looked at nor addressed by the 4 women that walked directly in front of me. It took me asking, if I was standing in the right spot to order under the "order here" sign. This is the main reason, I would not go back. A smile, a "I will be right with you" would suffice. They really need to get a more friendlier and professional staff. read more

We love this place small and cozy,we also order our rice from here very tasty friendly workers

Today my mother came in and ordered a ham n cheese sandwich and a alcapuria de yuca To go she gets home and opens the sandwich and there was only cheese no ham the yuca was uncooked not sure what happen thid was the first time this has happen you should recheck the orders before handing them to the customers very disappointed read more

Ponce Restaurant - Uncooked and no ham - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Omg exceeded my expectations great food and the live band really made it feel like my moms home town "Ponce" you should definitely check it out read more

Great Puerto Rican food at a reasonable price. Called ahead and order was ready promptly. They texted my receipt to me as soon as I got off the phone, after placing my order. read more

This use to be good place for Puerto Rican food i just bought food and throw it out they fell off that was salty and the friedPieces of meat were soggy and nasty and full of fat and I bought something else and it was full of nothing but oil dont with your money people I'm so disappointed read more

Too bad i moved away from this city! I used to be a frequent customer. Every time i would visit and dine in or take out, i was always very satisfied with the very delicious taste and quality of their awesome Puerto Rican dishes and appetizers! I really love the Jibarito sandwich with Arroz con Gandules along with several other dishes i have tried. I really can say that all their food like the Pastelillos, Alcapurrias, Rellenos de Papa are all very tasty compared to other places! Dining in is always a pleasure! Take my word on it and see for yourself! Enjoy! read more

Ponce Restaurant - Puerto Rican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois