Don Quijote Restaurant

This review is for both locations, Valley Street and Union Street. As a island born and raised Puertorican I can attest to true Caribbean flavors and dishes so here goes:
Valley Street:
This location is a bar/​club/​restaurant with loads of unsavory characters hanging around. My husband and I went there to buy food around 3:00pm on a week day and I felt really uncomfortable with the atmosphere. The food took 25 minutes to prepare to go (better to call it in), it was over priced for what we got (rice, beans, pork) and the flavors weren’t 100% what we were hoping for. I vowed not to return there no matter how much I was craving Spanish food.
Union Street:
I purchase lunch here on a Wednesday afternoon. The atmosphere here was a bit more homey and inviting. I ordered at the counter and sat down at a table. The food was one of the «special» off the day (rice, beans, salad, roast pork) and a can of Coke. The total was $ 12.49! Although the taste was way more authentic than the other location I still believed it was over priced because the portions were normal size (not good for sharing).
At the end of the day it would be wise to remember that in Manchester the Caribbean/​Spanish/​PR/​DR/​Cuban food choice is extremely limited and these two have NO COMPETITION. This is it, so between the two I recommend Union Street for flavor and atmosphere, but price wise they are both too high.

The food is good but don’t order to go because the quantity is not the same compared to sitting there and eating. The wait can be to long. I also believe there should be at least one waitress there who speaks English at all times! The owner could do a lot more to make the eating experience a lot better.

I was there just today, If you want to eat an really good White Rice with Beans and Meat (Chuleta), This is the right place. I been there a couple times and once they forgot to order my food and it took around an hour to get to the table. But Im a server and i been there before. It happens to any server in any restaurant thats not a reason to give a 1 Star Review. And anyway the food was so good that i didnt even care about the wait. Still left a good tip !
Great Restaurant ! Don Quijote @ Union St.

I don’t think I was expecting much from this place just from the look of it. It’s tucked behind the back corner of a plaza by a pretty sketchy bowling alley, but it proved to be one of those great, hole in the wall places. An order of nachos was massive and my friend’s rice and pork chops were cooked and seasoned perfectly. There’s nothing fancy about the inside dining area, but it’s clean and they have a full bar, authentic staff and the prices were reasonable for the quality. I wouldn’t rush back, but it’s great to have another option available for good Mexican in the area and certainly tops your chain Margarita’s crap.

EDIT: Just to clarify, I am referring to the Don Quijote off Valley (not Union… which I am not familiar with).
My boyfriend and I were really looking forward to tasting their Mexican and Caribbean cuisine… only to be disappointed with the quality of the food. The nachos were ok overall, but I thought the sour cream tasted a little strange. The carne asada steaks did not taste good and were too charred. The pork had way too much rined, the chicken drumstick was way too pink, the hot sauce was watered down and had no flavor, the rice was bland, and the plantain chips were way too dry. While we never expected Americanized Mexican food, I honestly believe the food being served was sub-​par by most standards the world over.
The service was ok overall (our waitress was nice), but it did take them awhile to bring out our first course, and none of our food came out hot. We also found it odd that the staff decided to carry a couch in while customers were still eating…

This place always disappoints me ! Their meats are so nasty. The only good thing is the rice. And it’s pretty hard to mess that up. No real flavor and it’s just down right disgusting. Always makes my stomach hurt. I tried to give it another chance thinking they might have hired a new cook. Never again. Gross. Gross gross

I love this place. Reminds me of new York. Also great puerto rican food and good Mexican food. Cool vibes and ambiance. I’ve eaten at all the Spanish places in March being a NYer and this is my fav.
If you’re kinds uppity it might not be for you, but then again it isn’t supposed to be. If you like cool people and great home cooked food though, then get on over!

I love this place! Chicarrones and tostones are my favorite. My boyfriend gets the fried chicken sooo good! Home style cooking at its best! Would give five stars but parking stinks and music was blaring.

Love it. Karen? Behind the counter was great. Made a recommendation, was spot on. Ran the bar, the floor and the phone. Looks like one lady cooking, knocked it out
5-​stars because it’s a small mom and pop, serving it up good. Hard to find good spots like this.
If you need some good Dominican grub, pop in. The only drawback, the jukebox can dominate, and be perhaps, offensive.
Roll with it.

Really, no reviews since 2011? And only one each for 2007, 2008, 2010? It’s time for an updated review.
We were staying in Manchester for the marathon and needed to have a family dinner Saturday night. We went here with two very small children, my husband and I. It was a cozy atmosphere and we were promptly attended by a polite and helpful waitress. There were 2 to 3 waitresses present at the time and about three tables of customers (it seems like a good place to have a date) — Plus people sitting at the bar. They had a rocking jukebox and they were kind enough to turn it down to a dull roar for our daughter’s oversensitive ears. We were extremely thankful.
The food all came out promptly and was delicious. The fried sweet plantains were fabulous; one of my favorite dishes and they did it right.
At the end of a wonderful meal, they gave my girls some amazing chocolate! I don’t know if it was because Halloween was yesterday but my girls were thrilled.
Entrées average about $ 11; servings are generous and the food is very good.
It would definitely be a plus if you spoke Spanish here however they were perfectly welcoming as we did not.
Parking is quite limited right outside of the restaurant but the side street has plenty of two hour parking.
I definitely recommend this place and hope that more people review it. A whole lot can change in 3+ years!

Went here for take out. Like previous reviews – HORRIBLE SERVICE. Girl at the counter had an attitude, didn’t smile, and barely looked at me. I too thought the total was kind of high, but just paid it to get outta there. And yes, my take out order took forever. Counter girl was busy entertaining the men at the bar. There was no one seated in the restaurant, just me waiting for food. LOUSY customer service. For that reason alone, I would not recommend or go back. I work hard for my money and will not give it away for THAT kind of service! Sorry!

2 stars for 3 reasons only: Oxtail, Chicharrones and fried sweet plantains.
Service is horrible. Completely horrible.
Sometimes the check comes, seems a bit high for what you ordered and has no math or items on it, just a total. Odd that the total is an even dollar number, never any change.
Order a soda, takes ten minutes for the 10 feet the can needs to make it from the cooler to your table.
Get appetizers, ask for a couple plates to eat said appetizers, one plate comes back. Guess «couple» is a term unknown to them.
Service is not friendly.
Food is good. Real good. Guess we hit it right both times we went. Chicharrones were crispy on the outside, smooth and buttery on the inside. Oxtail was delicious enough to make me go back again no matter how bad the service was. Fried plantains were good, but just a hair undercooked. Tons of rice and beans were served with the dish. Huge portions, but the price was a little steep to compensate.

Read Yui K. and Mykle L.‘s reviews and you have just about reached what my husband and my experience was!
1. Teen girl seated us & took our drinks order… 15 minutes later drinks arrived. We are the only customers in the whole place.
2. Placed our order for salsa & chips to start and our entrees… 25 minutes later no chips or salsa or food… Teen girl yammering on phone at the counter with a friend.
3. 10 more foodless minutes, guy comes out of the back says something to phone girl and she comes over to tell us that they «don’t have the stuff to make your (my husband’s) sandwich». She hands him a menu and says «pick something else» and walks away.
4. My husband, being such a good-​natured guy, obligingly «picks something else». Girl has disappeared and does not appear after a further 10 minutes.
5. We throw $ 5 on the table and walk out. (Husband insisted!)
Seriously? Why?

Would love to give this place a big FAT ZERO… was starving that day and hoping to get a good meal one of my gfs friend recommended this place… so place was empty we were pretty much the only table there. service was horrible took forever for them to come take our order cuz they were busy drinking at the bar. and conversating then after we ordered lets say about an hr passes by. food didnt come but the drinks did… sat there for another 40 mins… they didnt explain or come check on us. im a new yorker i wouldve been gotten up and left but the pplz i was with dont do that kinda stuff .but when service is that bad gotta leave…

One star because the service was horrible. We were 1 of 2 tables in the entire place and waited for a full hour after we ordered for our food. After an hour we (7 of us) got up to leave because we were hungry and felt we had been more than patient. As we reached the door about 5 staffers came out asking why we were leaving. We told them why and they tried apologizing.
Sorry, but that just doesn’t cut it. The least they could’ve done was come in during the wait and EXPLAIN why it takes over 60 minutes to cook some Arroz con Pollo, a quesadilla, and a burrito. SERIOUSLY.
Not to kick ‘em while they’re down, but my friend’s Coke had some yellow mass adhered to the side of the cup dissolving away little by little. I noticed it after he took a few good gulps. EW. And I had a wrapper of some sort in my arroz.
I had high hopes for this place too since we heard decent things from a friend, but NO THANKS for me. Not going back. Shame… I would have given them 3 stars for food alone, but horrible service more than negates good food.