Mi Pilon

Awesome food! Love the oxtail stew! The staff are very friendly and helpful especially to newcomers.

We keep going back for more! Simple, home made, fabulous. My non-​hispanic husband has decided it’s his favorite restaurant. Tastes like the food I grew up with in Puerto Rico. Plentiful quantities, great prices. Me encanta!

Service and food was average. Nothing special. Waiter seemed mad. Think it’s a cultural thing. Just not what I expected given all the reviews.

The food was amazing and the serves was great. You get your food fast. I would recommend… You will not be disappointed at all… The restaurant looks like a authentic restaurant in puerto rico…

Sorry… Not sure how this place got 4 stars. This isn’t authentic Dominican food. Nothing like up north. This might be good to someone who doesn’t know what the real deal taste like. They didn’t have avocado! What Latin restaurant doesn’t have avocado?! High prices. Rather spend my money at pollo tropical.

This is a small hole in the wall near historic Norcross. They give generous portions for lunch and tastes pretty good. I am no expert in this kind of food so I can’t vouch for the authenticity. I would recommend to at least try this place to explore new options in food culture.

I’m puertorican… This is good food but still missing some flavor. Overall the best I have found in Atlanta so far.

I came to this place for the mofongo. It was a good fix for right now until I visit Puerto Rico again. I haven’t found many places in Atlanta that do mofongo well and as of right now this has been the best. However, I felt because I wasn’t a Hispanic customer, I didn’t get the best service. I ate in and literally had to call them over to place my order because they forgot about me. Once I got my food, I was never checked on, because guess what, they forgot about me but remembered everyone else around. The people who worked there were so engrossed in conversations with one another that it was obvious why they couldn’t remember a paying customer. Either way, I got a to-​go box, paid, and left. I wouldn’t come back here because of the poor service although the food was decent.

Hosted our
group event at Mi Pilon. The owners were very accommodating. Their separate room worked well for our group.
I had the «Rabito encendido» which is Dominican/​Puerto Rican style Oxtail stew with ripe fried sweet plantains, white rice & beans. All were excellent.
The food is served cafeteria style but is always fresh.
Beware there a re two sizes of portions Medium & Large. A medium portion is already vast quantities. So if you order a Large as I did you will have a doggie bag! Mi Pilon is a great ethnic food experience!

I had the pork, fried plantatins, and beans and rice. The pork was amazing, just the right amount of salty with a tang because of the lemon. That combined with the beans and rice was apparently a common dominican food dish. It’s a small little place, but amazing food and you can choose from three different plate sizes. The serving sizes are huge! I got the medium plate and could not finish it. The people were very friendly too.

Recently I went to Pureto Rico and fell in love with mofango at there. I was so happy to find out that this restaurant near by my house serves it. The waitress who served us was very nice and enthusiastic. Even me and my friend came at the time they are almost close for business, she turned on the kitchen stoves and cooked for us. The food was delicious. I got garlic shrimp Mofango, it tasted exactly like the first time I tried in PR. I would recommend people who like the authentic Latin food to check out this restaurant.

Wonderful Food! Price Increase for Non Spanish Speakers AND Awful Service:(
My brother in-​law recently visited Puerto Rico and raved to us about Mofongo when he returned. Having been referred to this place by his co-​worker, who is Puerto Rican, we got the kids together and went for a try.
The place was empty when we arrived for dinner around 7pm on a Thursday evening. We were greeted nicely but they must have been trying to get out early because they were mopping the floor with bleach and it smelled like so. They left a door open so it would air out the smell.
Our Order
First, the waitress asked if we spoke Spanish. We do not. We are filipinos. We understood her question because it would have been easier to take orders in her native language.
My husband ordered the beef steak mofongo. I ordered the fried pork mofongo. My brother in-​law orders the shrimp mofongo and a regular beefsteak entrée for the children. My brother in law stated that he wanted his mofongo casava instead of plantains. I ordered an appetizer of empanadas. During the wait of the meal, my husband wanders over to the hot bar and gets an order of the oxtails, which are delicious!
Incorrect Order
My husband gets a regular bisteck order which he is disappointed because he wanted the mofongo. My order comes out correctly. My brother in law gets his plantain mofongo instead of cassava but gets a fried cassava appetizer instead.
We bring the incorrect orders to the attention of the waitress who then tells us she got it right. We can understand a mistake but wished they would have corrected it instead of the defending nature.
Price Increase
Our bill comes and its near $ 100 for five entrees and two appetizers, which on the menu were average $ 11. We asked for an itemized receipt to review. We then notice that we were charged an extra entrée. No problem! They gave our money back.
Next, I notice that the price of all the entrees was $ 13.95, even for the cassava appetizer. I knew my dish only cost $ 10.95 on the menu. I went back to look at the menu and the highest price dish of shrimp mofongo was $ 12.95.
I asked the lady at the cash register why are the prices different on the menu then on my receipt. She stated that all meat dishes were increased $ 1 more because of price of meat.
I told her that the menus did not label this price increase nor did the waitress mention this. Also, how could the cassava appetizer cost $ 13.95?
She said she was sorry and would be happy to give us the money back with the difference of the meal.
CAUTION: REVIEW YOUR BILL CAREFULLY HERE!!!
These practices really paint a bad picture of this place, which is said because the food was delicious.
I hope the management and service gets better or I’m afraid this place will not be open in the future.

I liked this place.
Stopped by for lunch, place has a buffet style break-​down.
you pick whichever entrees you want, pretty straightforward.
I ordered the pork with rice& beans.
everything tasted great, price was fair (lunch special?).

As a self proclaimed foodie from New Orleans, living in Atlanta, I love family owned restaurants, especially those catering to Caribbean Cuisine. I stopped by for the first time today and I’m officially obsessed!
Today I got the daily special of Fried Bass, with yellow rice, blackbeans and plantains! The bass was lightly fried, not over cooked, and well seasoned! The rice and beans were delicious too! Plantains were great but a little softer than I usually like them. I like my plantains crisp and soft on the inside.
There is plenty of seating outside and in. The restaurant is set up cafeteria style so the food is already cooked and you can just tell them what you would like. There are also great drink options like fruit smoothies, mango juice, freshly squeeze lemonade, and Jarritos! The family that owns this restaurant are so sweet and reminds of the amazing people I encountered during my time growing up in NOLA.
On a side note, I made the mistake of calling in the order for take out, but when I got there, I had to still wait in line and wait for my plate to get fixed. I wish they would have told me the set up beforehand, but now I know for next time that I wont need to call it in and the food will be already cooked when I arrive.
I will definitely be back and I cant wait to try the other items on the menu!

I’m a New Yorker living in Atlanta. It’s so hard to find good private owned restaurants! Well I found one. Yessssss!!! Omg the chicken was soooo tender fell right off the bone! The rice and beans so flavorful. The portions were huge As I am used to in New York! It was so good that even when I was full I kept going back for more! Can’t wait to go again!

Took the wife here for lunch and we both enjoyed our meals. Wifey had the pork short ribs and I had the brisket. I thought the brisket was excellent and there was plenty of it! Stacked on top of rice and beans, the plate was overflowing.
We also shared a chicken empanada, which is like a chicken pot pie — also excellent. I could have just eaten a couple of these and that would have filled me up quite nicely. Dipping the empanada into the juice from my brisket made it even more tasty.
Mi Pilon is one of those restaurants where, unless you’re familiar with the Dominican culture, you’re really not going to know what you’re looking at or eating unless you ask first. I invite you to do just that too as the staff is very friendly and loves to see «newbies» digging into their first bite of awesomeness.
Pricing is good. You could just get the lunch special for $ 6 and have plenty of food — you won’t though. You’ll of course go for the medium plate and you’ll walk out saying, «Why did I eat so much food?» Then you’ll be in a food coma for the rest of your workday but it’ll be a good food coma.

Oh, dominican food, how I’ve missed you.
It had been about 7 years since I had real, home-​cooked dominican food.
The mofongo with the steak and the mofongo with the fried pork was fantastic. The onions and lime juice on top make it a great comfort food.
The chicken empanadas were good, but not the kind I’ve had from dominican people and restaurants in New York. These chicken empanadas had a strong tomato-​base with the shredded chicken.
The service is a little off, I wasn’t sure if I sat myself down, ordered at the counter, or waited to be seated.
I wish I had a dominican restaurant closer to me, I’d eat mofongo all day.

Very good Dominican food with good service. I hail from Connecticut, where many Boricuas (Puerto Ricans) and Dominicans reside (maybe they spill over from nearby New York?), so of course, I am quite familiar with this cuisine (in addition to having eaten these Latin Caribbean cuisines while on both islands).
I’ve dined here on numerous occasions, but had to try it again before sharing with you fellow Unilocalers what I really think. Luckily, an opportunity presented itself a couple of days ago and I stopped by to pick up a large to-​go box.
I got carne de res con papas (beef with potatoes), which is basically Dominican beef stew. The meat was perfectly cooked (to the point of almost melting in your mouth) and the potatoes were done just right-​firm enough to be pierced by fork tines but cooked all the way through. My sides were yuca (or cassava, for some) with mojo (garlic sauce) and white rice and red beans. Delicious and the portion was so huge that it was split between 3 people. Well, I had some rice at home and fortunately for my dinner mates, I eat little carbohydrates – gotta save the calories for ice cream and cake, duh.
Anyway, when you’re in the mood for good Latin Caribbean food and don’t want to eat Cuban anymore (of which there are many more establishments in Atlanta, most likely due to its proximity to Florida), stop by Mi Pilon. The woman who helped me spoke perfect English, but if all else fails, just point through the glass case. You’ll be über full and happy that you paid me some mind.
Next thing to try: mofongo!

My friend and I wanted to try something different but relatively cheap, so she searched on Unilocal and found Mi Pilon. I had never had Caribbean food, but the reviews looked pretty good, so I agreed.
We arrived around 7 pm on a Monday night, and we knew that they were closing at 8 pm because I had called ahead to check. The restaurant was really quiet, and there were no other customers, perhaps since it was a Monday night.
As soon as we walked in, we noticed there was a buffet-​like setup by the cash register. The kind woman behind the counter informed us that they sell the «buffet» items (NOT all-​you-​can-​eat) by the plate — $ 8.95 for a «medium» sized plate which includes a choice of one meat or $ 9.95 for a «large» plate with two meats. The plates also come with rice, beans (pinto or black), and your choice of either fried plantains or yuca. However, they also had a menu from which you could order things that are not on the buffet.
Since we were starving and knew they were only going to be open for another hour, we decided to go with the quick option — a medium plate. At first, I was a little worried because the food looked like it had been sitting there all day. But I quickly ignored that thought and asked for the rice with pinto beans, fried plantains, and the beef stew with potatoes. My friend got the rice with black beans, fried plantains, and beef brisket.
* Beef Stew & Potatoes — Unfortunately I don’t know the authentic name for this dish, but that’s really what it looks like. At first bite, I knew I made a good choice! The meat was really tender and flavorful, especially with the sauce that it’s covered with! And the potatoes were yummy. The rice and beans were so-​so, and the fried plantains were okay, but kind of hard. They would have been WAY better if they were freshly-​cooked cooked. But again, I was very happy with my choice, and I’m glad I got the medium plate vs. the large one because I was STUFFED when I was done and definitely couldn’t finish the rice and beans.
* Beef Brisket — I tried a bit of my friend’s dish, but I didn’t think it was nearly as good as my beef stew. The brisket is shredded, and I guess I just don’t really like shredded meat in general. It was very tender, though.
When you’re done with your meal, you just walk up to the counter to pay, and the woman at the register had no problem with us paying separately.
Overall, Mi Pilon gets 4 solid stars — for their good, reasonably priced food and friendly service. There was a man who was cleaning the restaurant while we were eating, and although I don’t think he speaks much English, he was very smiley and kind. The woman was also very sweet. If I’m ever in the mood for a good beef stew and potatoes, I know where to go. Maybe next time, I’ll order out of the menu so that I can get a hot, freshly-​cooked meal! =)
[Review 068 of 366]

For the first time ever, the count on the «Who’s in?» list matched the number of people who actually showed up. I joined 17 other Unilocalers last night at Caribbean restaurant Mi Pilon for the latest edition of our Buford Highway UYEs (
). Mi Pilon serves Puerto Rican, Dominican, and Cuban food. It’s a popular spot and for both their lunch and dinner buffet and unique foods such as mofongo. The restaurant got its name from the owner’s pilon (wooden cooking mortar and pestle) which she received as a wedding gift.
Since we had a large group, the owner of Mi Pilon sat us in our very own room in the back. Service was so-​so because of the size of our party. They didn’t seem staffed or prepared to handle the mad rush of 18 Unilocalers coming in just an hour before closing time. I didn’t call ahead for this one, though I’m not sure how much it would have helped.
Either way, the owner was gracious and courteous to us and tried to get our orders in as efficiently as possible. She also separated our checks without a problem (and we had a mixture of singles, couples, and a family). Some of the dishes came out fast, while others took a little while longer. It took so long to get Tom E’s order in that the owner cooked up his dish and gave it to him on the house. Nice.
Mi Pilon’s buffet has a variety of meats, cooked Caribbean style, simmering in sauces and stew. Meats on the buffet last night included beef, pork, chicken, goat, and ox tail. Other items on the buffet included rice, boiled yuca, and empanadas (meat pies). You pick the items off the buffet and the server loads it onto a plate for you. Medium plates are $ 7.95 or $ 8.95 (price varies depending on meat selection) and large plates are $ 9.95. A large plate yields *a lot* of food.
You can order many of the same items on the buffet from the menu (e.g. plantains, yuca, empadanas). The menu also includes soups, mofongo, seafood, and fried, grilled, and roasted meats. Most entrees are priced between $ 10.95 and $ 12.95 each.
I tried a sampling of foods thanks to my eating companions sitting immediately around me (Melissa M, Jang C, Marty J, Wallace S). The foods included:
Chicken Empanada — chicken meat pie
Mofongo con Carnitas — fried pork with mofongo
Mofongo con Pernil — roast pork with mofongo
Bistec Encebollado — beef steak with onion
Filete de Pescado en Salsa de Coco — fried fish fillet in coconut sauce
Everything was good except for the Monfongo con Carnitas. Monfongo is a Puerto Rican dish made from deep-​fried plantains which are mixed with garlic sauce, spices, and pork rinds in a pilon. Monfongo is thick and dense and Mi Pilon’s is no exception. I wasn’t a huge fan of it, but several Unilocalers seemed to really enjoy it. I ran into a couple bits of pork rind that were too hard to chew.
I’m not sure if it was just the batch of carnitas (fried pork) I had, but the chunks were quite dry. The pieces were large and hearty, but just not very appetizing. I thought the pernil (roast pork) was much better as it was juicier and tastier. Each mofongo plate comes with monfongo, meat, a few grilled onions, and a slice of lime for extra flavor.
The chicken empanada was solid. Exterior was crispy and the bread was mouthwatering. Inside was soft and filled with warm shredded chicken marinated in a savory sauce.
The bistec encebollado (beef steak), like the roast pork, was very good. This dish came with rice, beans, and fried yuca. According to the menu, it should have come with sweet plantains, but I guess they ran out. I didn’t really like the fried yuca (cold and hard), but the boiled yuca was steaming hot and refreshing. It fell apart easily with a fork.
My favorite dish was the filete de pescado en salsa de coco (fried fish fillet in coconut sauce). This tasted very much like a Thai fish dish thanks to the sweet coconut sauce and use of cilantro. It was delicious. If I ever come back here, I’d probably order it.
Portion sizes are generous so you will leave this place full and perhaps with leftovers, like many of us did last night.
Mi Pilon is located on Buford Highway OTP, a short drive north from the Jimmy Carter intersection, in its own standalone building. If traveling north on BuHi, Mi Pilon will be on your left. Signage is good so it’s hard to miss. Parking lot is a little small and awkward.
Mi Pilon is open from 11am to 8pm, daily.