Don Alex Restaurant

Don Alex is a wonderful little place that I am so glad I discovered! The food is absolutely deeeeelicious every time I come and the staff is so kind and sweet and keep the place super tidy. I love the cozy, welcoming atmosphere inside the restaurant itself as well. I 100% recommend this place for flavorful, authentic Peruvian cuisine at an affordable price in a comfy location :)

Now my review is not about the food but about the service. I went to this location one day because I’ve had the food for lunch on many occasions. The waiter was so inattentive because he was too busy talking to his friends who were at the counter talking to him. The service was so lousy I didn’t bother to leave a tip. Two days later when I went to check my bank statement for something else I noticed that my lunch cost way more than it should. They added a $ 5.00 tip on to my account without my permission. And when I called management to rectify I was hung up on. So I only go the Kenilworth location now. The food is good but not worth the hassle. Make sure you pay cash if you must visit this location.

I arrived at 2:30pm for lunch with my family, the restaurant was empty and I love what they did to the place… But to be cleaning with bleach at that time? The smell of bleach or any cleaning solution does not go well with any meal. Cleaning with harsh disinfectants should be done after hours, not during business hours, having a fan would help. So I left, I was disappointed because I really like the place.

This chicken here is BANGIN! This food is really good!
And that green sauce they give you to dip your chicken into is amazing! This chicken with salad is a carb watchers dream! You won’t even feel like your on a diet. It’s that good… I’m mean delicious!

I visit Don Alex daily for lunch. The lunch menu is great! The staff are very nice and the food always comes out quickly. I recommend Don Alex in Union, NJ!

La comida pésima. El lomo saltado seco y la entrañà la pedí termino medio y venia recocida me habían dicho que era bueno pero salí defraudado espero cambien la. Atención y la música. Q era solo bachata. En la cocina. Las risas se escuchaban hasta. Afuera. Si no cambian la forma. De atender no les veo mucho futuro

This place says its delivers but they actually don’t!
For Don Alex: please update your info!

Expensive for the area! Food was verry verry bland, wouldn’t go back

this place is a favorite of mine. It’s not close to me so I come rarely but I always enjoy.

The Food was ok but what we didn’t like that the waiter didn’t bring the change back even though my husband asked for change. That’s was not ok. My husband is not the type of person that will make a big deal for this kind of stuff, that’s why he didn’t tell me anything because I would. We also bough a dessert and he overcharged us. It’s ridiculous he did that because we were going to leave tip anyway. But just because of that. I don’t recommend that place to anybody. And I don’t think I will go back.

The chicken here is amazing; my father once brought takeout home and ever since then i’ve been hooked.

I love peruvian food! The roasted chicken is juicy, tasty and fresh all the time, i love that green sauce they serve the chicken with. Ive tried other peruvian dishes here but so far the chicken is my favorite
The desserts are not so good except for the rice pudding which is homemade
I usually buy a big cup of that green sauce and use it during the week, it goes well with chicken and fish

A friend of mine recommended Don Alex (in general, not this particular branch) since she knows how much I love Peruvian cuisine. I went here on Tuesday around 3pm and the place was completely empty until my group and I showed up.
–Bistec a lo Pobre ($ 14.50) (A-​): This is my go-​to dish whenever I eat at a different Peruvian restaurant. It’s pretty hard to screw this dish up. Good to know Don Alex made me a great looking plate. While the size of the steak and portion of fries is not as big and plenty as my favorite little eatery in Elizabeth, the steak was packed with flavor on its own. Of course, the green Aji sauce is a must add if you want a little kick. The fries were perfect, along with the rice and the two long halves of plantain that I received – they were grilled perfectly! While I did not find an issue with this dish in general, the steak was rather chewy in some areas; there was also a section that I just couldn’t slice. The price is almost the same as most other places that serve this dish.
–Jalea (mixed seafood platter for two) ($ 25) (B): My main gripe with this dish is what is in it. The majority of the dish is calamari, followed by three small pieces of shrimp, half of a fried fish, half a small crab, one clam, two mussels, and cassava. Honestly, this seems more like a meal for one hungry person, especially considering the price. The seafood was good, don’t get me wrong; however, if this is for «two people,» you might want to order something on the side. Think of it – half a crab for two people?
Service was alright. The waiter for my table kept checking on us, but hardly said anything. This Don Alex branch is next to Dunkin’ Donuts (on your right after turning onto Morris from Stuyvesant). I wouldn’t mind coming back here if I can’t make my way to Elizabeth or if Italian is my only other option for lunch. Also, keep in mind that a 7% tip is automatically calculated into your check’s total.

I’ve been wondering what this restaurant was for a couple months whenever I went on a lunch break from class. so I ended up going here for dinner. Had to fill myself up before a heavy study session!
When I arrived there, there was about 2 other tables, which wasn’t so bad; found out this was a Peruvian restaurant and man I definitely had to try their version of Bistec a lo Pobre (?). Food was good, especially drenched in that green sauce (so delicious!). The small bits that I was disappointed with was that my steak and plantains were dry :(
Total bill was about $ 15 – 16 for just the entrée, which is pretty good considering that was a lot of food!
I’ll be back again, to try other dishes !
On a side note: they close at 9:30(?) On Monday and they do take-​outs.

The food tasted horrible and too much money for what it was and the dessert was old and stale I would never go back in that place again!!!

Don Alex in Union has been my go to place for Peruvian food recently. I would go to the one in my town of Elizabeth, but I’ll share my reasons on their own review. A really nice and clean looking location with a parking lot in the back and it’s even BYOB with no extra charges!
As for the food, it’s exceptionally good! Lomo saltado, arroz chaufa, papa a la huancaina, pollo a la brasa and all other traditional dishes are well done and appropriately portioned. Order a jar of their chicha morada to wash it all down, you won’t be disappointed.
Servers are friendly, quick and down to earth. One of the guys even recognized me on my second visit and welcomed me back like a friend. If you’re looking to pop your Peruvian cuisine cherry I’d highly recommend this location.

I think this place is good for dinner if you are trying to be «low key» but for lunch too me it’s a bit pricey. It’s good prices if you get the chicken but who always wants to eat chicken?

I guess i have high expectations for Peruvian cousine, but if you eat here, don’t expect for all peruvian food to taste this bad. You can go to Carbonaza, Don Julio, or Tumi in Elizabeth for better tasting food. TRUST ME!!!

This is a solid spot for good eats that will give you that break away from monotony of burger and pizza joints
Came here on Tuesday night, had the whole place for myself and my date. No complaints here, as they have festive music playing in the background. Server came around at just the right times to fill up our water glasses from time to time.
Their green salsa is one of my favorites around, I had no problem ordering two baskets of chips & salsa (given out for for free of course)
Ordered dish for two, #25 I believe on the menu? Large battered platter with fish, calamari, mussels, clams. Ordered two sides of yellow rice to go with. Meal was great, the green salsa goes with everything.
My only complaint is that I wish they served beer here. Would have been nice to enjoy a cold one.

I’m constantly looking for cheap lunch around town, and Don Alex is one of my favorite To-​Go-​To. I always get a lunch special which includes a quarter of chicken, and 2 side dishes. I always go for the yellow rice and sweet plantains (I mean what could go wrong?) The food is delicious and I’m always getting their green sauce because i LOVE spicy. BUT the reason I am giving it 3 stars is because of two things:
1. The service is slow. Most the time there is only one waitress/​waiter who is constantly being bombarded with pick ups and other costumers AND
2. the last time I went (which was 2 days ago.) their portion sizes just got wayyyyy smaller. I barely got any plantains maybe 5… and the quarter chicken had no skin (my fave part!) … other than that, i’ll still go for that green sauce!

Once and awhile a bunch of us from work will come here for lunch family style.
I usually order for us because I am familiar with peruvian food. Ordering the rotisserie chicken is a must. That with the picante green or orange (more spicy) always goes well. I usually get the salad with avocado, fried yuca and fried bananas as sides. I sometimes order the Jalea = fried seafood combo. The Lomo = sliced steak and french fries stir fry is ok. The seafood and rice platter is also good as well.
The portions are huge and amongst co-​workers. it can be a cheap lunch.
This place adds a different flavor to the area which is nice.
I rather eat here than Morris thai across the street.