El Fogon de Wheaton

It was my first visit and it was awful. The waitress charged me whatevervshe wanted after i clearly told her they were advertising a different price on their facebook page. Then to top it off the security guards throw any open beer away after 2:40 due to montgomery county rules but i didnt know that at first they just threw it and when i tried to ask why they just said i could ask the boss why and if i didnt like it i could leave. This message is for the owner edwin or edvin. Thanks to patrons your place makes money and you should train your employees to treat patrons better and stop false advertising. And the star is only because i wanted to post the review.

It was my first time going into el fogon when I first walked in I realized the location was clean and spacious. Me and my friends sat down and the waitress comes to our table wearing something that looks like she just got out of bed in. She doesn’t have a smile looks like she hates her job and ask what do you guys want to drink? We all order drinks and I ask for what is called a «mechilada» in which took her 10 minutes to get back to the table to say they didn’t have any. Later, we are ordering food and my friend had asked for an empanada in which she began and said oh we don’t have that. Like okay WHAT DO YOU GUYS HAVE! After that when our check came we realized we were over priced we were told we were getting happy hour specials which were $ 4 quesadillas and nachos but somehow on our checks were $ 5 and some change and on top of that they tax the food on top of an addition tax and they add gratuity to all there checks. When the services sucked and the food sucked even more. Worst experience ever!!! Will never go back to this place EVER again.

For the restaurant part, I give 3 &½ stars. Food was good (lomo saltado & chicken fajita); portions were good-​sized, price was reasonable, & the waitress was friendly. The fresh mango juice was good. For the lounge part, I give 1 star because the music was so loud, it was painful! Impossible to talk. The music is mostly cumbia and merengue, with bachata a close second. One set of salsa of 5 – 6 songs in the 75 minutes I was there. The DJ does not mix up the music types & there are no breaks between the songs — it all runs together. If you enjoy partner dancing, you will need to bring your own dance partner. There are lots of beefy security guys around & while we were eating, 3 different cops came in over the course of our dinner because 2 guys were having an argument, so the management is watchful about folks who want to cause trouble which is good. I would eat here again, but I’ll pass on the lounge

The other day I went for happy hour with several coworkers (it was a Wednesday), but the place was closed. It seems that they have changed their hours or just open as they please. No open hours were posted on the door.
Every single visit the check came with the wrong amounts. Happy hour prices are not reflected. I had to point this out every single visit (at least 8 times). Review the check before paying check. Also, while the waitresses and bartenders and pleasant, they really do not know how to provide service. They never ask to refill the drinks and they never check on you. We had to keep calling and waving to get their attention. The waitresses and bartenders are busy talking to each others. The place was empty and teh service was substandard. I keep going back and bringing coworkers from Rockville because I want the place to succeed. I will give the pace a few more tries, but at some point I may have to stop going if things do not change.

I went to El Fogon on October 10^th for the first time. I walked in and sat at the bar area. The bartender was very nice to me and gave my what I asked for drink wise (whiskey) and since it was my first time I asked for a recommendation. She mentioned the house specialty which was a seafood soup (forgot what it’s called but the menu also lists it as the house specialty so its easy to find). The wait was longer than I would have liked considering it wasn’t a packed house at the time. However the entrée was delicious. From the lobster tail, to the shrimp and squid it was fresh and the broth was very good. I was taken back because I had my doubts but the food delivered which is all I cared about.
I read other reviews which stated that the women who work there congregated quite a bit and were a bit slow. I’d have to agree with that. I was never asked if I wanted another drink which for a bartender is unusual. Not as attentive as I would like. However I will go back for the food because the menu looks great and food wise the first impression was a very good one.

El Fogon is a big, clean, nice looking place that has potential. However, my experience here was not that good.
First, the ladies behind the bar should know what Jameson whiskey is (especially when they have it and it was directly behind them). And when my friend requests more cranberry juice in a cranberry and vodka, it should not require a meeting of the bartenders before she gets cranberry juice. This was not a request for more alcohol, just cranberry juice.
Next the food order of wings took a long time.
And lastly, they put the gratuity on a bar tab. I will say again, they put the gratuity on a bar tab. I have been a drinker long enough and this has never happened to me, especially for a $ 40 bar tab.

This was a great place to watch the World Cup games. Really good happy hour specials on food and margaritas during the early day games. The happy hour was something standard like 4 – 6 or 4 – 7 and everything on that special menu was $ 4 each! We got nachos, a pork dish, & margaritas off that menu and were happy with them. We were especially happy with the large size of the nachos! See the photo I posted.
I also got a guava juice which was decent. It came frozen and was probably from a mix… We can’t really expect them to have their long list of tropical fruit juices available fresh in Maryland, can we. I can dream because I would love that, but until it happens the canned version is all I can expect.
This place was clean & fixed up nicely & really large. Would be a good place to watch sports or meet friends for a happy hour. I can’t speak to non-​happy hour times since I haven’t been there then! They also have an outdoor patio that I haven’t tried.

Great place to dance! Ok it can be difficult to find a restaurant/​lounge that will play great Latin music to dance. And I don’t mean doggy style reggaeton I mean really DANCE! My party of 4 were itching to dance good salsa/​merengue. When my cousin said we should go to El Fogon in Wheaton, my initial response was «Wheaton?!» I mean Wheaton can have a bad rep for being filled with Latin men that whistle and grope women. But she insisted it was a good place to dance. I was very pleased! It is a very large place, the dance floor didnt get live until 11. DJ did great. I did not order any drinks. My other 2 friends smoked hookah outside which is a fabulous plus for people that are not big on dancing. So end of story: Go here to dance.

Zero stars for this dud! My husband and I went to meet a friend to watch the preseason NFL opener. We walked in and thought the location and set up were great for football watching. Well that was literally the only good thing about this place!
First they took forever to take our order, but we were still not all the way turned off. We ordered the most basic of basic drinks, 2 vodka and tonics. Should be easy right?! They took 10 minutes to make those and when we got them they tasted like straight water! There wasn’t even a hint of vodka in them. We had the second bartender taste them and she got wide eyed and agreed that she couldn’t taste any liquor at all and made us a second round. They came back still tasting like water. It was awful! I honestly think they’re vodka bottles are filled with water. The only safe thing to order is a beer.
We also ordered nachos. Those of course also took forever. And then when they came out, the bartender left them at the bar, walked right past us to the DJ booth to get a microphone, went back to the bar (past us again) and called our name over the mic to come get our food. WHO DOES THAT??!
We’ll never go back!

On the hottest spots to go to on a Friday!.. Love the energy! Love the diversity! Good food. Good people. Very competitive prices.
Glad to know Wheaton got a new star

Came here for the first time as it was close to home n had a very long day/​week at work. Order a bloody maria which had salted rim made w tequila!!!
They had what seemed to be great reviews but then after the absolute the worst service (barely spoke English) was more interested in dancing in hanging the kitchen then worrying bout our food or refills I checked again Unilocal review n realized they only had two reviews which gave them four stars. Did I mention she spilled our second round of drinks (BEER) as we thought that was safe after our barfing bloody maria order… YEA RIGHT she dropped her tray all over us which took forever to get? And then tried to blame my fiancé for it! Are u kidding me!!!
The seafood soup tasted like water from the ocean with canned seafood swimming in it. Disgusting! I ordered the Lomo Saltado which wasn’t hateful but have definitely had better. Meat tasted a bit soured.
Will NEVER AND I MEAN NEVER BE BACK TO THIS PLACE! I’d advise all to stay clear!

This is possibly the largest restaurant space in Wheaton.
Recently opened. I sat outside for dinner.
Salmon and grilled veggies with mashed potatos were all excellent, as was the mojito.
Oh, I really enjoyed the music, which was popular songs, sung in English, with Spanish flavor. All in all, a good meal, nice value, but with so many similar, established competitors, I can only hope against hope that it catches on quickly enough to survive.

Formerly Irene’s pupusas. This placed really cleaned up. It’s still very new, only open a week and still working on some kinks. The specials ARE specials! 3 dollar Rita’s on Wednesday ALL day. Yes please! Staff is very friendly and they have a jukebox so you can jam out. Very close to the Wheaton metro. Looking forward to watch FIFA here. Lots of TVs and they’ll also have a projection screen showing some games!