El Flamboyan

I am Puerto Rican and very proud of our cuisine. My husband is an American, who lived in the island for 10 years. Needless to say, he loves PR food. However, after I visited this place I was so embarrassed, I felt like apologizing in their behalf. This place was way under mediocre. I have been a travel agent for almost 35 years and it sits among the worst food diners I have ever visited. The place sits at an old Gas Station, in the middle of some field. The place looks dirty and unkept. The young waiter tried to be nice, but needs a LOT of training. Your food is served in foam plates, with plastic utensils. Our sodas were handed to us in the cans, no cup or ice. Seriously? We ordered tostones as appetizers and were soggy, not crispy as they should be. The arroz con gandules had a few gandules as decoration, I guess…, and tasted like some yellow rice. I ordered the mofongo, and I couldn’t even cut it with the plastic knife I had. Hard as a brick, no flavor and of course, very dry. Most of it was left uneaten. My husband’s biftec encebollado was extremely salty. We ordered the flan, and it came in a small round aluminum mold! Like the ones you buy at Fiesta! No plate. By 7P there were so many people in that small place, the lines spilled past the door. Again, seriously? Get in line for this awful food? They had invited many people that night because they were having some live music. Everyone was ordering loudly by the kitchen! There were no tables to sit these people, mind you. I didn’t want to find out how this was going to end, so I went to pay, and the place where you pay is the same area as the kitchen. The mayhem was a mixture of ridiculous, laughable, disgusting and disgraceful. You can tell there was no organization. The two waiters were like grabbing food here and there in order to hurry the orders. OMG! The entrees not cheaply priced by any means. The entrées were between $ 11 and $ 13. The mofongo I ordered didn’t come with rice, so the side order was $ 3. So I paid $ 14 for my entrée. I want to support small businesses, but I can’t justify this horrible place. did I go there when the real cook was on vacation? I don’t know how long they have been open, but I don’t think they will survive, unless they reorganize and start cooking real Puerto Rican food. To start, hire a new cook. Isn’t that what a restaurant is all about?

awesome food! great friendly service! made me feel like home! you can’t go wrong with anything you order. tastes like your puerto rican mom is in the kitchen!