I usually enjoy the food here but the staff at night definitely charged me more than the plate was…read more I was charged almost $5 more. Mind you I think she thought I've never bought food from there and took advantage What kind of people do this

The best food in New Haven, the rice, the green bananas and the chicharron, fresh and great flavor…read more Service and cleaniness excellent. Everything is well maintain and clean including the bathroom. 100% recommended.

Charcoal Chicken has been a favorite restaurant of ours for over 25 years. This family owned gem in…read moreWest Haven, Connecticut was founded in 1992. They are known for their phenomenal roasted chicken that's cooked in their charcoal rotisserie oven as evidenced by the steady quantity of takeout you can see every weekend. The quality of the food is fabulous and a decent value. Two of our favorites is the shredded chicken mixed with yellow rice, peas, carrots, onions ,green olives, with raisins and the Maduro sweet plantains which as usual were cooked to perfection. Their rice and beans are seasoned impeccably and are truly amazing. Their food has stayed consistently delicious even through the Covid pandemic. The service is attentive and welcoming. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and very clean. The location is convenient, but parking can be an issue when they are crowded. The highlight of this magical restaurant is if you know anyone under the weather, the chicken soup will cure all ailments.

I can't believe it has taken me this long to try this restaurant. I've known about it for at least…read more20 years. My friend used to speak highly of it. And, I pass it all of the time. I decided to use Uber Eats to place an order today and I'm so glad I did. I ordered a regular size, Arroz con Pollo. The portion was large enough to feed at least two people. It was supposed to have olives and raisins, the raisins were very limited, which I didn't mind as well as the olives. But the flavor was great. I also ordered a 1/4 size dark meat. It was seasoned nicely and roasted to perfection. Very juicy. Because I like it spicy, I ordered two hot sauces, but one would have been enough. It is very spicy. I feel like it's habanero, scallions, light seasoning, and vinegar. But delicious. I've never gone in the establishment, but it looks like it's a decent size and can accommodate a small crowd. There's also street parking or maybe even the vacant Rite-Aid across the street. Very causal. I highly recommend!

I've never had venezuelan food but I was SO happy to have tried it because it was fantastic! I…read moreliterally tried one of everything I was so excited. I tried their tequenos which has like a pillsbury croissant dough taste with cheese in the inside and they were delicious! I wish they warmed up a bit more but that's okay. I also tried their chicken empanadas and I love the cornmeal (i think?) dough they use to make them! The chicken could have been a little bit more tender and moist. I also had an arepa with their shredded beef and loaded it with toppings and just wow. it was seriously delectable, i was so impressed! and i did also get their cachapa and the cachapa alone had such a good taste, the sweet flavor blew me away. I got it with their pork carnitas which were just okay but with everything paired together, i enjoyed it. would definitely come back!

Definitely not entirely authentic Venezuelan arepas but still decent quality food. The best part…read moreabout authentic arepas is they are served very hot and are slightly crispy on the outside from grilling, but fluffy on the inside. These were served slightly warmed and dry on the inside. Still a good introduction to Venezuelan cuisine but it felt americanized. It felt like the food had been sitting a little too long too. I would have liked to see signature arepas alongside the full "make your own" such as pabellón or reina pepiada. I cannot speak on the authenticity of the other dishes they offered, but if you are looking for true authentic arepas this is not exactly the place. Although it was not a bad experience either. It was very clean inside the restaurant and the worker was pleasant.

Came here for lunch to meet up a friend. It was my first time here and I was excited to see what…read morethey got. There were three plate sizes and I got a medium. Which honestly can feed up to two people. They had a variety of stews and meats. Parking was plentiful which I love seeing. Walking in your are greeted by the staff who point out what the have for the day. There is a set up of prepared food and you pick and choose what you want on your plate. There is also a good amount of seating if you want to sit in. I ordered the roasted pork and yellow rice. It was delicious and not too salty. I couldn't help be eat it all in one seating. With the food, drink and tip it was about $20 which is pretty good for what you get. I am looking forward to come back and try other items.

Food is seasoned properly. Service is quick. The ambiance is small and quaint with touches of…read moreculture. I feel it is a take out scene more than a dine in.

Food was horrible, never again. It was picked up, and…read moreservice mediocre. Ambience very quiet.

This review is not the easiest for me to write. I have been coming to the Little Columbian…read morerestaurant since 2015. I loved this place, their food was fantastic and the quality was super consistent; an excellent spot to get together with friends or a date. So much attention to detail was paid, house made dressing, salsa, all ingredients were super fresh, the meats were always cooked excellently, and the staff was friendly. I hadn't been to the restaurant in a while but at some point in the last few years the Little Columbian restaurant became My little Columbian restaurant. My friends and I went there for dinner at the end of October, there was one couple that was leaving the restaurant but we were the only ones there when we first walked in. The vibe of the restaurant has changed because they changed how they decorated the interior of the restaurant. I prefer their older vibe but no big deal. Our waitress was nice and very attentive all night and the staff in general was quite friendly. Here's my issue, the food quality is not as good as it was in the past. And if they are going to charge along the same lines as what they have, always been on the pricier side, then the quality should still be at the same level. There were a bunch of little things that added up. To start, the salad I ordered didn't have the same quality of greens (I think they used a spring mix in the past), there were some small bits of core in the salad. More to my disappointment the Salad dressing was no longer the house dressing they used to make it was Ken's balsamic dressing, which generally tastes like diabetes syrup. Maybe it was an off night for the salad and I could live with that but the lack of the old house dressing was disappointing. Speaking of cutting corners, the chimichuri used to be super fresh and of good quality ingredients. The chimichuri this time around had a lower quality olive oil and the parsley was dried instead of fresh. My friend ordered some empanadas, which were partially burnt and again the slasa wasn't the same quality as they used to make with the empanadas. For an entree, I ordered Bandeja Columbiana. The chicharon was a bit overdone but ok enough. The chorizo was probably the best part but you have to try to mess up chorizo. The maduro was kind of dry and somewhat bland. The chicken was a touch rubbery and the steak was fine; nothing to write home about. As I had mentioned before the food wasn't terrible, it was fine enough but it was not worth the price it cost. Much worse is the fact that the quality in general just isn't the same as it had been prior, maybe they just had an off night but something tells me this is how it is now. It's too bad this restaurant isn't quite what it was; it used to be one of my favorites.

This is a must try place. We took a chance because there are not many reviews, however we were in…read morethe area and were hungry so we tried it. My wife had the shrimp mofongo and it was fairly thin sauce that had a lot of flavor and she loved it. The owner asked us at the end if she liked it because many people like thicker sauce and he usually asked for preference of thickness. It was very evident that this man truly cares about his food. I got beef Flautas (Costa Rican version) and they were handmade and as good as I have ever had, the beef was juicy and flavorful and fried perfect. I also got a lychee fresh juice and it was delicious. Give this place a try because the owner cares, it is all fresh and it show in the taste of the food.

Hidden gem ! Great Latin American food. Services was great & owner made a special trip to our table…read moreto tell us the name of a drink that we couldn't remember that they make & tell us about upcoming band. We sat outside on a gorgeous night. All the food was wonderful! Get the beef & chicken empanadas to start. You won't be disappointed! Excellent restaurant, staff & owner. Can't wait to go back .

Ojo se cobran automáticamente los tips sin siquiera avisar 15% y cuando te dan el recibo nuevamente…read moreestá un apartado para dejar tips, que robo! Por otro lado la comida estaba normal, nada que destacar, bueno las yucas fritas estaban viejas y duras. Evítense los cargos ocultos y no vengan a este lugar.

siempre pido sin cebolla mi ceviche y siempre le ponen nunca toman en cuenta lo que el cliente pide…read morehoy pedí arroz chaufa ! sin cebollín y llego a mi casa a comer y tiene cebollín ! aparte en el lugar te cobran 15% de tips sin decirte solo lo suben a la cuenta

Their half chicken with chicken fried rice is enough to share, but you won't want to share it…read morebecause it's that good. The light green sauce is devine. They need to bottle that up and sell it. I'd use it daily. We also tried a spaghetti with chicken that reminds me of chinese noodles but better. The beef empanadas were incredible especially with more of that gorgeous green sauce. I love this small takeout restaurant. There is a single table inside and outside in case you can't wait to get back to your home to eat.

Don't walk past this place because it's takeout. Although a bit pricey the food is spot on…read moredelicioso and generously portioned which makes up for the price. My son throughly enjoyed the lomo saltado with rice and red beans (as good as abuela's) and i couldn't stop eating my chaufa de pollo, one of the best I've had. This is authentic Peruvian food!