Hidden Gem and Unassuming is exactly how I'd describe El Criollo Restaurant in Dracut. Last night…read morewas date night with my two girlfriends and we met up with some of our foodie friends for another food adventure--this time, it took us to the Caribbean. Criollo is located in a small strip mall and doesn't look like much from the outside, but as soon as you open the doors you know you're in for a treat. The decor is polished and cozy with a nice bar area; the kitchen is semi-open so you can see the flames as your food is firing. They have fantastic Caribbean and Puerto Rican fare with beautiful, thoughtfully crafted cocktails. Everything was fantastic from start to finish. Here were some of the highlights: -Chicharron: crispy pork belly bites, need I say more -Alcapurria jueyes (Fried crab fritters): golden, crispy fritter with a crunchy exterior and soft, savory inside with flavorful crab filling. The fresh bites from the onion slaw were a nice touch with these. -Chicken empanadas: dip these in the pink sauce with a touch of their spicy sauce and you're in heaven. Slightly crisp and flaky exterior with a tender, chewy bite, perfect for holding the delicious filling. -Mofongo with shrimp and garlic sauce: if you've never tried garlic sauce on Mofongo, I highly suggest it. It's creamy and garlicky in all the right ways. The shrimp was cooked perfectly and the Mofongo brought me right back to my trip to Puerto Rico where I first fell in love with it. -Churros: truly the best ones I ever had. It was a last minute add on because "why not!" and the best decision! We made reservations for 6:30pm and when we arrived it wasn't overly busy, but by the time we left every table was filled. And that's no surprise based on our experience.

Hidden Gem! Amazing food! Definitely do not miss this restaurant. Recommend reservations for…read moredinner, not a big space.

This is a family owned Dominican restaurant that serves a variety of typical homestyle dishes. The…read morespace is pretty big. There's a large dining/ bar area and a takeout side with a few tables. We ordered the sancocho and rabo guisado (Oxtails), with white rice and plantains. The sancocho was pretty good. It had a lot of meat and vegetables, the white rice was perfectly cooked. I thought the sancocho had a bit too much garlic in the seasoning, but it was still great, especially since it was rainy and a bit chilly. The Oxtails were simply amazing! They were extremely tender and practically falling off the bone. The sauce was seasoned perfectly and paired well with the white rice. I've never had Oxtails this good at a restaurant. They tasted just like when mom recipe takes hours and hours to make since you want to cook it long enough for the meat to become tender. The service was very friendly and attentive, the food came pretty quickly. Prices were very reasonable. If I'm back in the area, I will definitely return and order the Oxtails.

After a long afternoon of shopping, my friends and I built up and appetite. We wanted something…read morequick that would calm our hunger for the drive home to RI. One of my friends was more familiar with the area and recommended we come here. She ordered a plate of fried pork with tostones, some guisado de res, and white rice. The total was around $20 which was fair for the portion sizes. The guisado was a bit oily but the flavor was really good and the meat was very tender. Since the tostones did not come with a sauce, we ended up dunking them in the guisado. The tostones were on the thicker side but crispy and tasty. The fried pork was good, although maybe a little bland. The lime helped a little bit with bringing out the flavor. The white rice was good. They offer a small, medium, and large portion - small was good as a snack for 3 people. I would come back and try more of their menu items. They have a parking lot, but it was packed and the snow didn't help. There is also street parking. It is in a lively part of town, so I enjoyed people watching while eating in the car.

Pastelillos and Alcapurrias pork and chicken kebobs (pinchos) so many ways it can go wrong but this…read moreplace make them so delicious! The owners and their employees are always so respectful and friendly to their patrons... Great place to go for a quick snack love the food!

This place has the absolute dirtiest food style there is..I saw mice droppings near the food!! They…read moreuse left over food thats is days old..The people are also extremely dirty..There was a dead roach in one of the boxes they gave us..Please do yourself a favor and stay far far away ...

Best chicken and Latin American food in Dorchester. This is…read morea 2 location business, with the other location being in Lawrence, Ma. I've visited both and the food has always been consistently good. The chicken is just amazing as are the plantains.....and everything else for that matter. Definitely my "go to" place when I'm staying in Dorchester.

Ad service. I called to make a order and they said they would not do order by phone to pickup. They…read moremake to wait for 30 min in the store to get my order ready. And the lady at the front desk are disrespectful.

this restaurant was amazing!! there's not a lot of puerto rican spots near me so i was really happy…read moreto find this place. the drinks were amazing and so was the food. the fried calamari and bacalaito fritters were great appetizers and the churrasco steak was really flavorful although it was slightly overcooked. i would definitely come back again

We checked out this spot after trying to visit their sister restaurant Doña Habana but it was…read moreclosed. This spot is tucked away in a quiet neighborhood serving authentic Puerto Rican food. It's quite cozy inside with less than 20 tables making for a very intimate experience. I loved the decor inside too. The cocktail I ordered was called the Besó Boricua and my boyfriend got a glass of sangria. My drink was sweet and very enjoyable, plus it looked very picturesque. The sangria was good too, a little strong. We split the Tostones Salmorejo de Jueyes which were very tasty, I had never tried a dish like this before. The tostones were crunchy and fresh and the topping was tasty. My entree was the Churrasco con Salsa Chimichurri, which was fantastic. The steak was cooked perfectly and the chimichuri salsa was super tasty. I also loved the rice and beans it came with. Huge portion but I was able to pace myself and finish most of it. My boyfriend got the Chuleta Kan-Kan which he really enjoyed. The portion was also huge and I didnt try it but he said was tasty. Our servers were very nice and kept checking in on us as well. It wasn't that busy when we came which we liked because we could enjoy each others company more in a quiet setting. Definitively check this place out, we will be trying out their sister restaurants!!

I've been eyeing this place on my delivery app for a while and I finally ordered last night. The…read moremenu has so many tasty sounding dishes that it was hard to decide what to order, but I eventually decided on the ham and cheese sandwich, fried chicken and sweet plantains, beef/onions and rice with pigeon peas, and alcapurria. They offer different sizes for the meals so I chose small portions of each to try a few different options, but each helping was still quite large! The total for all of this food ended up being around $25 also so it was an amazing deal. The food itself was AMAZING: Ham and cheese sandwich - with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mayo, this sounds basic but it was SO GOOD. The bread was pressed down and nice and toasty, and the proportions of the ingredients were just spot on. A really great and affordable hot sandwich! Fried chicken and sweet plantains - the chicken was a little older since I ordered at the end of the day, but there was still enough moisture in it that it wasn't dry. The batter was also really well seasoned with different herbs and spices - it had a really nice rounded flavor rather than just being salty. The plantains were also nice and caramelized - a perfect sweet bite! Beef/onions and rice with pigeon peas - The beef was a little bit dry but still full of flavor and felt like it had been cooking in the sauce for a while so it was pretty tender. The rice and pigeon peas were really really good though - I will likely choose this as my side moving forward. Not sure how to describe it but it was really flavored with spices but not overly powerful in any direction. Really delicious rice. Alcapurria - My favorite! I had these in Puerto Rico and this version was nicely crisped with a ton of flavored minced meat in the center. The texture was spot on and just so savory and memorable. I want to go back to try the chicharrons, the tres leches cake, the chicken stew, the empanadas, and so many more things on this menu. It's really a gold mine for dishes and so so so delicious!

Man I haven't been to this place in over 12-15 years. On the way home we felt like eating some…read moreauthentic Caribbean food so we stopped in. Place is under different management but the food still hits! Service was great also.Definitely will be back in the near future.

OK so where do i begin ? remember growing up and having all these special treats and places you…read morewent to where you knew they made the best of what they sold , those mom and pop old school , old world skilled craft with culinary ? well this is one of those places you will never forget if you were lucky enough to grow up up in this city and find and experience. Places like these are disappearing and commercialized chains are replacing them and its sad for our youth to be deprived of these great places. i have been coming here well over 10 yrs now for the best fried chicken, Dominican Food specialties such as Yellow rice with beans , braised chicken and beef, empanadas , chicharhones,white rice and betuelas, plantains and any other common cultural foods and i have not been disappointed once at the quality or price of food . this place is a take out only and a convenience store where you can buy all kinds of items and drinks, while there may be a line certain times of the day such as lunch and dinner it is well worth the wait IMO. where can you go and buy a plate of food for $5, $7, $10 and just about feed 3 people ? the husband and wife owners , children and employees who work there are a very nice hard working people and are a huge gift to the community and the people of that Lower Belvidere neighborhood. If you are in the mood or are curious about Dominican Food then this is the place, you will be happy you tried and a lifelong customer like me !

People - 10/10 Food - 7/10…read moreDrinks - na Decor - 6/10 Restrooms - (didn't use) So my friend and I were in the mood for some Dominican food so we ended up checking out this place. When we got there we were a little confused because it was also a store. towards the back they have a little restaurant and a menu where you can choose how many pieces of chicken you want with fries or plantains. However, while we were waiting in line we talked to someone that frequents the establishment and they said to not order off of that menu and just go further down the line and order off what's on the table. So I took her advice and ordered some Spanish rice with chicken stew and one piece of fried Chicken. The food smelled amazing the entire drive home and when we got home we started to eat. There was a lot of rice which is great but not needed and the chicken was very good. I actually preferred the fried over the stew but that's just me. I'm sure if I had more of the stew sauce on the rice it would have made a bigger difference but I didn't have a lot on my plate. Over all the places good and I would love to go back again and try something new.

Excellent ! Service is very good, food portions are large and tasty!…read more vibes are good didn't have to wait for a table on a sat. Around 5 ^_^ Food was so good I didn't have time to take pics they also offer a kids menu which is nice ! My table ordered empanadas, mofongo, and kids chicken finger meal! Everything was delicious. I recommend eating here .

Alert: Gary's charges a 3.5% hospitality fee and an 18% auto-tip on everything. They don't trust…read moretheir customers to tip for good food or service so they decide for you. My wife and I have been there many times, which is why we were there for her birthday with our adult children. But if we can't be trusted not to be deadbeats we won't go back again. Plenty of other options in Lowell.

The food of this place is incredibly delicious. I always order Churrasco or pechuga a la plancha…read moreand it's always on point. These guys are always consistently good. EDIT 11/17/2017: I still love this place, I really do. However, when you've ordered as often as I have you know when you're getting fleeced on the meat portions. It's frustrating to pay more then receive 25% up to half less of what you used to get. Makes me sad

This was my first time trying Puerto Rican food! We did the breakfast/brunch in plate. Everything…read morewas delicious! My favorite was the smash plantain. The egg was too overcooked for me. I got beef as my choice of protein and really liked how they seasoned it. They also made fresh limeonade which I love because I love limes. A good way to help cut the greasiness of the food. Portion sizes are great. I didn't finish so took my food to-go and ate the rest later. Service was pretty good. I didn't see any prices or menu when I went inside so didn't know how much everything was until they rung me up. I would say it is a fair price for what you get. Most of the workers only speak Spanish but it was easy to communicate even though I didn't speak Spanish.

I dont know if our experience was a fluke or if Puerto Rican food is just this dull. Im…read morerecommending it anyway because I've heard such good things from others. Our experience went good at the start. This is (at least from what we saw) a counter service restaurant. You order at the counter, pay, and take a seat. I do not remember the names of what we ordered but my husband had a kebab dish and I had a plantain dish. The music in the background was nice and went well with the theme. Everything was clean and the food did smell really good. At the time we were the only two in the dining area although a few others showed up later. The disappointing part for us was the food. The food looked great, but then...nothing. Very bland with very little flavor. Maybe this is normal? It smelled and looked so good that it was very surprising that it had such a bland flavor. Id still give it another try just because of all the great reviews

Pretty much would be my last resort of places to go to in the area?. Really liked that they were…read morecoming to town, tried ordering a couple of times, either sold out of anything I would order or closed unexpectedly for heat, water, electricity or something else being out. Hope they turn it around but for now I wouldn't go to.