The restaurant has improved, flavors were good. The mofongo was a bit dry but filling. Ordered two surf and turf mofongo specials, two empanada and one sprite for a total of 75$ with tip. Just a little pricey for the portion size. read more

El Sabroso - Mofongo Soda cans Mar y Tierra Empanada de Pollo Empanada de Carne - Latin American Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

SKIMPY portions. I am a Puerto Rican adult male and they have the nerve to give me three legs and a neck bone for $20. GTFOH!!! If I fed this to my chihuahua, he would look up at me in DISGUST like I'm trying to starve him. Just had to make myself a sandwich to satisfy the rest of my appetite. PATHETIC! read more

Old school, Puerto Rican Jersey City establishment. They made the best empanadas (fried to order). I typically get the beef and chicken which are stuffed and prob the best in the city. The workers are always friendly! My typical order is the fried chicken cutlet (only on Thursdays- wish they had it available everyday) with arroz con gandules. This place reminds me of old Jersey City and I hope it continues to stay that way. read more

Very disappointed. Food isn't what it used to be when she first started. I had pork with yellow rice, they forgot the beans. Pork tasted more like vinegar then garlic and rice was bland. I've been a patron for years and this is the first time I didn't like the food. Time to find a new place. read more

Hi ordered their delicious baked chicken wings with yellow rice and handles, their famous salad which consist of shredded red inions,cucumber, corn bits lettuce and fresh tomatoes with a vinegrette mixed in sooo good. My co-worker and I both enjoyed the meal. Will order their food again. They do not disappoint. read more

Amazing rice is godly just great seriously been going here for over 10 years amazing services even better people

Walking in and just getting stared at by the workers and not even acknowledging me and my partner wasn't even the beginning... server came up up to us with menus and then 10 mins later we noticed a cockroach right on the menu! We took the menu and showed the worker the roach and she just shook the menu and roach fell on the ground! She didn't even kill it.... Handed back our menus and we left. Don't eat here. read more

The food is so delicious. Their service for both pick up and delivery are extremely fast. The place is super cute and the main chef reminds me of my own grandmother. She is soooo adorable. read more

PROS 1. Best Flavorful and Hearty Alcapurrrrrrias in Jersey City. 2. Steak and Onions are made Fresh but needs more Sabor. 3. Rice was cooked well. 4. Chicken stew was good. 5. Beef stew was done well. 6. Best Rabo Guisado in Jersey City so far. I have never, ever had Green Plantain Mini Balls ( Bolitas De Platano) in my Oxtails Stew outside of Grammas cooking. This was surprising I thought it wasn't Traditional and was simply a extra touch of Abuela's Love in the comida. 7. The Yuca and Onions was cooked well. 8. It was nice to see the kitchen within the front of the house. Shows the work being put into Latin Caribbean Food. CONS 1. The Chicken Stew looked Beautiful but had an Acidic Taste. Maybe too much Vinegar? 2. The Utensils need to be Changed. Made my teeth sensitive like Nails on a Chalkboard. read more

This place is so good, but they can do better as far as customer service goes. They can be very rude, I come back because the food is delicious. read more

Really awesome, authentic, delicious place - doesn't look like much from the outside but definitely walk in and check it out. We were trying to find a quick bite to eat and figured they'd have some rice and beans or something easy - and they sure did. Got delicious yellow rice, white rice, red beans, plantains, and a cucumber salad. All fresh and homemade. The rest of the menu sounded amazing but we weren't that hungry so kept it easy. They were sold out of a lot since it was like 15 mins before closing, so get there early if you want a full selection. The older woman (owner?) that was there was so incredibly great, they were all out of the maduros, and she had the chefs make a batch just for us. Will be a go-to spot for sure. read more

sabroso is not what it use to be, the taste is horrible, the service is bad, & the prices are outrages. i dont mind paying for good food but when its good food.. & they charge you to sit down & eat in that place read more

Definitely one of my favorite restaurants on central!! My family and I order from this establishment every chance we get! 10/10

I tried this from a store that was ordering their lunch. I decided to order with them . Our order took two hours to arrive at store. They assured me it was going to be worth my wait. I proceed to continue working while I waited . It finally arrived and the order was short a serving. My friend was kind enough to give me her food. I had ordered the same plate which was pernil with mofongo and accapirria. It was amazing!!! I just had one bite and I couldn't resist. The mofongo had chunks of crispy pork skin and tosino. It was sitting in a delicious garlic sauce with Side of pico de gallo. Absolutely divine, just like I landed in Puerto Rico. I called my friend next day drove 1hr to visit this great restaurant myself in jersey city. I ordered the steak with onions with rice and beans. It was delicious. Since I ate in the restaurant the portion was huge. Definitely taking left overs home.. I also ordered more food to go. I can't wait to try later. Love the food highly recommend eating here for authentic Spanish food. read more

El Sabroso - Steak with onion and rice!!! Yumm! - Latin American Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

THE FOOD IS FIVE STARS BUT THE ONLY REASON IM GIVING it A ONE STAR IS BECAUSE THE SERVICE IS TERRIBLE. & that's such a turn off ... the only thing that saves this place is the food. That's it. The waitresses don't acknowledge you when you come in thru the door AT ALL. The tables could stay dirty for up to 30 minutes without someone grabbing the plates off of them. It's just terrible. Wait in line for the 20 minutes. DO NOT DINE IN. Love the food though especially the alcapurrias. read more

There is a young lady I will assume she is the co-owner , but , she is very sloppy a serving food and extremely slick! She always serve the beans on top of the rice very nasty thing to do but, she does because she will out a lot less beans on the order! And she is very rushy serving the orders, and still charging the same amount of money, every body knows beans are served in a cup if iit is to go or take out! And served in a bowel if it is to eat in ! DISGUSTING WAY OF SERVING AND EXTREMELY MEDIOCRE!!!! read more

I have been coming to this family restaurant since they were just a small tiny store on Lincoln. When I say tiny, I mean corner tight. Five customers and it was crowded in there. Now a bigger location, still great food. Best Puerto Rican food in the area My favorite dish? fried chuletas with white rice and cabbage salad! read more

The worst Spanish restaurant in Jersey City. Not because of the food but the service is HORRIBLE. The amount of years they've been in business, they should be ashamed of themselves. Every single time I place to pickup, an order is thrown off or something is missing. It's frustrating because I don't have complicated orders, I'd say they're going to lose customers based off their embarrassing service. DO NOT RECOMMENDED. Imagine if I didn't speak Spanish & tried to order? Must be a joke to people that aren't from here. Sad sad sad... they moved to a bigger space & decided to treat everyone like nothing. THEY'RE SO EXPENSIVE FOR WHAT IS BEING RECEIVED. Disgusting people and their attitudes, they seem to hire more and more people that can't comprehend simple orders. read more

Looks small from the outside but it's very spacy and updated inside. You have a choice to sit and eat or they have premade food for takeout. They have a lot of the foods I grew up eating.. the alcapurias were fresh and delish! read more

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Wasn't too thrilled with their food. The employees are nice so I gave 1 star but I ordered the ox tail and it pretty much tasted like beef stew with an excessive amount of fat on it and the sauce had a weird taste to it. The beans didn't have much flavor neither. read more

Food has always been decent at this place, but never enough of an impact one way or another to write a review on it -- until today. Ever since things have changed for Covid and you can only take food to go this place has lost any positive things about it I liked. My usual go-to dish, ropa vieja, this last time I got it was absolutely horrendous. Not even fully cooked and had a weird texture and flavor to it. Rice was very clumpy. A one time fluke maybe? No. Ordered a second time today and the same issues with different dishes. Ordered chicken chunks this time and they weren't fully cooked. C'mon... Rice still clumpy. And the best one was the beans were more like soup. The person must've put the ladle in the bean pot and scooped out only the liquid. I was lucky if 10 beans were in the cup smh... These people need to do better than this. How hard is it to get your own food to be good and get people's orders right? I won't be going back here any time soon. There's too many other Latin food options in the area. read more

The food has always been top notch at this place, been going for years. Today will be the last day. Purchase large orders or peril and beef stew with rice for a whopping 46 dollars. Not only did they give me the small orders, but when I called to tell them. They gave me the run around not knowing how many times I've actually been here. Sorry but the service is trash read more

Best empanadas in town! We order from here at least every couple of weeks! read more

Finally found a place to enjoy Spanish food the way I use to enjoy it back at home. The place was crowded, on the take out line it took a while to actually place my order but worth the wait- food was good and under $10 read more

El Sabroso - Yellow rice with Stew Chicken with potatoes and side salad - Latin American Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

The alcapurria pernil and mofongo with shrimp is worth the wait. Alcapurria and empanadas are fried when ordered.

Terrible service. My daughter and I were literally ignored and sat a dirty table for about 20mins. Someone came by picked up and gave us menus and never came back to take our order. Food smelled great 2 and the service made it a horrible place to go sit and eat at. read more

Good food and good service nice place for a quick meal parking is tuff to find sometimes delicious food read more

El Sabroso - a plate of food and a bowl of rice - Latin American Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

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Whenever I m visiting family or have to go to my JC office I have to stop here. Their food is always so fresh and tasty. They give amazing portions and the ladies are the best! They have great customer service as well. Everyone is nice and friendly . read more

Good food , huge space, great flavors not the best Service so order take out . Reasonable prices , casual attire it's worth a shot if your in the area looking for some homey Spanish dishes read more

I remember buying their food when they were selling from a place that couldn't fit more than ten people. Everyone was willing to wait in long lines for this delicious food and when they finally moved to a bigger place, I was like " well it's about time". But now all the original ladies except for one are gone. The food is not the same quality that it was before. I bought an order of ropa vieja today and I could not enjoy it due to the over seasoning of the meat, 18.00 dollars down the drain. This is not the first time that I have been disappointed with the food and unfortunately it will be last time. they are charging to much for food that is no longer great tasting. What a shame,,, Good bye Sabroso, you've lost this customer. read more

Did they work on their ventilation? Because before I used to go in there and come out smelling SO MUCH like food. Good food, but still. It's interesting to read that other folks have had trouble ordering on the phone with El Sabroso. I've been ordering for pickup for years and yes, maybe had one experience where I had to get transferred, but they always had my food ready to go and correct. And I don't speak Spanish, so it that's not a factor. But to the food. It's good. Not outstanding, but still good and I'll keep going there. It's comfort food in big portions and I now stick with my favorites. Pernil with yellow rice (if you want the crispy skin be sure to specifically ask for it), baked chicken, empanadas, maduros, and / or their tomato / avocado salad. One of my friends loves the oxtail stew; oxtail is not really my thing, but it was tasty from the few bites I had. YUM! I've tried their mofongo and I didn't particularly like it and there was one other dish years ago that I tried that I wasn't a fan of either, but my usuals hit the spot. I usually take out, and the few times I have sat down to eat, the service is rather slow and I wouldn't say their staff is the perkiest crew around, but it's also not terrible. It's also nice to see the big kitchen in the back and see them scoop the food and rice directly from the pots. Try it for yourself. read more

The staff are not wearing masks properly. I saw a cook with her mask to her chin... no gloves... it's disgusting. And I got charged $4.00 for dead, cold tostones they tasted like cheap frozen food. read more

Their service is horrible I been waiting for more that 30 min my order and they hadn't even started

My beautiful lady took me this nice restaurant in Jersey City and I absolutely loved it! Good ol Puerto Rican food made with lots love. Delicious! This is a hidden gem and I will be back for more. read more

El Sabroso - Latin American Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

I'm not sure even how to type this but... I found a FINGER NAIL IN MY CHICKEN SOUP . Not a bone. Not a foreign object. But a GD finger nail. The steady decline of this place is heartbreaking and I'm not sure they care much. This was the last straw. read more

Good food or not, there's an issue that needs to be addressed. While the food is good. The one thing that bugs the hell out of me... the delivery! I understand food cannot magically appear at the door once an order is completed, but this place is TERRIBLE when it comes to delivering MY food at least. Maybe they just don't like me... I can't imagine why, I'm a good tipper! 1st incident... 2 hours late! They were nice enough to offer a discount though... Today (2nd and last incident)... placed order at 1150am, food just arrived (210pm). Over 2 hours! Are you kidding me? Were they flying the dishes in from Puerto Rico? Oh... and it's not that we're looking for free food or anything, but nothing was offered to cushion the blow of making us wait the 2 hours. Driver blames the restaurant claiming they take orders and just stick the orders in the back. We contacted the restaurant and respectful told them our dilemma... to which they reply. "There is nothing we can do." Listen... I know holidays and special events can cause a delay... but it's only Thursday July 11th? What is going on in the world today that is flooding the streets and having this guy deliver my food on time? Was he riding a donkey here? Hate to say it... but we won't be ordering here again. read more

So I have a rule in Jersey City. Anytime a restaurant has a bunch of glowing Yelp reviews, serves "ethnic" food (ie, NOT generic American fare...Hoboken, I'm looking at YOU!), and has one $, it's bound to be good. I can think of countless examples. And this formula has never steered me astray. It's like this: if it's a local ethnic place that has not succumb to gentrification enough to jack up the prices to $$ or $$$, it's got to appeal to the local crowd. So it's tasty and authentic. If it has a bunch of reviews on Yelp, that adds to its appeal and makes me wonder why all those other Yelpers have beat me to it!!!! So I slip my size 5 shoes on and get moving. :) Having scoured downtown JC from top to bottom (reviewing all the while!), Bald One decided that it's time to get busy nosing around other neighborhoods in our diverse city. We decided a Latin American tour of the Heights was in order. El Sabroso was top of our list, having met the aforementioned criteria. Let's keep it simple: Puerto Rican food. 5 stars. One $. Go. Let's drill down: we ordered 1 chicken empanada, 1 alcapurria (fried mashed plantain/banana appetizer), 1 "small" chicken stew that came with a huge side of arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), and 1 20 oz diet Coke. Price? Less than $10 for the TWO of us. And the food was amazing. Empanada and alcapurria melted in our mouths. I was new to the alcapurria and it was savory, sweet, and had the best texture. Mmmm!!!! The chicken stew was AMAZING. It featured bone-in chicken breast cooked til tender with an amazing sauce that was velvety over the yellow rice and pigeon peas. The potatoes took on the flavor of the sauce and tasted slightly tangy and earthy. I could have eaten this for days!!! And beware of the descriptors - this "small" stew was definitely enough to share for 2 people, especially if you order apps (which you most certainly should.) The establishment was spacious, clean, and baby friendly. And if I could have given a 6th star for service, I would. They were patient as we navigated the menu with zero Spanish speaking skills. And the busboy chatted us up about our daughter (and like any proud new papa, showed us pics of his chubby 9 month old). Just our first time there, and we already felt like we'd been going for years. I walked away with warm fuzzies and a full belly. And Baby D slept the whole time...paradise less than a mile from home! read more

Shrimp in hot sauce is literally the best thing I've ever ate! And I'm from Louisiana so in flavor.

Good food but unfortunately the service isn't that great. I was there on a Saturday & they barely had anything that was on the menu, on top of that the food service is very poor. The waiter kept forgetting what we had ordered, it looked like if he was getting upset for us asking for our order. Just a very disorganized place and service. read more

Your sense of smell is definitely manipulated once you open the door. The fair is simple yet very traditional Puerto Rican cuisine made at a very high level. The best thing they did was move here to this much larger location. They offer daily specials. Their broiled ribs are amazing, so tender the flesh falls off of the bone not to mention the actual bone is tender too. The steak with onions is also amazing. Everything here is old school traditional reminds me of the food back in PR! If you ever eat here order the alcapurrias it is the staple of this establishment. This restaurant has a very loyal clientele, my wife and I really enjoy eating there. Ooh I almost forgot their Guineos en escabeche (pickled banana salad) is amazing. If you are ever in the heights of jersey city I highly recommend stopping by this place. read more