Great food and service price was great for the amount of food. Will definitely try again.

First time visiting with co-workers for lunch. A decent "hole-in the-wall" Colombian restaurant. Pros: I tried the "Typical Colombian" under their breakfast menu, which included steak, rice and beans, corn pie, and scrambled eggs. Not bad for $9! Their portions are big! But I'm not complaining because I always love taking leftovers home to enjoy for another meal. I had asked for water and the waitress brought me a bottled water. I thought she was going to charge me for it, but she didn't! (Not sure if she forgot, or of they give out bottled waters for free, but I'm not complaining). Food came out pretty fast, especially since we were on our lunch time crunch. Cons: Street parking is not always easy, not sure if they have a lot in the back. Also, my steak was a little too dry. Overall, a restaurant I would recommend and revisit in the future! read more

Los Criollos - a plate of food on a table - Latin American Near Me - Wharton, New Jersey

Wharton, NJ home of Irish immigrants and wall to wall bars. Get kicked out of one, just fall into another. That was 20 years ago and now, several Latin businesses and restaurants are front and center on Main Street. So, with a good sized Colombian community this restaurant has been around for about 8 years. I can only assume they have been doing something right. A lot of great foods have come from all over the world and they so often depend on fresh quality ingredients and a deft hand at preparation or simply stick a few abuelas (grandmothers) in the kitchen. This food was missing the grandma's touch. Atmosphere was a typical, no frills basic restaurant which was clean and neat with about 8 to 10 tables, 2 TVs and not much more. For my first visit, I thought I would try what is almost Colombia's national dish, bandeja paisa (country tray or plate). It's really from the Antioquia region ( think Medellin) but, versions of this dish are all over the country. Some would argue this point, however, this dish includes rice, beans, grilled steak ( a very thin cut piece), sausage ( recipes and flavors vary), a fried egg, an arepita ( small arepa or white corn cake), maduro ( a cooked, ripe, not green, plantain slice), aguacate ( avacado) and chicharron (deep fried pig skin with pork attached, usually pig belly). All these components were present on the dish presented to me. I mentioned freshness of ingredients and proper preparation. For the most part, the ingredients, freshness and proper preparation were not on this dish. Beans: soupy, overcooked and rather bland White rice: Fine, no complaints. Abundant so I could mix with the soupy beans Steak ( carne asada): always a thin sliced piece of beef ( restaurants, but authentically the meat should be slow cooked and the ground or pulled...a whole steak is the cheap way. This was tender but not too tasty Egg: cooked very well done. How can you mess up a single egg? Avocado( (aguacate): just your sad supermarket variety of Haas avocado with a black bruised spot...in South America, aguacate is the size of a small cantaloupe with thin, light green skin. Plantain (maduro): cooked way too much and left in a warming tray...mushy Chicharron: thin strip with skin, fat and meat....all over done and crispy and dry. Should be crisp, tasty and fresh and a thicker cut. Corn cake (arepita): looked nice, hand formed ( it's corn flour, white country style cheese, butter and water; mix, form and grill)...again, sitting in a warming tray... Sausage: very good with a bit of a spicy kick. Not your typical Colombian sausage Service: Owner present, counting money at a nearby table. Made no attempt to manage service or interact with customers. My waitress could speak only a handful of English words. She tried, smiled and was polite so, I gave her a chance. Then instead of making her struggle any longer, I spoke Spanish to her. Fortunately, I learned from a group of Colombian friends in the US so, for me communicating with her was no problem. There was another waitress working who could speak English and was helpful at other points during the service of the food. I walked in here expecting a no nonsense, fresh cooked meal. I got, instead, low end cafeteria grade food. If you're looking for your first or 100th foray into Colombian food, I would look elsewhere. Enjoy! :( read more

Los Criollos - a plate of food on a table - Latin American Near Me - Wharton, New Jersey

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Thank you Yelp! Hit Los Criollos in the middle of a snow storm because I wanted to prove that my Volvo could drive in anything. That night I was just happy that it got me to this Colombian place in Wharton. Maybe because of the snow, there was only one other table taken. Our Spanish is pretty bad and thankfully the waitress was patient and was more bilingually blessed than us AND the menu was in Spanish and English that made sense. The kids each got the special - a plato tipico- that wound up being a massive amount of food for $7.50 with a drink. I got the garlic chicken, my wife got another kind of chicken, and we split some plantains. We could have ordered half of what we did and still had plenty. Besides being a lot of food, it was all great. The kids were happy as they check another ethnic food off their list. And we paid less than we would have at one of the diners nearby. All good. read more

Los Criollos - Their special - beans, rice, steak, plaintain, an egg and an arepa. Awesome. - Latin American Near Me - Wharton, New Jersey

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Super tough grilled steak, so tough my mouth hurt. Not worth the money for the country breakfast platter. Coffee was extremely watered down and only tasted like milk. And when the waitress asked what we'd like to drink, we said water. Who knew the water would mean Costco Kirkland brand bottled water for $1 each?? read more

Los Criollos - country breakfast - Latin American Near Me - Wharton, New Jersey

Standard fare Columbian with a mom and pop feel that feels small and tastes so damn good. Parking isnt an issue. There is a lot of competition regarding other Columbian eateries in the area, being so close to Dover. What are you waiting for? Go there for lunch today! read more

Los Criollos - Yummy. - Latin American Near Me - Wharton, New Jersey

Very disappointed. How can you operate a business and not have one person that can speak English to take phone orders? Happened 2 different times, so now we are done with them. Unfortunate because the food is always good, and portions are generous. read more

This is a little joint that opened up not too long ago to service the "local" blue collar crowd that inhabits the area. Needless to say, as a white Caucasian man I stick out a little bit. No matter. Service is friendly and the place is a hidden treasure as far as I'm concerned. They serve your traditional Colombian/Latin American fare and do it well. HUGE portions for what you pay. The daily lunch special is a steal at only $7. As a example, a regular menu item gets you a steak the size of a cow, rice, beans, plantains, and a huge plate of fries. It's a chore to finish it and more suiting for lunch and then dinner later on when you've recovered. Lunch specials are usually some kind of protein with soup to start, and rice and beans to go with. I highly recommend this place and hope they stay in business a long time as it is a real nice lunch spot for me during the work week. Pass the word!! read more

The food is authentic Colombian at an excellent price. Service is limited because they only staff a single waitress during the week versus two on weekends. Fortunately she spoke English quite well. The menu has English translations. Had the country platter and as others pointed out, it's a trough of food for $11. Includes three meats, a river of rice and beans and other stuff. Also had the shrimp and rice. Lots of shrimp and red rice with some tostones thrown on top. Good Latin place up there with El Marino and El Tapatio although the latter is my all time favorite. read more

We have been to Los Criollos twice and we are fans. The food is homey and delicious. This time we had the tacos and a surf & turf dish. The tacos were very good, but a little heavy on the onions. The surf & turf was plenty for 2 of us and delicious. There was a large fried fish fillet that was AMAZING and a nice steak that was very tasty. The tostones were fresh and crispy, the rice and beans hearty. We will definitely go back again. read more

stopped by for a late lunch. Good service, friendly atmosphere, lots of families there. Everyone was trying the soup, which turned out to be plantain soup. We got some and it was good. I am not that familiar with Colombian food, but I can say that the ingredients were very fresh and the preparation was good, not over seasoned, but definitely tasty. Notably the soup was not super salty like most restaurant soup. I had the chicken plancha and it came with a generous serving of rice and beans and some veggies. Prices very reasonable and quantities more than adequate. read more

Good food, but the funny part when I order a special and when I arrive there they just tell me they don't have anymore specials lol Otherwise good food read more

Wow! Hidden gem. Great food, huge portions, and good service. BYO, too. I'll be back soon.

The food is good and the portions are huge! However, any dish that comes with sauce, comes with a lot of it. Just be weary of that. Otherwise its a very good place to eat that's also not expensive. read more

Amazing food and attentive service, small restaurant with well portioned meals at a fraction of the price else where. 10/10

YES! Finally after living in the area for 3 years we found a go-to cheap and delicious place other than the typical pizza or Chinese. Having eaten in authentic Colombian restaurants years ago I don't know too much on authenticity but it's delicious just the same. Polite waitresses topped it off. Tom of food for the prices....Must go! read more

Food was ok, nothing special. Atmosphere was good, techno music on which was in the background, I gave it only 3 stars because Denville has so many good places that eat. read more

the ONLY reason I am giving this place 2 stars and not less is because of the portion size. the food was lacking in flavor. when we asked for Yuca we got a frozen batter covered French frie looking item that tasted like oil, and dirty oil at that. I think it's an insult to Colombian cuisine for this place to be serving food classified as such. the arepa was flavorless and instead of having the cheese sprinkled on told then melted like in most places it was a thick slice of a rubbery substance set on top of what can only be compared to as cardboard. Not at all what I expected or was hoping for...a complete disappointment to say the least. read more

Los Criollos - this was the Yuca they served... not ok it was oily and disgusting - Latin American Near Me - Wharton, New Jersey

Awsome Typical Platter! I suggest the Colombian typical platter, their speciality. Comes with Steak, Rice, Avacado, Cherizo, Beans, Platano, and an egg! You will not regret ordering it and you will leave stuffed that's for sure! Cozy, colorful atmosphere and the soccer games are always on! Friendly waitresses as well! Will return again! read more

When ever i'm in the area its a no brainer. I had it every day for about 6 months when i worked around the area. Great staff, great food. Breakfast is excellent, the pandebonos and buñuelos are great. Lunch is just as good. Have recommended this place to all of my friends. its a must stop if around the area. read more

The empanadas were disgusting and burnt it was so hard to chew through that my tooth actually got stuck in the empanada

You CANNOT find a better value in this area, period. Yes - the specials are different from day to day, and you may not like that particular day's food over another's, but that's what makes this restaurant special in the first place. Hot sauce and home-made juices are great! read more

Price is descend, bandeja paisa was good, the carne milanes ok. kids had hotdogs which they like with mustard, they didnt had mustard. fries where oily. service ok. take out place for the future since the bandeja paisa was a big dish which i brought back home half. read more

Great food and generous portions. I brought leftovers to work for lunch and everyone wanted to know where it was from!

We recently dined at los criollos and were amazed at the amount of food served for the price. Everything was flavorful, and delicious! I was not happy with the avocado served and the waitress graciously took it back and brought out another one. We are looking forward to returning during our short stay here from Arizona. read more

The reason for 2star . This local Spanish restaurant lacks Constancy for two reason first lunch is great the predation the quality the freshness is there . I can say that this is a lunch only restaurant. However the night service is horrible I order the same chick rice and beans for dinner one day that I had for lunch early the dinner meal was horrible the chicken was dry and in thin sliver , the chicken seemed to have been left overs from lunch . This was also he same issue with my steak rice and beans dry steak that was either microwaved to thaw or left over from lunch. It is understanding why this place is only open till 8pm because most there business is from lunch . I am the type of customer who expects the same quality of food regardless of the time of day . So do not expect much from the dinner service , yet I would say lunch is Good ! I have had lunch here about 6 times and never had problems only with the two dinner services . read more