Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Los Criollos

    3.5 (26 reviews)
    ModerateLatin American
    Open 8:00 am - 8:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

    Los Criollos Photos

    You might also consider

    More like Los Criollos

    Recommended Reviews - Los Criollos

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    a plate of food on a table
    Daniel S.

    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! :(

    Their special - beans, rice, steak, plaintain, an egg and an arepa. Awesome.
    Mike M.

    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.

    Yummy.
    Kavon S.

    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!

    this was the Yuca they served... not ok  it was oily and disgusting

    See all

    1 year ago

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

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 18
    Thanks 0
    Love this 10
    Oh no 1

    12 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kavon S.
    103
    29
    5

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Renee P.
    162
    42
    40

    10 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Nick G.
    58
    63
    22

    17 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Robert N.
    24
    554
    194

    12 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of ed n.
    2
    46
    6

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Zack S.
    46
    34
    0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    15 years ago

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

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Juan N.
    159
    10
    3

    9 years ago

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

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of J Z.
    2
    128
    72

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

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

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

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

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Ask the Community - Los Criollos

    Review Highlights - Los Criollos

    Comes with Steak, Rice, Avacado, Cherizo, Beans, Platano, and an egg!

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    You might also consider

    Verify this business for free

    People searched for Latin American 146 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

    Verify this business

    Pollos Pucalor - Chicharrones

    Pollos Pucalor

    4.4(130 reviews)
    1.8 mi
    $

    I've been a frequent customer of Portuguese BBQ considering my family lineage but since it's a…read morerarity in the area I live in now, we tried Pollos Pucalor. For starters, the chicken is flavorful, fresh and always on point. The rice and beans as well, but french fries are always a miss - stale and floppy - but the chicharron makes up for it! The only downside here: if you don't speak Spanish, you're screwed with both placing the order and picking up primarily due to it being a family owned establishment in a heavily populated Latin/Hispanic community. I've tried calling in a handful of times and have been put on hold for a while or hung up on after a few tries. It's pretty tough to have a conversation with them primarily due to the loud background noise and distant tone picked up by their touch less headsets the employees wear. It can get a bit frustrating if you're not able to speak moderate Spanish, but the alternative is just order Uber Eats or DoorDash, honestly lol it's still so worth it though!

    Great rotisserie chicken! Better than Costco (for sure), and it's worth the splurge. The sauces go…read moresooo well with the chicken and it's also super juicy and well seasoned. I wish I lived closer to this spot - it's a great grab and go dinner for the family on nights where cooking feels like too much. Ty for reading :3

    Photos
    Pollos Pucalor - Standing Room Only

    Standing Room Only

    Pollos Pucalor - Whole chicken, chicarrones, maduros and tostones.

    Whole chicken, chicarrones, maduros and tostones.

    Pollos Pucalor - Congratulations

    See all

    Congratulations

    Altoque Colombian food - Arepa with chicken and avocado  delicious

    Altoque Colombian food

    4.2(13 reviews)
    1.6 mi

    Great place with really good food, we had arepas with chicken and avocado and fries on the side…read moreplus passion fruit juice made to taste amazing:) I am coming back as soon as possible to try some different things on the menu and bide away lady working there is super friendly. Highly recommended !!!

    The best kept secret in Dover!…read more My boyfriend and I came here by chance when we were in Dover craving yuca fries, and since then, we've been hooked! We even came here to eat two days in a row once hahah Prices can't be beat, food is high quality deliciousness, and employees are extremely nice. You really get more bang for your buck when you order Bandeja Paisa, Especial de Bandeja, or the Calentado Paisa. They're all a little different but they each come with a variation of your choice of meat (grilled beef, chicken, pork, or chicarron) with rice, beans, egg, and corn patty in addition to whatever makes each dish different. For example: Bandeja Paisa includes grilled beef, chorizo, AND chicharron; Especial de Bandeja includes maduros and a beverage. Those options are all between $9-$12.50 AND the portions are huge!!! Sometimes when we don't want to get a huge platter like the ones listed above, we'll even opt for ordering multiple sides to make our own "platters" lol. I've ordered sides of yuca fries, chorizo, rice, and the Caldo de Costilla (beef rib broth - $4 under the breakfast menu) and be SUPER full at a super cheap price! ALSO! They have the best pink sauce and hot sauce ever. I don't know what it is about it, but it's just sooo good and flavorful. The pink sauce is very garlicy and the hot sauce has a nice kick and a slight vinegar-y taste. Mmm. I can't rave enough about this place. It's a tiny restaurant though so tables are limited (especially with COVID-19 social distancing in place), but if you have a chance to dine in, do it! They also offer take-out. Highly recommend!

    Photos
    Altoque Colombian food
    Altoque Colombian food - Outside area

    Outside area

    Altoque Colombian food - Inside of the place

    See all

    Inside of the place

    Los Criollos - latin - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...