I'm working now in Hoboken, and, although my families, both genetic and non-genetic (I'm adopted), for the most part originated in Jersey City and Hoboken, I'm not really familiar with either area (even though I grew up primarily in the Passaic County area of north Jersey). Consequently, when ordering food at work, I'm dependent on those co-workers who live in the general vicinity to suggest where the best places are to eat. One co-worker, of Peruvian descent, suggested Pio Pio and I was game. I've only eaten there a few times, and its invariably take out...I've never actually been in the restaurant...but I've become a big fan. And I do mean a big fan. When my co-worker asks where I'd like to order from, more often than not now, I'll reply, "Pio Pio?" Another co-worker, of Cuban descent, always laughs uproariously at that. Not entirely sure why--- my Irish-German-raised-as-a-WASP-in-north-Jersey accent? Maybe. But this "gringo" has come to love this restaurant, and if some good-natured mockery is what I have to go through to eat there, then so be it! The chicken soup is delicious-- crammed full of noodles, chicken and vegetables (including a section of corn on the cob with the cob included). Each day of the week has several specialties listed that you can order--- my particular favorite is Monday's "Picadillo Crillo" (ground beef in creole sauce). Every time I order this, my Cuban co-worker again laughs unroariously, and then corrects my mangling of the words. I usually get a side of rice with it, mix the Picadillo Crillo in, and chow down (last night I ordered it with a side of plantains rather than the black beans that I usually get with the rice-- every dish comes with 2 sides). I've had the yellow rice with chicken, but I especially love the Pot Roast with sauce. I haven't had pot roast since my mother made it for me as a child, but this recalls it vividly. Thankfully, nobody laughed when I ordered it. But it was....I know the word "Amazing" get thrown around a lot on Yelp, but this time the word is truly merited. The dish was, and is, amazing. Simple, perhaps, but amazing. What really stands out about this restaurant, beyond the quality of the food, is how much of it you get for so little money. The pot roast, for example, cost only $8.50. And the quantity of meat, tender and flavorful, is prodigious. Perhaps I've eaten this much great food for so little money elsewhere in my life, but I can't remember where, or when. At some point, I suppose I'll have to actually sit down in the restaurant and order a meal. But I love this place; take-out, sit-down, or whatever. Really. Good, hearty food for very little money. I can't recommend it enough. read more

So the food here is quite delicious and the prices are good, but we had such a hard time ordering and paying because the staff only speaks Spanish. We ordered two entrees, but the waitress only wrote down one entree order so we had to re-order the second. Additionally, she didn't really know how to have us pay via credit card, so she had to ask a colleague to come help. She also overcharged us by about $5 for one of the entrees compared to the price printed in the menu. With that said, we got the goat stew and a chicken combo meal, and both were delicious. We would be back for the food, but ordering was way too difficult and then being overcharged... read more

Pio Pio Restaurant - Goat Stew - quite good - Spanish Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

See all

Delicious food, and great service. I usually do take out but the ambience seems nice also.

Bland, bland, bland. I've lived in the BX, been to Puerto Rico, and had homemade Spanish food, and the dish I had here pales in comparison. I ordered the ropas viejas ($8.50+ tax weekly special), since you can't really go wrong with that. But they proved my wrong. The steak was bland, the beans were bland, and the white rice was decent. Also, the servings were smaller than expected. It's like they forgot to add the Adobo and sazon! Clearly, abuela is not in this kitchen. I'm quite surprised at the lack of flavor since it's run by Latinas in the front at least. Whoever is in the kitchen definitely isn't putting any Latin love in these meals. The specials are generally under $10, while most other normal menu items are over $11. Which, for the quality and serving size, makes them over priced. You get a whole lot of rice, and little of everything else. (Check the image of my to go meal to see). So I'm not sure how they get a lot of 5 stars reviews, unless it's from Americans who haven't had the real thing or perhaps other dishes are better. But I'm hesitant to try anything else after this disappointment. If you just want a simple breakfast that may be safer. For me, this was 2-star Spanish cuisine at best. read more

See all

Worst meal in many years . Horrible. We went late 9:30pm it closes at 10 . They should have closed 5pm because all the food tasted like it was made that morning....dry no flavor , barely edible . But my dog enjoyed the dried out overcooked pork chop ...madurus was a pile of grease. Rice went straight in the garbage.. hard Dry , cold ... I highly don't recommend this place , so sad . Pio Pio in Queens and NYC - were excellent years ago . I guess all they got was the name ..... read more

This is what you get for $11.60 at Pio Pio. Over cooked flavorless streak strips, frozen French fries that taste like they just came out the freezer . Don't go here if your in the mood for a steak sandwich. read more

Pio Pio Restaurant - A sorry looking steak sandwich . - Spanish Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

When it comes to Spanish good, this is my favorite in jersey city. I have tried a few other well known places such as rumba. But Pio Pio takes the award for best Spanish food in jersey city in my mind. I ordered the roasted chicken white rice and black beans for lunch. The chicken was so moist and the beans were so flavorful. Definitely freshly cooked that day. And u get a lot of food for ur buck. I spent 5.50 and had lunch and finished the rest for dinner. The have a lot of food. The search is over for spanish food. Go here hands down!!! read more

See all

Bland Spanish food. This taste nothing like the Spanish food I had in New York or the homemade cooking my family makes. Rice was decent. Chicken was eh , beans were decent read more

I wanted to try this place since I saw it. Order there Saturday special which was oxtails and white rice and didn't like it very much, there wasn't much flavor also the taste of it seem like it was cooked two days ago. My son had there rice and chicken with sweet plantains. The rice for some reason taste and look like one of those microwaveable rice the chicken was good. I was really hoping this place was good but was not for me. read more

I've ordered from here multiple times, it's gotten extremely expensive for a sorry amount of food.

a week ago I hope truly the owner reads this and actually cares to make a change. As someone who visits frequently I will no longer support PioPio and tell others to avoid this place. During a pandemic where millions have died, YOU allow your employees, particularly Christina do go on and service others without a mask. Customers may choose their risk in going to eat indoors, but why not protect yourself and others while servicing others, handling food and having constant interactions with people. HER response to not wearing a mask is "she had the virus already" is pure ignorance and lack of concern for other humans. I HOPE YOU HOLD YOUR STAFF ACCOUNTABLE AND CHANGE FOR THE BETTER OF GIVING A SIMPLE SHIT ABOUT OTHER HUMANS. Yours truly, a concerned human and a nurse. read more

Good: Fantastic Cuban food. Almost everything we ordered was yum. Husband gets food from Tina's Cuban food in Manhattan sometimes and I think Pio Pio beat Tina's hands down. We have had awesome Cuban food in Miami and can vouch Pio Pio is legit. Ordered on a Friday night. Items ordered: - fried chicken steak - fried tilapia - chicken in garlic sauce - Tres Leches cake Each entree came with two very generous sides: we got plantains, yellow rice, rice with beans and yuca as sides. Rice was absolutely flavorful and don't shy away from the boiled yuca. It was fantastic as it had some sort of seasoning on top. Plantains were great as well. Also since these were weekday specials, the bill was surprisingly low. Score!! Bad: nothing really was disappointing, except that the chicken in the chicken in garlic sauce dish was dry. The dish had breaded chicken mixed in the sauce. Ugly: Nada. Will I try Pio Pio again? Husband says Hell yeah!! He absolutely loved it. We were so surprised that the food was inexpensive so gave a generous tip to the delivery guy :) So order away folks. They deliver in the JC downtown area :) read more

Not only did they come 2 hours late, but I had to not take all the food and when I took my steak sandwich and coffee upstairs I expected to have good food since they took so long and..... I got the sloppiest sandwich, no lettuce no onions no tomatoes how it usually comes Lol I'm pretty sure the one half of the sandwich doesn't even have a bottom half bread, everything's just sloppy af, cold fries too. I'm disappointed my coffee was even half full, lol what a joke. I want a refund read more

We ordered the chicken combo for delivery. Portions are big, food was delicious. It was on a saturday, around 3pm wait time was about 45-50min, and we live 4 blocks away from the restaurant. Keep in mind the delivery time, dont wait until you are starving to order :) Oh i ordered from Pio Pio on a thursday evening arounf 6pm, with in 3 min of my ordering, Grubhub contacted me to tell me that the restaurant declined my order because they were too busy... i did appreciate their honest quick response. For improvement of a situation like this, I recommend they turn off/puase their grub hub account if they know they cannot take an order. I did spend a good 15min browsing their menu and ordering so that went to waste... read more

We ordered take out from Pio Pio based on the raving reviews, but found ourselves completely confused. Reviews said.. "great value" Our actual experience: Two dinner entrees for $30, not including tax and tip. The portions were not that big. My chicken entrée, for example, filled up maybe half the aluminum take out container. Reviews said... "great cuisine" Our actual experience: Chicken was overcooked (too dry) and the entire entrée consists mostly of tomato sauce. My hubby's dish (steak) was overly well-done leading to a tough, dry, and chewy consistency. The vegetable sides were average - same quality you would get from a Boston Market. Side salad is an unmemorable iceberg lettuce salad with some beets and onions. Dessert... tres leche was, like the entrees, really dry - not up to par with others we have had in nearby Essex County. Maybe it was an off night? Maybe their regular chef wasn't in? Trying to think of reasons why we would have such a disappointing experience here. read more

was told 15 minutes wait time for a tres golpes with no onions . waited 45 minutes in an empty restaurant . they also forgot my cheese

Consistent and very good good and great value. Chicken, steak and soups are excellent. Recommend highly. Allow extra time for to go orders because they get quite busy. read more

They arbitrarily decided that they no longer offer sides as part of their Arroz Fritos special but it's not on the menu or noted anywhere. The worst part is you can still order this for delivery online which I've done before. Really shitty business practice. Especially when your employees acknowledge it's not on the menu and probably should be. This resulted in being charged $12 instead of $6...twice the price. read more

Everything I've tried from here has been absolutely delicious! I get the shrimp mofongo every time and the cassava (which I never liked until I tried it here). read more

I was quite surprised to get an honest-to-blog $7.95 rib stew special. In the same price range, on another visit, was the excellent lechon. I figured it would be like pernil but it was fresher and had bigger pieces. The high garlic quotient was appealing. Once again, the portion size was just enough for me, which means way too big for normal people. read more

I ordered from them. My money was takin out of my card and when I arrived. I was told they are not taking any more orders and when I responded and asked how come they didn't inform me or at least call me or even cancel the order, the woman had the nerve to tell me "come tomorrow to pick it up." Clearly if I ordered food now it is because I was expecting to eat it now, not tomorrow. Completely unprofessional. And to top it off they tried to give me a wrong order that was over $70 worth of food. Didn't bother to ask me my name or even confirm that was my order. read more

The customer service is horrible. The woman who picked up the phone Was completely disrespectful and rude. Called me a name and continued to hang up the phone because she got the order wrong and I asked to speak to a manager. Never again. I used to order every week even though the food wasn't great it was convenient. But because of her, I would never order again or recommend. read more

Good flavor. Quick counter service food but there are also seats. You absolutely cannot beat the prices either.

Pio Pio is that local restaurant that even if it's your last resort for food, your satisfied. The portions that provided compared to the price of your food is insane. I can get an entire meal for $8 and still have enough food left over for lunch the next day. The food taste pretty good and the staff are quite friendly. Only negative, I would stay away from the seafood options, the salmon mainly. Just doesn't quite satisfy my taste buds. Enjoy Yelpers! read more

Would you like to be stuffed beyond belief for under 20 bucks? This place has you covered. The churrasco steak is great and inexpensive. The rice was a little mushy, but who cares? The sides are tasty and you have so many choices. The home made chimichurri sauce is amazing so ask for it on the side! read more

Pio Pio Restaurant - Desserts! - Spanish Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

First time here. Read the reviews on Yelp and had to try it. Clean, bright, and quite colorful!!!! Food specials are plastered on every visible service. Service was a little slow (about a 30 min wait for my food which were the daily specials) but very friendly. Seating was decent. Not a huge place at all but not a closet either. The staff spoke English which isn't always true for Spanish restaurants on Central Ave. Makes my life a lot easier!!!! :) The prices are on par with all the other restaurants in the area-$5-$12 per dish. Daily specials are varied so it's the not the same thing over and over again. Main menu has a ton of options as well. They also Deliver!!! $10 min. Now to the food- Arroz Con Pollo was juicy and flavorful. Portion is huge. Easily two meals. Ropa Viejo-same as the Arroz con Pollo. Beef was tender. Will get two meals out of this as well. Chicken soup, Papa Rellena, and sweet plantains were all delicious as well. All this for $24. Will be going there again... Have Fun read more

My go-to Spanish restaurant on Central Ave is definitely Rumba's Cafe, but after eating here, I think I might have found another! I wanted to try something different, and my boyfriend and I always drive by this place so we decided to stop in. We went on Sunday, and they offered the daily Sunday items plus an a la carte menu. We chose to have the lechon asado, which was $6.95 and includes 2 sides. There was a variety to pick from, but we ended up getting the black beans and maduros. I read a couple of Yelp reviews that said their Arroz Frito (fried rice) was amazing, so I decided to grab an order of that as well ($5.50). Lastly, I picked up my papa rellena. Yum. My boyfriend paid a little under $15 for all the food, and let me tell you, we were able to feed both of us plus save a little on the side for my grandma and aunt. The value is amazing. As for the taste? OMG, SOOOO GOOD! Especially the fried rice! It had ham and peppers and pieces of shrimp in it. I'm thinking about ordering it again sometime this week. The lechon asado is a bit drier than I'm used to. I always eat this dish at cuban restaurants and it's always juicy and packed full of flavor. The dish here was dry but flavorful and cooked with onions. Though I must say I like the skin better here! It kind of tastes like the kind I can pick up at the Filipino stores - nice and crispy. My papa rellena took some getting used to. The outside is a little different than what I get at Rumba's, but once I reached the center, it was amazing! Overall, I love it here, and can't wait to try other dishes! ------------ Quick Tips! $10.00 credit card minimum! One of the numbers on the store awning and menu are not correct. We called and reached a personal number I guess. The second number is the phone number to the store! read more

Food is amazing & the staff is super friendly! Can't wait to go back. A real hidden gem.

Once you walk in there are tables to the left and counter top seats to the right, i had came in for lunch the counter seats were all packed....looked thru the menu and decided to order the oxtails, platano maduros which are sweet plantains, and a side of yellow rice. What a good choice! Took it to go.. for only 9$ and change it came with three big peices of oxtails and a small peice,enough platanos for one person and a lot of rice(i love rice)...demolished it all! #fatboyproblems lol...i dont get the few bad reviews, im from jersey city and this is a must try place for good spanish food! #piopio read more

Pio Pio Restaurant - Yellow rice, platanos maduros, and ox tails #nomnomnom #goodeats - Spanish Near Me - Jersey City, New Jersey

See all

My daughter goes to the MMA class next door and we usually eat out that night ... So one day we just were starving ! Walking by the place which didn't look great the FAM decided to give it a try.so glade we did !! As soon as we sat they brang us warm toasted rolls with butter , which we snacked on while looking at the menu. The menus where in Spanish as well as English. Prices where very decent , I ordered the grilled Salmon , which was 11 or 10 dollars ... So when it got to my table it was 2 big sized filets !!!!! And the spice blend was amazingly perfect without over powering the salmon! My husband ordered the skirt steak, which to him was very good , and my husband is very picky with his ( its a man thing ) . he also ordered the rice that was fried with eggs and roast pork pieces (omg) ! We are definitely going back in to this place ! It doesn't look like much but their food is surprisingly good with big portions and great prices !!! Did I also mention the service was excellent ??? Well it is, very tentative servers! Give them a try you won't regret it ! read more

We've been eating here since we moved into the Heights 3 years ago and they NEVER disappoint. All dishes from breakfast, lunch & dinner menus are amazing. Some personal favorites are sancocho, masitas de puerco, chicharrón de pollo, pollo y bistec empanizado, and of course their arroz moro. Empanadas are great and so are the papa rellanas. Both dine in & takeout is great. If you do delivery it can take time, depending on day & time, but that's because their busy with feeding their clients. read more

Looking for a Peruvian place to eat because they are well known to have the sauce to pair well with any dish. I was sooooo wrong. I'm not a chef but I can cook a better meal than this place. We decided do give it a try the baked chicken paired with French fries and a side salad. Terrible!!! chicken was very dry, tasted like it was was warmed up. My husband ordered the churasco which came out sizzling from the kitchen, we asked for medium rare and it was well done. Not what he wanted and was not happy with. The pricing was decent, cheap I would say because we are foodies and love to eat at really good restaurants. This was not as good as I expected or read the reviews. Will not go back to eat here, I would rather make dinner at home. My cooking is better as a Latina. Next time we rather go to Applebee's than this local stuff that has no flavor. Nothing special read more

Ordered the garlic chicken combo w/ 2 sides; yellow rice & green side salad. Delivery came in about 1/2 an hour, under the promised time, and was thrilled. The garlic chicken was super garlicky (as it should be,) the yellow rice was entree-sized, so I just combined both in a large Corningware bowl. My side salad was fresh and typical, except I had a slice or two of pickled beets! Yes! I LOVE pickled beets! Everything was perfect, and the only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because much like Chinese delivery, the sauce to chicken ratio was about 3:1. Other than that, excellent, hot, fresh, delicious,and courteous! read more

I brought a group of 12 here, and they handled us with expertise without missing a beat.EVERYBODY loved their foods and those who got juices were extremely pleased. read more

Great service, quality food for a reasonable price. I love their homemade natural lemonade as well as their fruit shakes in water. Their picadillio Monday special is only $8 and comes with 2 sides. Usually I choose yellow rice & maduros (yellow bananas). Not only is it tasty but enough for me & my dog to share. Even their fish is good; whether their grilled flounder or their Red Snapper in garlic sauce. The churasacos (Romanian Steaks) are good, too. As to the deserts-the flan is ok, but their Tres Leches is to die for. The best I've ever had & is enough to feed 2. Their tirimasu is also good. read more

Great service, reasonable prices, food was good. Opens late. Will definitely return.

Have been coming here for years with my boyfriend, and he always comes with his dad. I drove by this place for many years without knowing what a gem it is. The food quality and portion size is amazing compared to the competition on Central Ave. They have something for everyone and have rarely been disappointed. I recommend this place to ANYONE looking to sit down and have a good filling meal with a friend or loved one. The atmosphere is cozy, they almost always have a soccer game on but even better is that the staff is SO FRIENDLY. 5 stars if not 6. Well deserved. read more

This place is very good and has great prices. We stopped in for dinner and were pleasantly surprised by the wonderful service and tasty options. Perfect for a quick and reasonably priced dinner in the Heights. read more

Generous portions of excellent criollo food. The potaje de garbanzos (chick pea soup) is worth coming back for! The restaurant is a bit bright -- the lighting could be more subdued -- but on the other hand, it adds to the sense of cleanliness, something lacking at several other local places along Central Avenue in Jersey City Heights. read more

I ordered food from here and it took an hour for the driver to call me back just to tell me my house is too far and they won't deliver to my location. I told them I'm literally 1 mile away and there must've been a mistake and that they must've had the wrong address ( which I made sure to give them the right address) and they did. When I asked them how much longer it would take they said they wouldn't deliver the food because they were closing in 5 mins. The whole time both the driver and the lady in the store were both extremely rude. Horrible customer service. And this isn't the first time, everytime I order from here they are extremely rude! Stay away! read more