While passing through this area, my husband and I noticed how many people seemed to be dining here on an otherwise quiet hour. "Want to give it a chance?" is my partner's way of suggesting, 'Let's walk into this restaurant we know absolutely nothing about and try foods we've never had before!' As we hesitated, a departing customer opened the door and the smells coming from inside the restaurant were all it took to convince us to step in. We clearly stuck out like a sore thumb among a sea of Hispanic families, but no one made us feel uncomfortable and our server was patient with our flood of questions about the menu. A quick glance around the restaurant quickly revealed that nearly table had bowls of a deep orange broth topped with red onions...so we immediately knew we had to order that. Called encebollado, and it's our new treasure find. Ecuador's powerful answer to pho, it comes with either fish and/or shrimp (orderer's choice) along with hearty chunks of potato. We fell in instant love at first bites, proving once more that when in doubt, it's best to eat what everyone else is eating. We also ordered a skirt steak (called 'Churrasco Sophis' on the menu) as a safe and familiar choice in case the soup didn't work out. This, too, was fantastic on several counts. Our medium-well steak was cooked to order but still tender enough to cut obligingly under a butter knife. With generous accoutrements of a soft fried egg, plantains, avocado, salad, and a bed of fries, this was also an enormous serving of food. That said, that there wasn't much of it left over seems to show how much we enjoyed it. A few things to know for newcomers: (1) This is a casual spot, so don't expect white glove service. You seat yourselves at any available empty table and a passing server will eventually notice you and drop menus by. No one comes by to check on you except to deliver your meal, so there might be a small wait for closing out your check. (2) Tip is automatically calculated at 18%, and there's an added 3% convenience charge for credit card payments. (3) Finding parking can be kinda tough. The main street in front has limited paid street parking (ParkMobile app) any time I'm in this area. read more

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The food and service were fine but the fact that they add a 20% tip without letting you that they are doing it is unacceptable. Then add in the fee for containers to take home your leftovers. The tip includes the tax and fee for containers. Our server was fine, nothing special and ended up with more than a $60 tip on a check for $143 (before tax and containers) I don't see us going back again read more

I like the food. I always go for authenticity regardless of class. Place is quite clean and food is delicious and it's big serving. Only some waitresses don't speak English well. read more

Food is ok, service can be much better. Automatically tip is added (it was only my wife and I). Would not be going back

I've been ordering from this restaurant via UberEats since the pandemic and they always leave out one of my desserts every time and they do not offer a refund. I was hesitant to update my previous 5 star review until after my 8th food delivery order at this restaurant. 2 stars because the food is always hot upon delivery and tasty. To say the least, I have been a loyal local customer, and have reordered multiple times hoping the below issues were only a honest mistake as oppose to the restaurant ripping their customers off. The Ceviche Verde dish has always been my go to dish! Base on my previous photo posts, you can see the drastic portion differences in the amount food I've been given. The portion has shrunken by almost 1/2 the amount, but the price remains the same- around $21 after tax. You get less avocados, just less of everything, especially bits of fish. The plantain chips comes with this dish, and it has been soggy. I want to say they are soggy 3 out of 5 times. An order of dessert is alway added to my order. I ordered the tiramisu for the past two orders. For this order, my tiramisu is missing the bottom half!! So disappointed. As for my previous order, my tiramisu was missing or the tres leche amount is only a small square piece and the restaurant did not issue a replacement or a refund. Packing is not impressive- containers are usually crushed and food can be leaking. Unfortunately, the service and food quality has consistently gone downhill. No plans to order again anytime soon. read more

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Passed this restaurant a few times driving through main street and finally got around to trying it. :) We had to google a few items as we are not to familiar with Ecuadorian food. Only been to 1 other Ecuadorian restaurant in Hackensack. It was so out of the way I forgot the name (I think cafe was in the name which made it harder to find hehehe). The Ceviche Platter Huracan is really a meal but it sounded interesting so we ordered it as an appetizer. The Ceviche de Camarones was really good, the shrimps were tender. The Encebollado was delicious (I also didn't realize this was part of the dish until we got it, read the menu fully LOL). The Cerviche de Concha was not good, it was very fishy and had a strange after taste... also there's an upcharge (even though in the menu it says fish or conch, one assumes its 1 or the other but at the same price... at least the waitress told us about the upcharge!) I would not order the conch again... :( will probably just stick to fish Ceviche. The Encebollado Mixto has fish and shrimp. This I loved! The fish is firmer than what I'm used to, but it definitely holds up in soup. I would love to know what kind of fish they used. Forgot to ask hehehe. I was confused, as the menu said 2 sides and I ordered rice and salad but was told it would be extra... hubby wanted Avocado Salad so we ended up ordering a salad anyways but I looked at the menu again and it did say 2 sides with salad as an option. Again the menu was misleading. Higado was not bad. Hubby loved it with Maduro and Lentils. I've never been a fan of liver... but I always try a bite when hubby orders it. This was one of the better liver I've ever had. It didnt have a metallic taste or some weird after taste. I still would not order this, unless I'm told to by a doctor then I will come to Sara & Sophia to eat it hehehe. My issues that prevent 3-4 stars are: -the upcharge on the conch and side salad. Yes she told us but, it should be on the menu...don't give us an option if it will be a different price. It should be listed as 2 options with the 2 price tags... -we were charged $1.50 for take out containers, wished they warned us up front... -3% addtional for using credit card... -14.5% tip was automatically tacked onto the bill even though we were only 2 people... Now that I've typed out all of this in my review, I just realized that Bohemia, the previous restaurant in this spot did the same things, which caused us to never go back... I don't mind the 3% for using credit card as I understand this. I even don't mind if you tack on tip if it's a party of 5 or more but not for 2 people... I even understand charging for the take out containers. What I don't care for is not being told of these things upfront... it's like now that you've eaten we will charge you for walking into our establishment. That kind of sneakiness I don't stand for and there are plenty of restaurants that don't do this that I rather patronize. Even though the food was good, there are other restaurants I'd rather eat at that do not penny pinch their customers! read more

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We were headed to another Ecuadorian restaurant being that the one we were trying to go initially was closed(away on vacation), is when when stumbled upon this place. After reading the stellar reviews we decided to go. 1) the place is big and esthetically appeasing, warm and friendly. 2) the staff are super friendly. Daniella, our waitress was super friendly and amicable. Nice to meet fellow Ecuadorian's and to hear about their time back home. 3) the food. Delicious!! The food felt like home for me. I was so excited that I didn't know what to order. I have been in the mood for Guatita and theirs looked delicious and tasty too. But, I couldn't help myself and ordered another favorite dish. La Fritada. The batido(smoothie) de Mora was just as yummy. 4) prices match the meal. Definitely worth it. I am very happy to have found this new gem and I cannot wait to go back and have the ceviches, sopas and more of our traditional dishes. read more

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total al 100% Muy súper rica toda la comida y servicio Ambiente super Todo limpio si demora la atención por q la mayoría todo es al instante de preparar pero todo. super y rico read more

Stopped in for the first time to check out this new Ecuadorian restaurant at the former site of Bohemia, which seems to have gone from temporarily closed to permanently closed! Sara & Sophia was squeaky clean and socially distanced, making seating very open. Got my lunch special to go. No dining in for me yet! Ordered Ropa Vieja, which is my go-to after Pernil! As it took a while, I believe the meat was cooked to order, and not served from a steam table in the kitchen! Either way, it was tasty and the portion generous! Black beans were served on the side, not as pictured. If you like spicy, they have a housemade sauce that's awesome! I enjoyed my lunch, with enough leftover for a decent snack or small meal. Will definitely be returning! Support local business and go check out the great food at Sara & Sophia! read more

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Beyond happy with to go orders so far everything is fresh flavor full and makes you just smile. read more

Sara & Sophia Restaurant - Caldo de bola If you like hot sauce ask for an extra container because it taste so good but beware its a good kick - Latin American Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

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My mom came here awhile ago with a friend and asked me to join her again. We both got the lunch specials for the day. The pricing is decent though picked up as we added more sides. The portions are also impressive and we had plenty of leftovers to take home. It was a bit intimidating because we had to look up a lot of the menu items online, but everything was delicious in the end. They played some very vibey music that I kept Shazamming. One thing that is confusing is that tip is already included in the receipt, so keep an eye out! There's also an extra card fee, so have cash ready. read more

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Found this place unexpectedly as some of the other local spots seemed a little more crowded than I was comfortable with. Was pleasantly surprised to see how clean everything was in this restaurant. I always notice small details like that.. It's a not a fancy place but a nice casual spot. It looks like the owner takes good care of everything here. They have a pretty large menu but we decided on ropa vieja and an avocado salad with whitefish. The portion sizes were much larger than expected so we were pretty full after the salad. Everything was full of flavor and tasted really fresh! As for service, these ladies were very attentive and patient. They are very happy to accommodate requests for anything we asked. You can bring your own wine which is great too. I look forward to my next visit here and trying something else..Definitely check this place out if you're in the area! read more

Sara & Sophia Restaurant - Avocado salad with whitefish - Latin American Near Me - Hackensack, New Jersey

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Best salmon with tostones. The salmon is served with a delicious mango sauce. The size of the tostones as as big as your hand. True story. I keep coming back for more. Ps - BYOB read more

I was on my way to get Thai food when I saw this restaurant instead. They had the menu outside the restaurant and many of the items caught my eye. So I shrugged and said, "why not!" It was cold out and I was hungry. My ratings are from 1-10. 1 being the lowest, 10 the highest. Service and staff: 10- the servers and staff were extremely delightful. They were accommodating patient, and polite. They spoke both Spanish and English. Food: 10- Hands down the food was delicious! I don't know who Sara and Sophia are but who ever was cooking in the kitchen made some great tasting food!! I ordered the churrasco and white rice and beans. The meat was tender, the rice was sticky and moist and the beans were seasoned to taste. It was so good!! Pandemic precautions: 10- tables were sanitized after every guest. All staff and servers wore mask. Overall, I would go again I enjoyed the food and the staff were very friendly. They do not serve alcohol but you are allowed to BYOB. I highly recommend this place if you're looking for some delicious Latin American food. Eat and live well! read more

Comida bastante buena pero el servicio un desastre. Y son tan atrevidos que cobran propinas Por lanzar un plato de comida y retirar los platos. Pero. La solución es no regresar pésimo el servicio read more

This is a surprise. We park our car nearby and saw this Ecuador restaurant. It was Saturday around 6pm. There were not many customers and the rating is only 3.8. I hesitated but I saw many South American customers there so I decided to give it a try. I am happy I did. I ordered Bandera Tipica Eduardoriana. There were chicken, shrimp ceviche and beef tripes. For people who is interested Authentic food, you might want to give it a try. read more

I ordered three items and didn't get a chance to take pictures but all three were fresh very delicious. I git the grilled chicken with Rice and beans doe my husband amd he LOVED eating it. The flan was amazing! read more

If they had a no STAR I could give this place that indefinitely. I had a terrible experience at this restaurant. The food was absolutely spoiled and inedible. The moment the plate of the (Soup Caldo de Bola) was placed in front of me, the ball in the soup was not right - My parents and I took a bite and was hit by a nauseating bitter taste that made us lose our appetite instantly. It's beyond disappointing that a place that claims to serve quality food could serve something so rotten. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone, unless they have a strong stomach and enjoy the taste of spoiled food. FYI, they charge you for the to go containers and they never cared to return our money or apologize. read more

I love there food always taste so good and there sancocho is the best. If you in Hackensack trust me the food is amazing

Will deft. be going back! Food was really good, well presented, and full of flavor. As appetizer, had shrimp ceviche-could definitely tell it was fresh. I had salmon and shrimp, with patacones and avocado-so good! . My husband had churrasco and shrimp (it came in a sauce, if you are used to steak on flaming dish, this may not be what you expect, yet flavorful). Staff was very attentive. Restaurant is BYOB, deft. A plus! read more

Food was good. HOWEVER, the menu is not clear on the prices and they charge for everything, including the containers to go (50 cents a piece) and we did not know until we received our check and saw the charges. There is $1.00 charge for credit cards which is ridiculous. The tip was automatically included in the bill for a party of 2. Too many unexpected charges on the bill. They nickel and dime the customer. First and last time eating at this restaurant. read more

Just tried it for the first time via Uber eats, and my goodness. The empanadas were fantastic and the steak quesadilla was so flavorful. Definitely going to order pretty much everything else on their menu... read more

I was at this restaurant on Sunday the 6th on the recommendation of a friend. I'm Ecuadorian and always on the lookout for proper Ecuadorian food. I'll dispense with the niceties. The place was very clean, staff was friendly and helpful. Food was as close to being back home as I've had in a good long while. On to the real reason you're reading this review. This place nickel and dimes you to death. Some other folks have mentioned this already but it bears repeating. They charge you for the containers to take you're left overs with you. They charge you a 3% fee for using a debit or credit card. And the absolute worst thing of all. They automatically charge you a gratuity that seemingly they pull out of their behinds. It seems that almost all places charge a gratuity of 18% on tables of 6 or more patrons. We were three people. We were charged 18% why exactly? The service was good but not stellar. For that I tip 15%. And this is taking into account that tip culture has gone off the rails. I was once asked to tip 18% by the counter person who turned around, grabbed my order off the counter behind her and thought that warranted 18%. I promptly tapped "No Tip" and was given the evil eye. I understand servers work for tips, I get that. But servers also need to understand that the tip is an out for your employer to give you a lousy wage believing it's his patrons duty, or in this case obligation, to make up for his lack of business acumen. I thoroughly enjoyed the food but was left with an awful feeling once the check came. Not one of these things was mentioned by our server or anywhere on the menu. I believe this "policy" only serves to create ill will with your patrons. It's been 4 days and not only am I still stewing about it, I'm telling everyone of my Ecuadorian friends about my experience AND I joined YELP to vent. Stay tuned because I plan on going back with lots of cash and will pay whatever tip I feel is appropriate. Let's see what happens. read more