Very good food, great variety, and awesome frappés. It's a bit expensive, but the portions and quality are very good. Also, I suggest ordering in advance, because there is a often a lengthy wait to make the food.
Ethical Integrity
Okay, so wanted to explore a little downtown Hartford, CT saw this restaurant. Decided, I would go inside to see their menu and their appearance. Well, sad because I hate to leave a bad review. But once inside the place was extremely dark for a afternoon in which outside was very bright as the day was very sunny. So check out the menu and there were many items to choose from. I did not order anything because the darkness just was not very calling and appealing and not sure if there was some maintenance going on as when I enter there was a guy doing some sort of repair. And also there were a smell that it was not from the food. And I would know because I cook a lot myself therefore, know what kind of aromas come from a Spanish, kitchen. I think the place can have real potential if the brighten up the place and lighten the colors on the walls to make it more appealing to the eye and atmosphere in the extablisment. Please if the owner reads this review don't take it personal because I'm just trying to give my feedback so you can recap and regroup to see on how you can redo the interior decor of the extablisment to make it more vibrant and elegant as well find out what's the order that impacting the air in the place in a nagetive way. I wish you all the best and hope to go again to indeed dine with you. In Love, Peace, and Unity... God bless...
Mari Vee
I would NOT recommend. Let’s begin with Management. The female in charge of the frontline/crew and appeared to be the restaurant’s lead has absolutely no managerial skills. While waiting in a long, slowly moving line to give her my order, she had insulted and cussed out several customers in person and via order call in. When I comforted her of the poor customer service and disrespect, she become irate. I walked away from the hostile situation and told her that I would be giving her a low rating. As I left the restaurant door, her employee, I think her daughter, chased me outside and asked me to repeat what I said. It is incredible that this business is sitting around so many other good and classy restaurants and businesses. Hartford is growing to be a place where people want to be at and El Poet does not fit here. It is out it’s league. Not to mention, the food is bad, bad, bad. It is not authentic Puerto Rican food. The wings I had ordered where seasoned to the point that they were orange. They were tasteless . The Cuban sandwich also is not the true Cuban sandwich. It was poorly made and not good. The place is not decent, disorganized and just doesn’t fit the newness of Downtown Hartford. El Poeta was originally known for their frappes and what should be their focus, because their food menu, just isn’t it. Overall, this place is a waste of time and money. They definitely need business skills training, desperately and a qualified licensed chef, pronto! They will never get my business.
Allany Ayala
Food is good , owner and servers attitude isn’t though. They also took out tip without asking or approving it with me.
Jenaily Marie
Horrible experience. I as a business owner know the priorities for a successful business, Excellent customer service, attentive, cleanest, presentation and making the best experience every single time no matter what. Came to this spot today order mofongo with shrimp salsa and a tripleta. Lady in charged of front had a horrible attitude. We order she told us to sit on the left side of the restaurant we did, after 20 minutes she tells us to move another table, her rudeness was so disgusting we got up and asked to pack our food to go. Waited 20 more minutes our food came a girls brought the food to us. I got to the car when I opened the mofongo there was a long hair on the shrimp salsa. I was disgusted. Never again waste of money time and horrible experience.
Elisabeth Jarnot
This location was completely horrible. Customer service, was the worst I have ever experienced. They were very rude, yelling, and being very disrespectful to customers. The food was horrible, and under cooked. The wait time for the food was ridiculous. The place was very dirty and not organized. I would not recommend this place to anyone. it's a waste of money for bad food and bad service.Vegetarian options: None
Luis
No free parking around . Sandwich was good but need it more meat for the price. but most of the time you have to wait 30-40 min for the food to be ready and with paid parking not good also careful they sometimes add tip without asking to your pick up orders or dine in
Daniel Medina
Terrible service, don’t spend your money at this establishment. Me and my family were met with the utmost disrespect while at this restaurant. We changed tables because there was a line of customers in front of the table we were sitting at. When we changed tables, the lady with long nails behind the counter started yelling at my mother and became argumentative. At this point, we requested a refund and left the restaurant. Very unprofessional environment. We as Hispanics have to do better. This is not the way you should treat your customers. Take your services to Criollisimo in New Britain.
Dj Krazie
This was not what i expected, Order took over an hour for a Jibarito and Fries, fries we're not cooked all the way, ordered steak and cheese and i got chopped ground beef with soggy plantains. Definitely will not go
Ethan Smith
Before going to a show at XL Center, we stopped in to get a quick bite. Well, strike out the word quick. We walked in about two hours before the show, there were a few tables open and one person was ordering at the cash register. My wife and I secured a table and grab a menu. When I got up to order, I had to wait for four ladies to order. Before that, they were taking a few phone orders, but not much foot traffic. The business started to pick up after my order was placed. After about a half hour, I started to wonder why it was taking so long to get our simple order of basically deep fried food. At 45 minutes, I inquired about my order and they told me they don't cook the food until the order is placed. I informed her that it's been 45 minutes. By this time, the four ladies who ordered before me left without their food. About 5 minutes later, were got 3 of the items we ordered. All were low quality products. We didn't get our last item until we were about to leave. We got it to go, but had to toss it anyway way because we had to enter the concert hall. I'm sure it was nothing to write home about. The woman at the cash register was rude, the food was sub par, and the interior was cheap; like everything else. I wasn't expecting much, but hoping to be surprised. Unfortunately, it was a bad surprise.
Awful experience. Took 25 mins to make a simple Cuban sandwich. At 20 mins in I told her I wanted a refund. She forced me to wait another 5 mins and made me late for work. The big thing was that at 20 mins they hadn't even started my sandwich. It only took then 3 mins to make it once I asked about it. The last was also very rude the whole time. Don't go. Sandwich was garbage anyway
Manuel Hernandez
My experience yesterday was not a pleasant one to say the least. I came into the restaurant in high hopes to have a good meal. After deciding what I wanted to order which was a tripleta jibarito style and a five star with two cola champagne. I was told that they are only taking cash. I didn't let that bother me as I had a great start to the day. I went a block over to the atm and payed for my order. I sat down and waited 45 min for a women with red hair to tell me they messed up my order and trying to convince me to have what they made and not my original order. I was upset and politely asked for my refund because I had to pick up my children from school and didn't want to be late. They told me that it was against thier policy to refund my money because they already started my food even though she claimed that they didn't make it. I was furious with them!! She said it will take an additional 7 min to complete my order. I asked them to make it to go because of the kids. 25 min later the food was ready I was highly upset ?. When i heard her taking an order from her phone, I heard her in spanish taking a credit card over the phone which upset me because she lied to me about the card machine not working. I noticed they put two cokes into the bag. I asked my assistant if he was told they didn't have our original choice and he said no. He just wanted to leave so he choose to stay with coke I asked politely for a change to a grape soda and she had a face as if I was wrong to ask for it. I left Immediately and drove to newington and upon arrival I opened my grape soda and it was FLAT!!! I called the store to ask if I could come back in and exchange it and she said " I apologize but you are going to have to pay the diffrence because bottle is more expensive than can." I replied to her and said I refuse to spend more time and energy into thier restaurant and I will be leaving a google review for the bad customer service. Mind you all the customers where receiving thier orders wrong or late. I noticed that people would get food first and their friends or family would wait longer and watch them eat. Some people also got thier food ahead of orders placed first. I will never again go to this restaurant and support this business. I also have told countless family and friends about this and recommended them never to go either. I would give this place a zero if possible.This place has lost thier hospitality and customer service. I don't know if they are under new management but they have gone downhill.
E M
I love their sandwiches there really good ! but the drinks look nothing like they do in pictures ! Main thing is the poor customer service , the attitude on one of the older woman is sad I get you might be grumpy smelling like grease all day but you chose this , I’ve watched this lady argue with doordash drivers because they couldn’t have their food done on time & when they choose not to take the food due to their poor customer service & slow service food be all cold & get mad & argue with people who isn’t at fault & it’s sad ! that’s not how you treat people who are legit helping you by delivering you’re food services , & get mad at people who order your food putting money in your pockets , also one of my friends called & asked if she can order two sandwiches & pay the other in person (cash) & last with the card apparently she couldn’t even if she were to order one which obviously she’d be coming for if she’s putting her order in over the phone why would she sit & wait for another sandwich to be made if she’s already coming for the one paid through the phone makes no sense to sit & wait for another to be made when as long as she paid one of them clearly shows she’s coming for the other , but due to the customer services always being slow ! Why would she sit & wait for the other when she clearly paid atleast for one over the phone ? Make it make sense! Y’all need better customer service , I see nothing but bad reviews hear nothing but negativity food poisoning & all it’s sad ! don’t even have 5 stars & now I see why smh ! Do better ! With y’all customer services that’s all y’all missing !
Nelson Ruiz
It was a Monday night. Food was good and the service. The Music was old Salsa which I enjoyed a lot. There was a table that was not cleaned for a while due to short staff. I ordered mofongo with fried chicken. It was a lot of food. I also order a Coco Rico. I got a India brand Coco it was so sweet I could not drink it. Coco Rico is very unique.
Darian D
DO NOT EAT HERE! I ate a Cuban sandwich there a few days ago and got insane FOOD POISONING! I didn’t even have their Dasani water bottle, all I did was eat their food and leave. These people don’t even have a public bathroom for people to wash their hands, they only have nasty smelling hand sanitizer. Don’t bother to come here this place needs to close, it’s disgusting. Also, nobody should ever have to ask “do you want everything on it” for a CUBAN SANDWICH these people had to ask about not putting ketchup and Mayo on a cubano. Nasty.
Very good food, great variety, and awesome frappés. It's a bit expensive, but the portions and quality are very good. Also, I suggest ordering in advance, because there is a often a lengthy wait to make the food.
Okay, so wanted to explore a little downtown Hartford, CT saw this restaurant. Decided, I would go inside to see their menu and their appearance. Well, sad because I hate to leave a bad review. But once inside the place was extremely dark for a afternoon in which outside was very bright as the day was very sunny. So check out the menu and there were many items to choose from. I did not order anything because the darkness just was not very calling and appealing and not sure if there was some maintenance going on as when I enter there was a guy doing some sort of repair. And also there were a smell that it was not from the food. And I would know because I cook a lot myself therefore, know what kind of aromas come from a Spanish, kitchen. I think the place can have real potential if the brighten up the place and lighten the colors on the walls to make it more appealing to the eye and atmosphere in the extablisment. Please if the owner reads this review don't take it personal because I'm just trying to give my feedback so you can recap and regroup to see on how you can redo the interior decor of the extablisment to make it more vibrant and elegant as well find out what's the order that impacting the air in the place in a nagetive way. I wish you all the best and hope to go again to indeed dine with you. In Love, Peace, and Unity... God bless...
I would NOT recommend. Let’s begin with Management. The female in charge of the frontline/crew and appeared to be the restaurant’s lead has absolutely no managerial skills. While waiting in a long, slowly moving line to give her my order, she had insulted and cussed out several customers in person and via order call in. When I comforted her of the poor customer service and disrespect, she become irate. I walked away from the hostile situation and told her that I would be giving her a low rating. As I left the restaurant door, her employee, I think her daughter, chased me outside and asked me to repeat what I said. It is incredible that this business is sitting around so many other good and classy restaurants and businesses. Hartford is growing to be a place where people want to be at and El Poet does not fit here. It is out it’s league. Not to mention, the food is bad, bad, bad. It is not authentic Puerto Rican food. The wings I had ordered where seasoned to the point that they were orange. They were tasteless . The Cuban sandwich also is not the true Cuban sandwich. It was poorly made and not good. The place is not decent, disorganized and just doesn’t fit the newness of Downtown Hartford. El Poeta was originally known for their frappes and what should be their focus, because their food menu, just isn’t it. Overall, this place is a waste of time and money. They definitely need business skills training, desperately and a qualified licensed chef, pronto! They will never get my business.
Food is good , owner and servers attitude isn’t though. They also took out tip without asking or approving it with me.
Horrible experience. I as a business owner know the priorities for a successful business, Excellent customer service, attentive, cleanest, presentation and making the best experience every single time no matter what. Came to this spot today order mofongo with shrimp salsa and a tripleta. Lady in charged of front had a horrible attitude. We order she told us to sit on the left side of the restaurant we did, after 20 minutes she tells us to move another table, her rudeness was so disgusting we got up and asked to pack our food to go. Waited 20 more minutes our food came a girls brought the food to us. I got to the car when I opened the mofongo there was a long hair on the shrimp salsa. I was disgusted. Never again waste of money time and horrible experience.
This location was completely horrible. Customer service, was the worst I have ever experienced. They were very rude, yelling, and being very disrespectful to customers. The food was horrible, and under cooked. The wait time for the food was ridiculous. The place was very dirty and not organized. I would not recommend this place to anyone. it's a waste of money for bad food and bad service.Vegetarian options: None
No free parking around . Sandwich was good but need it more meat for the price. but most of the time you have to wait 30-40 min for the food to be ready and with paid parking not good also careful they sometimes add tip without asking to your pick up orders or dine in
Terrible service, don’t spend your money at this establishment. Me and my family were met with the utmost disrespect while at this restaurant. We changed tables because there was a line of customers in front of the table we were sitting at. When we changed tables, the lady with long nails behind the counter started yelling at my mother and became argumentative. At this point, we requested a refund and left the restaurant. Very unprofessional environment. We as Hispanics have to do better. This is not the way you should treat your customers. Take your services to Criollisimo in New Britain.
This was not what i expected, Order took over an hour for a Jibarito and Fries, fries we're not cooked all the way, ordered steak and cheese and i got chopped ground beef with soggy plantains. Definitely will not go
Before going to a show at XL Center, we stopped in to get a quick bite. Well, strike out the word quick. We walked in about two hours before the show, there were a few tables open and one person was ordering at the cash register. My wife and I secured a table and grab a menu. When I got up to order, I had to wait for four ladies to order. Before that, they were taking a few phone orders, but not much foot traffic. The business started to pick up after my order was placed. After about a half hour, I started to wonder why it was taking so long to get our simple order of basically deep fried food. At 45 minutes, I inquired about my order and they told me they don't cook the food until the order is placed. I informed her that it's been 45 minutes. By this time, the four ladies who ordered before me left without their food. About 5 minutes later, were got 3 of the items we ordered. All were low quality products. We didn't get our last item until we were about to leave. We got it to go, but had to toss it anyway way because we had to enter the concert hall. I'm sure it was nothing to write home about. The woman at the cash register was rude, the food was sub par, and the interior was cheap; like everything else. I wasn't expecting much, but hoping to be surprised. Unfortunately, it was a bad surprise.
Restaurantji Recommends
Awful experience. Took 25 mins to make a simple Cuban sandwich. At 20 mins in I told her I wanted a refund. She forced me to wait another 5 mins and made me late for work. The big thing was that at 20 mins they hadn't even started my sandwich. It only took then 3 mins to make it once I asked about it. The last was also very rude the whole time. Don't go. Sandwich was garbage anyway
My experience yesterday was not a pleasant one to say the least. I came into the restaurant in high hopes to have a good meal. After deciding what I wanted to order which was a tripleta jibarito style and a five star with two cola champagne. I was told that they are only taking cash. I didn't let that bother me as I had a great start to the day. I went a block over to the atm and payed for my order. I sat down and waited 45 min for a women with red hair to tell me they messed up my order and trying to convince me to have what they made and not my original order. I was upset and politely asked for my refund because I had to pick up my children from school and didn't want to be late. They told me that it was against thier policy to refund my money because they already started my food even though she claimed that they didn't make it. I was furious with them!! She said it will take an additional 7 min to complete my order. I asked them to make it to go because of the kids. 25 min later the food was ready I was highly upset ?. When i heard her taking an order from her phone, I heard her in spanish taking a credit card over the phone which upset me because she lied to me about the card machine not working. I noticed they put two cokes into the bag. I asked my assistant if he was told they didn't have our original choice and he said no. He just wanted to leave so he choose to stay with coke I asked politely for a change to a grape soda and she had a face as if I was wrong to ask for it. I left Immediately and drove to newington and upon arrival I opened my grape soda and it was FLAT!!! I called the store to ask if I could come back in and exchange it and she said " I apologize but you are going to have to pay the diffrence because bottle is more expensive than can." I replied to her and said I refuse to spend more time and energy into thier restaurant and I will be leaving a google review for the bad customer service. Mind you all the customers where receiving thier orders wrong or late. I noticed that people would get food first and their friends or family would wait longer and watch them eat. Some people also got thier food ahead of orders placed first. I will never again go to this restaurant and support this business. I also have told countless family and friends about this and recommended them never to go either. I would give this place a zero if possible.This place has lost thier hospitality and customer service. I don't know if they are under new management but they have gone downhill.
I love their sandwiches there really good ! but the drinks look nothing like they do in pictures ! Main thing is the poor customer service , the attitude on one of the older woman is sad I get you might be grumpy smelling like grease all day but you chose this , I’ve watched this lady argue with doordash drivers because they couldn’t have their food done on time & when they choose not to take the food due to their poor customer service & slow service food be all cold & get mad & argue with people who isn’t at fault & it’s sad ! that’s not how you treat people who are legit helping you by delivering you’re food services , & get mad at people who order your food putting money in your pockets , also one of my friends called & asked if she can order two sandwiches & pay the other in person (cash) & last with the card apparently she couldn’t even if she were to order one which obviously she’d be coming for if she’s putting her order in over the phone why would she sit & wait for another sandwich to be made if she’s already coming for the one paid through the phone makes no sense to sit & wait for another to be made when as long as she paid one of them clearly shows she’s coming for the other , but due to the customer services always being slow ! Why would she sit & wait for the other when she clearly paid atleast for one over the phone ? Make it make sense! Y’all need better customer service , I see nothing but bad reviews hear nothing but negativity food poisoning & all it’s sad ! don’t even have 5 stars & now I see why smh ! Do better ! With y’all customer services that’s all y’all missing !
It was a Monday night. Food was good and the service. The Music was old Salsa which I enjoyed a lot. There was a table that was not cleaned for a while due to short staff. I ordered mofongo with fried chicken. It was a lot of food. I also order a Coco Rico. I got a India brand Coco it was so sweet I could not drink it. Coco Rico is very unique.
DO NOT EAT HERE! I ate a Cuban sandwich there a few days ago and got insane FOOD POISONING! I didn’t even have their Dasani water bottle, all I did was eat their food and leave. These people don’t even have a public bathroom for people to wash their hands, they only have nasty smelling hand sanitizer. Don’t bother to come here this place needs to close, it’s disgusting. Also, nobody should ever have to ask “do you want everything on it” for a CUBAN SANDWICH these people had to ask about not putting ketchup and Mayo on a cubano. Nasty.