Waited 2 hours for food and just never got any service. Terrible place. Terrible service.
A D.
I. Food II Ambience III Predictability I. Food Slow roasted pork - most excellent. Most excellent. Rice with beans - very nice. Octopus salad - great dressing and bits of salad, and I think I had mistaken expectations. I've only had grilled octopus in the past, at white table cloth restaurants, and I'm guessing that those octopus samples were massaged and massaged and massaged. (Remember the great movie, Jiro Dreams of Sushi? One of the sous chefs had to massage each octopus for 45 minutes before it was considered ready to be presented.) The flavor, by way of the dressing, was great. The octopus itself was tough, maybe because it was marinated and not grilled. How tough? It took me a couple of tries to spear a piece with a metal fork and longer than that to fully chew it. If you're good with that, then it's a must have. II Ambience Yes, it's a food truck by a school playground with no seating. Puerto Rican (?), Mexican (?), Latin X (?) music at a strong but not conversation-killing volume spills out of a speaker, all upbeat, great arrangements: horns, strings, and of course percussion. It'd be great music for a party or festival. Which Lechonera basically is. III Predictability So. Google has it opening at noon, and a 2015 GrubStreet review ( has the pork coming out in batches at noon, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30, and 4 p.m. Today, 4/28/2024) we got there at 12:45, and there was a line of about 50 people. No movement on the line. I asked people at the front what time they'd gotten there and they said 11:30 and that people had started lining up at noon. The first batch came out at 1:20 and the people in the front of the line went in at 1:32. We ordered and got served around 3:20, though they didn't have the shrimp pastillos or the mofongo. So, overall: fun party atmosphere, excellent slow roasted pork, and leisurely service, at least today. It took 2 hours for 50 people to be served, which isn't crazy slow, and if the first batches had come out at noon, as advertised, instead of 1:20, our wait would have probably been one hour instead of two. I'm glad we went. The vibe is great, the pork is succulent with a beautifully crisp skin. But it'll probably be a while before going again, and if the food is slow to come out and the offerings spotty, we'll probably move on immediately instead of waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
Carmen F.
From all of the reviews I expected so much better from the restaurant. I grew up on Latin food and have never has pastellios that were so dry and cold. I asked for sancocho and I got chicken soup with tripe in it. I went back before I headed home to see if they were having an off day but no it was the same thing. On the upside the service was good
thomas fuentes
Exceptional Service, Excellent Food, Very Good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jeso J.
the best place to get Puerto Rican food from a real Boricua!!He literally does everything himself assuring that you will get real great food highly recommend this place to anybody who wants real fantastic tasting Puerto Rican food
Gaby Nunez
Very bad place, terrible food
Doris T.
$25.00 for a plate of pernil, octopus, arroz con gandules, ample portion and well worth it. The guy has magical cooking skills. Lechon is falling off the bone, everyhing is delicious, tasty. It's in the Bronx, well worth the trip. He is leaving for Aguadilla, Puerto Rico soon to open a Lechonera there. What a loss. The guy is so charming, really nice man. Food is just amazing.
Jhonny Ley
Excellent taste and very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Irvin N.
This how we do in the (South) Bronx!!!Nothing quite encapsulates the Bronx like a visit to Lechonera La Piraña.. a man full of Puerto Rican/Bronx pride, endless energy, love, and unsolicited kindness. From a food truck and an age old oven he is producing some of the best food in all of NYC. Beer in one hand, machete in the other, he is happy to feed new and old faces!In need of his special Mofongo with chicharron pieces mashed in again
Yetto Racing
We have had the opportunity to try many of the dishes they prepare, and their flavor is unmistakable, you feel a flavor of our land. Super recommended, place your orders that with any dish they go to the fixed. Everything is very delicious
La mejor comida boricua en NYC. Como en familia. Parece que estás en PR. Esta es la comida más auténtica y el ambiente más cercano a lo que es Puerto Rico
Cristian Moreno
Delicious, I had been wanting to eat suckling pig for a long time and it certainly seemed very good to me! Thank you.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Alfredo D.
First a warning for the faint of heart- if you are really a stickler for cleanliness and hygiene this place is NOT for you. No sink on site, he walks up the block to a lock box for the cooked pig (lechon) and he smokes while serving. The other MAJOR downside is the service is SUPER SLOW. I waited an hour and a half on a long line where all the owner Angel did was serve food and talk, and talk, and talk... He posed a lot for pictures as well. Having written all of the above I will STILL give them 5 stars. The food is THAT GOOD. All he sells is lechon with rice and peas (arroz con gandules), octopus ceviche and what he called shrimp ceviche but it is clearly cooked... He would be a rich man if he sold drinks, desert, other sides... But DAMN is what he sells AMAZINGLY delicious!He is only open on the weekends from 11 until he sells out. I was told to get there at noon if I want fast-ish service.
Alvaro Montenegro
(Translated by Google) The place is very beautiful, the music is spectacular, you feel in Colombia(Original)El lugar muy bonito, la música espectacular, se siente en Colombia
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shelly J.
I saw them featured on both IG and TT. There are no authentic RICAN food in the DMV, they claim to be but lemme tell ya, it's not it. Flavors don't come close. So when I was here in NY, I had to stop in Boogie Down. Growing up Sunday night meals would always consist of something hearty. Holidays would consist of Pernil, and Peking Duck etc. Now prepare to wait, but it will be worth it!I rarely get to eat a good Lechon or pernil is my fam stop eating pork etc, dietary and religious reasons. So coming here I was famished. The pernil was seasoned to perfection. The rice on point. It tasted better than how my mom made it. The crispy skin, and meat was soft and tender. Empanadas are good!! Bring containers cuz its a of food and you don't want it to spill. Service was great. Definitely coming back with more friends. This place is a gem!
Waited 2 hours for food and just never got any service. Terrible place. Terrible service.
I. Food II Ambience III Predictability I. Food Slow roasted pork - most excellent. Most excellent. Rice with beans - very nice. Octopus salad - great dressing and bits of salad, and I think I had mistaken expectations. I've only had grilled octopus in the past, at white table cloth restaurants, and I'm guessing that those octopus samples were massaged and massaged and massaged. (Remember the great movie, Jiro Dreams of Sushi? One of the sous chefs had to massage each octopus for 45 minutes before it was considered ready to be presented.) The flavor, by way of the dressing, was great. The octopus itself was tough, maybe because it was marinated and not grilled. How tough? It took me a couple of tries to spear a piece with a metal fork and longer than that to fully chew it. If you're good with that, then it's a must have. II Ambience Yes, it's a food truck by a school playground with no seating. Puerto Rican (?), Mexican (?), Latin X (?) music at a strong but not conversation-killing volume spills out of a speaker, all upbeat, great arrangements: horns, strings, and of course percussion. It'd be great music for a party or festival. Which Lechonera basically is. III Predictability So. Google has it opening at noon, and a 2015 GrubStreet review ( has the pork coming out in batches at noon, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30, and 4 p.m. Today, 4/28/2024) we got there at 12:45, and there was a line of about 50 people. No movement on the line. I asked people at the front what time they'd gotten there and they said 11:30 and that people had started lining up at noon. The first batch came out at 1:20 and the people in the front of the line went in at 1:32. We ordered and got served around 3:20, though they didn't have the shrimp pastillos or the mofongo. So, overall: fun party atmosphere, excellent slow roasted pork, and leisurely service, at least today. It took 2 hours for 50 people to be served, which isn't crazy slow, and if the first batches had come out at noon, as advertised, instead of 1:20, our wait would have probably been one hour instead of two. I'm glad we went. The vibe is great, the pork is succulent with a beautifully crisp skin. But it'll probably be a while before going again, and if the food is slow to come out and the offerings spotty, we'll probably move on immediately instead of waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
From all of the reviews I expected so much better from the restaurant. I grew up on Latin food and have never has pastellios that were so dry and cold. I asked for sancocho and I got chicken soup with tripe in it. I went back before I headed home to see if they were having an off day but no it was the same thing. On the upside the service was good
Exceptional Service, Excellent Food, Very Good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
the best place to get Puerto Rican food from a real Boricua!!He literally does everything himself assuring that you will get real great food highly recommend this place to anybody who wants real fantastic tasting Puerto Rican food
Very bad place, terrible food
$25.00 for a plate of pernil, octopus, arroz con gandules, ample portion and well worth it. The guy has magical cooking skills. Lechon is falling off the bone, everyhing is delicious, tasty. It's in the Bronx, well worth the trip. He is leaving for Aguadilla, Puerto Rico soon to open a Lechonera there. What a loss. The guy is so charming, really nice man. Food is just amazing.
Excellent taste and very good
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This how we do in the (South) Bronx!!!Nothing quite encapsulates the Bronx like a visit to Lechonera La Piraña.. a man full of Puerto Rican/Bronx pride, endless energy, love, and unsolicited kindness. From a food truck and an age old oven he is producing some of the best food in all of NYC. Beer in one hand, machete in the other, he is happy to feed new and old faces!In need of his special Mofongo with chicharron pieces mashed in again
We have had the opportunity to try many of the dishes they prepare, and their flavor is unmistakable, you feel a flavor of our land. Super recommended, place your orders that with any dish they go to the fixed. Everything is very delicious
Restaurantji Recommends
La mejor comida boricua en NYC. Como en familia. Parece que estás en PR. Esta es la comida más auténtica y el ambiente más cercano a lo que es Puerto Rico
Delicious, I had been wanting to eat suckling pig for a long time and it certainly seemed very good to me! Thank you.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
First a warning for the faint of heart- if you are really a stickler for cleanliness and hygiene this place is NOT for you. No sink on site, he walks up the block to a lock box for the cooked pig (lechon) and he smokes while serving. The other MAJOR downside is the service is SUPER SLOW. I waited an hour and a half on a long line where all the owner Angel did was serve food and talk, and talk, and talk... He posed a lot for pictures as well. Having written all of the above I will STILL give them 5 stars. The food is THAT GOOD. All he sells is lechon with rice and peas (arroz con gandules), octopus ceviche and what he called shrimp ceviche but it is clearly cooked... He would be a rich man if he sold drinks, desert, other sides... But DAMN is what he sells AMAZINGLY delicious!He is only open on the weekends from 11 until he sells out. I was told to get there at noon if I want fast-ish service.
(Translated by Google) The place is very beautiful, the music is spectacular, you feel in Colombia(Original)El lugar muy bonito, la música espectacular, se siente en Colombia
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I saw them featured on both IG and TT. There are no authentic RICAN food in the DMV, they claim to be but lemme tell ya, it's not it. Flavors don't come close. So when I was here in NY, I had to stop in Boogie Down. Growing up Sunday night meals would always consist of something hearty. Holidays would consist of Pernil, and Peking Duck etc. Now prepare to wait, but it will be worth it!I rarely get to eat a good Lechon or pernil is my fam stop eating pork etc, dietary and religious reasons. So coming here I was famished. The pernil was seasoned to perfection. The rice on point. It tasted better than how my mom made it. The crispy skin, and meat was soft and tender. Empanadas are good!! Bring containers cuz its a of food and you don't want it to spill. Service was great. Definitely coming back with more friends. This place is a gem!