El Vigia Restaurant

Our experience here was a bit… weird. My husband and I just moved in to Hermosa and we were walking along Armitage looking for a new place near our house to try for dinner. This place was open and, based on the menu posted in the window, looked to offer some traditional Mexican and Puerto Rican dishes so we went in.
The place was totally empty except the two women behind the bar. Neither really spoke English and we don’t really speak Spanish. Needless to say, some weird iterations of the word «comer» on my part indicated to the one server that we wanted to eat dinner. According to their hours they close at 8 p.m. (even on Saturdays) and we arrived at around 7:30 so we didn’t know if we’d even be able to eat. Both women seemed a bit confused about the fact that we entered and one asked the cook something (perhaps if he/​she was still making food) but she sat us anyway.
Menu was plentiful and the beer list was decent (Mexican and American bottles) and well-​priced. The chips and salsa came out in a basket with the salsa in a bottle so you had to squeeze a bit on to each chip. Weird, but delicious all the same. The food we ordered came out pretty quickly and was piping hot. Standard Mexican fare, for sure, but well done and nicely priced. My only complaint is was the lack of salt and flavor in the food. It was like the rice and beans were so bland they were almost tasteless and I found myself putting a ton of hot sauce on my tostadas because they were so plain.
When we asked for the check, we realized we were just short the amount of cash we’d need to cover the bill so we asked if they took credit cards. Our waitress flat out said no. Then we asked where the nearest ATM was, she conferred with the other lady behind the bar, and then changed her story and said she could, in fact, take our credit card. Again, weird. They ran the card and that’s how we paid but why say you don’t take them? Or how do you not know if you take them?
All in all, an OK experience. The atmosphere was definitely a bit bizarre since we were the only customers and they closed so early, but the food was good and we’ll go back since it’s so close and so cheap.
An odd note: last Saturday they were clearly open and catering to several groups of people after 8 p.m., so I’m not sure what the deal is with their hours…

Delicious jibaritos!!! And their arroz con gandules is like no other! AMAZING.
#rightbymyhouse

Recently came here after hearing that there was a local Puerto Rican spot in the neighborhood. Was impressed with the Pinchos and Alcapurria. Will be visiting again will update review.

Ordered delivery here to try something new.
Food: Greasy, bland, and disgusting.
Fish: Not fresh.
Owner: Rude.
No.

Bad customer service. Here’s the thing… I love this place when they offer everything on the menu, but they cook things based on whether the cook feels like it or not. My favorite happens to be piononos, a Puerto Rican item that is not available at many restaurants, Puerto Rican or not. El Vigia has them on their menu. I have ordered them three times on different occassions. The first time, they made them and they were perfect! The second time, they said (20 minutes before close time, 7:40pm) that there was not enough time to make them. Third time, which was today, they said that they don’t have any. I asked if they were taken off the menu and they said «She doesn’t want to make them.» Horrible service!

Definately willing to come back and give this spot another try in another couple of months once they are in their groove. (From what Ive been told they are newly opened) The food was good, the prices were decent, they had a varied menu with good selection and when the food came the portions looked small but were very very filling. On the downside, on a Friday night more than one waitress is needed for the whole floor. I will say this –the waitress was very friendly and apologized for the fact that 1) the kitchen ran out of the traditional puerto rican rice that normally is served with the dinner and we had to settle for white rice 2) alcupurrias (offered as appetizers) were cooking and would be at least 20 mins and 3) our meals had taken so long to get to our table. With only one waitress, it was no wonder we had to wait til the meals were up before she remembered that she had asked if we wanted our drinks when we ordered and that we had said yes. and that she didnt have a chance to really check on us after we started to eat. The complimentary chips and salsa because of the wait and the substitutions were nice .and the edge was taken off of both the wait and the subs because the waitress WAS so genuinely friendly. All in all id say give the place a try and hope the kitchen is in full swing and that u get the same waitress we did