La Conguita Restaurant

I was able to eat here right before it’s closing and I know a review won’t do much good since no one can eat here now but I thought I’d share anyway in case is comes back or something. The empanadas carne was pretty good, about $ 1.50 a piece. A fair size and came with tangy lime-​guacamole sauce. The rice bean plaintains were ok too but the sauce that came with that wasn’t as good, which prompted asking for more of that green lime sauce. I had the pernil which was good but not as spicy as I though it would be. It came with loads of black beans. The limonada was ok as was the pasteles pr another empanada kinda food. It was all good but nothing really great, maybe the fire was gone since the closing was in a couple days. Even the service was just ok.

Food is pretty decent, presented well too. I had the ribs which were amazing although I felt like if I didn’t have an appetizer the portions would be on the smaller side. Maybe I’m spoiled and other Spanish spots usually are a little more generous with it. It’s minor but I usually love having some left over for another meal. That aside, the place would’ve been four stars but the service wasn’t attentive. I used to be a waiter so I’m not being picky but we sat a while waiting for someone to ask to get the bill and the whole process to pay took a while. Overall, not bad place to eat, if the service was amazing I prob would’ve had a differnt impression.

Really great bread! Great little spot in JC that’s been around for a while. I usually go with the sandwiches, but the regular entrees are pretty good too. Very reasonable priced, basic food (in a good way!). Lots of seating so it’s a great place to go with friends!

This place has awesome lunch specials. That picadillo was spot on. Just like home. The restaurant itself is in a super cute area for JC. So it was a nice walk to the place. It’s definitely a highly recommended lunch spot!

We’ve been going to this nice Cuban inspired restaurant for years. Unfortunately this time around they were no longer serving out local favorites from years past: the tripe soup and skinless garlic fried chicken with lime-​butter sauce, rice & sweet plantains. We just ended up ordering a Cuban sandwich, baked chicken with yucca doused with garlic butter sauce, shrimp soup & ½ bottle of sangria cava (sparkling wine sangria).

Fantastic lunch!!! I went here with my husband and daughter and we were treated extremely well. I love the churrasco with argentinan chimichurri. Outstanding customer service by the staff. Paul and the other guy (sorry I did get his name) were exceptional. The empanadas and the stuffed yuca were yummy.
Price are reasonable $$. Would definitely recommend if you’re in the area.

First off, the customer service received by owner was exceptional. Saw us looking into the café and opened a few minutes early, invited us in. Offered us some café con leche right away. I asked for a tostada and they made it right away. We talked for a while and he was so sweet to offer, on the house, a ham croqueta. The best croqueta I have had (Miami quality). Eduardo, thank you for being so great, we will definitely be back!

The seafood pasta is outrageously good! Relaxed atmosphere, great service. I’ll be back.

I was told about this place numerous times from my coworkers who raved about it when they used to work in Jersey City. I had to venture out there with them during lunch on a not so busy Friday and see what the fuss was all about.
We got there and it wasn’t busy and seated us rather quickly. My coworkers told me to order the steak sandwich before we even saw the menu so I was dead set on ordering that. Unfortunately when the food arrived, the waittress brought out grilled chicken sandwiches for all of us. Usually when they make a mistake on your order, they will take it back and correct it, no? Well let me tell you that this waittress stood there with a blank face, unapologetic and didn’t even offer to fix our dishes. She repeatedly said she thought heard chicken instead of steak. After 3 whole minutes of confusion, we just said ok whatever and started to eat the food. Mind you it was still pretty tasty especially with the green sauce on the side but cmon, fix the damn dish or hire a new waittress.
Management needs to pay attention to this and rectify that issue or they will not have repeat customers.

I really like La Conguita. I don’t eat seafood or meat that is not chicken, so there are not a lot of options for me (don’t bring a vegetarian, unless they will be happy with olives, potatoes, soup, and salad). I always get the Bistec de Pollo, which is a thin, huge piece of grilled chicken breast, accompanied by a healthy pile of onions. The maduros are good, the guacamole with plantain chips is tasty, and the empanadas satisfy (the guava and cream cheese empanadas make a nice dessert — speaking of, there’s good coffee, too!). My dining companions have raved about the seafood dishes. There are not some of the fan favorites like ropa vieja or pollo al ajillo, so be prepared to think outside the box if you are used to the Cuban standards (not a bad thing, but just atypical).
I’d say that drawbacks are sometimes the service is a bit slow, and there could be more chicken dishes (not just saying that as a chicken eater, but most Cuban places at least have a few) and at least one vegetarian entrée. Too much variety in a menu is often a bad thing, but I think La Conguita could add a few items and not lose quality.
One of the big pluses is the awesome wine bargain. There are several options for just $ 5 a glass, which is practically BYO pricing.

The food use to be so good but has gone down dramatically. The customer service is the worst. I guess they feel they can treat customers like crap because the tip is already included in the check. There was only 3 of us and they included the tip. Unreal!
I grew up in Jersey City and that is one place I will always avoid. If I want better Cuban food and customer service, I will go to the city or drive to Union City.

Could we have negative stars? Because those would be awarded to this restaurant not for the quality of the food but for the customer service. Horrible and disappointed in them, we arrived at the place a little before 4:00pm, and were told to leave because they closed. Now I’m very understanding and I know that it’s the holidays season so I said ok, maybe because the sign outside said closed at 5pm not 4… Very disappointed
Step your game up please, not a good look.

Two friends and I stopped here last night (Sunday) for a bite to eat and a couple of drinks. They have specials every night; last night was ½ price on all beers and wines from Spain (thumbs up)! The Cubano I ordered was very tasty and the atmosphere is nice (painted in lively colors… I’m South American). My only complaint was that the waiter was completely unfriendly to the point of being indifferent. I really don’t think he would’ve smiled if I gave him 100 bucks.
I would give this place 4 stars on food. 2 stars on service. Hence, my overall rating of 3 stars. That being said, I will come back to this place for the food.

Loved the music and the low key ambiance.
Had the special «cordero al adobo» (lamb chops) and the «huevos al diablo verde» (green deviled eggs — the green being avocado. My BF had steak and eggs. The lamb’s flavor was excellent, but it was way too fatty for my taste — barely any meat. I am not a fan of deviled eggs, but OMG were these amazing or what!!! My BF enjoyed his meal. Today I will try the grilled sea bass. If this second meal is a win, I’ll come again and again and again till I’ve tried all (or most) dishes.

A Jersey City classic, I’ve gotten good Cuban grub here for the past 20+ years. The Tripe soup on Saturday mornings is the best hangover food on this planet. Cuban sandwich is so-​so, but the Rabo (Oxtail) on Thursdays is really tender and flavorful, enough food for 2 people. Pernil is also pretty good, and the espresso and café con leche is the best downtown. The waitstaff can seem indifferent sometimes, but they’re just Chill.
Oh — don’t order a burger here, it’s not their specialty.

Family style Cuban restaurant. Food is very authentic. came here for to go order before. This is my first time eating in.
They have fresh coffee that you can purchase to go.
We ordered a bottle and there was a whole production they brought out the stand and everything
They always come and check on you during your meal.

Las papas bravas, son papas fritas con cebollas, la salsa que las hace interesante y atractivas, brilla por su ausencia. La opción de un pescado (mero) frito decae al ofrecer producto congelado/​no fresco. en cuanto al Cubanito, la oferta dista del plato, los maduros o plátanos fritos de nuestra orden overcook.
En cuanto a su selección de cervezas importadas, corta pero interesante.
El lugar limpio, fresco, mejorable y revaluable sólo en el momento que se redefina tanto la calidad y frescura de los productos como del equipo de camareros.
Un lugar fundado en 1983 debe renovarse basado en la calidad y servicio para seguir por 30 años más.

I should be ashamed at my absolutely gluttonous behavior at La Conguita… but i’m not.
I chose to come here with friends for what was a planned Hudson Restaurant Week outing, not realizing that they’d opted out of the extended «super week». No worries, everything on the menu was super affordable. They seemed to be running a special (happy hour?) with ½ price wine. Oh yes, we made a good choice.
The Cuban bread is always a nice but don’t fill up; the apps and mains were ON POINT. Fo realz for reals, the shrimp & garlic were succulent and sweet, the tostones were fresh and delicious. The guacamole could have used a touch more salt but is so so fresh and went perfectly with the plantain chips. After all the gorgeous apps we decided to split entrees, going for the Skirt Steak and the Surf & Surf. The skirt steak is topped with what has to be an entire onion. Unfortunately we wanted the chimichurri and got the mint sauce, but it was still good. The Surf & Turf is HUGE, with more ingredients than I care to type, but it was all great.
Fair warning, don’t come here if you’re in a rush. Service is friendly but sloooowwww. I guess that’s the cost of coming to a place that does things right, but be prepared to linger.
I’ll definitely try again. I’d even say i’d be on my best behavior next time but with $ 13 bottles of Tempranillo, not sure that’s a promise I can keep. I hope the staff enjoyed our table’s rendition of Motley Crue’s Home Sweet Home sometime between bottles 2 and 3.

First visit to La Conguita and was pleasantly surprised by the food and service. It’s an open old school Cuban cafeteria set up with tables arranged tight in the center of the room and spinning stools lined up by the counter for a quick bite or cafécito. They have additional seating in a separate room. Over all it’s cozy in a good way. Loved the salsa music playing.
The food was great and portions were huge. My wife and I had the Guacamole with Platano Chips & the Camarones al Ajillo for apps. Tons of Guac for the price. The chips were not completely crunchy but ok. We also tried a couple of Croquetas with a mint sauce. OMG! The mint sauce was so good. I’ve had Croquetas before but never knew they would pair so well with fresh mint. Then we had the Mar y Tierra (Surf & Turf) and the Churrasco. Both cooked perfectly with a nice char. My potato purée was so creamy. My wife loved the white rice. She said it took her back to the Caribbean.
The portions are huge. We brought dessert home. Also, tried some Peruvian beer. Cristal and Cusqueña. Loved the complimentary buttered pressed Cuban bread. They just kept bringing it as soon as we were done with a basket. Overall a great night.

The first few times I’d come here I wasn’t too thrilled because I ordered a grilled chicken salad and the chicken was dry as hell but thanks to my friend that kept telling me to go I was won over by their coffee and croquetas (croquettes)… Theirs is made with ham. I usually have two or more depending on how much I’m planning to eat lol
The dish that definitely won me over is the Churrasco (medium-​well)… Oh my gawt! The flavor is Delish. It comes with white rice, black beans, maduros and lots of onions ^_​^… I also had their Camaron al ajillo (garlic shrimp)… It’s pretty good too.
My friend recommends the chuletas (pork chops) :)
Only bad thing I would say is that the platano chips were not crisp and crunchy as they should be :(
So yea. Go. Now… Churrasco, croquetas and coffee! :)

I used to come to La Conguita a lot, even since the 90s when the restaurant was considered to be a hole-​in-​the-​wall establishment. I recently came back here, after not being back for a couple of years and everything just seemed so off. I noticed that the menu was redone with various items removed like the rice with squid dish.
I ordered the Pernil, which is the roast pork that comes with rice, beans, and plantains. I was expecting really tender hot pieces of pork, that’s just at the mercy of your fork to fall apart and open up. What came out was almost lukewarm meat that had to sifted through to find the good part to eat. The meat tenderness was definitely inconsistent.
I asked for yellow rice to be included in the dish, but wasn’t made aware that there was already going to be beans in the rice. This is in addition to the beans in the bowl that’s included with the dish. I got the red beans and noticed that the skin of the beans were overly soft. The plaintains that were included in the dish were too hard, indicating that they’ve been sitting out from the fryer for a while. Plaintains taste so much better when you see the caramelization on each slice, so that it’s sticky with each bite.
The only good thing about the dinner was that on Sunday, they offer up ½ price on Spanish wines, beers, and pitchers of Sangria so that was a good thing. The food here was awesome at one point, now it’s gone way downhill.
Service here is generally slow, they’re not really looking to kick you out when it comes time to pay. But if you’re in a bind, you’ll definitely notice the slowness even more.