Maria’s Kitchen

So, this place is planted in the middle of a not so great area in Worcester but if you want some authentic food with a home cooked feel most of the time you find it in an area like this.
Small place… amazing smell. People are not very friendly and only two spoke a little bit of English. If you tell them you don’t know Spanish they instantly get turned off and from that point on you’re lucky if you get more than a word out of them and even then they don’t seem pleased to be helping you.
Past that… they have a big selection of «stewed» meats and either white or yellow rice. They also have small whole chickens, pastelitos, beef patties and quite a few other things you would usually find at a small Hispanic restaurant. I ordered a small container with yellow rice, a half of the whole chicken and two sweet plantains. My wife got a small container as well with white rice, stewed beef and two plantains. We each got a pastelisto for the road. Came to $ 20. Definitely way more expensive than other Dominican places I’ve been to before, similar to this one just more variety. I would’ve paid about half of that for the same things elsewhere but I don’t mind.
Pastelitos were fresh, hot and full of flavor. Excellent. Both kinds of rice were delicious. Beef was okay and chicken was good. Sweet plantains were very sweet but still really good and I don’t usually even like sweet plantains.
Overall the food was great and I’d probably stop in again to grab some lunch to go.

I literally grew up in this restaurant when my mom worked there, she helped these owners get started with the restaurant back in 97. Looks like they continued with the food they were taught. Still love the owners and their kids and i so love to go back for the food and spend my time reminiscing on my childhood.

I love this place. I have been doing my hair at a Beauty Salon a few doors down, and every time I do I come get lunch or dinner at Maria’s. Authentic Dominican food. Family owned, and the prices are great! Will continue to come here :-)

awesome food although those that don’t know this part of Worcester I strongly advise you pull up, eat in or get take-​out and leave as this is a really s**ty part of the city

Unbelievably good ethnic food, the price can’t be beat, and the potato balls are literally the most delicious food I’ve ever had. The neighborhood isn’t the greatest and it doesn’t look like much, but trust me, the food is with it.

still good!

The food was horrible. Not to mention how dirty the whole place was. Never going here again.

This is the best Dominican food other than my mother in laws I have had in New England. The prices are reasonable, the people are friendly, the atmosphere is festive. You need to be able to speak at least a little spanish or be with someone who does. I don’t think they always have the mondongo available but when they do it’s amazing. The chicken and tostones are also very good, and they give so so much rice. The seafood salad, although I am not sure it is Dominican, even though most Dominicans seem to make it this way is like wise very good. The area is a little rough, and on more than one occation I have been asked by person (s) on the side street next to Maria’s, what I was lookin’ for.

We tried to go to One Love but they were closed, so we wandered over to Maria’s and really enjoyed the food. The beef tripe was especially delicious. And cheap!

Having recently come back to the States after a semester abroad in the Dominican Republic, I can safely say this is the best Dominican food I’ve eaten stateside. Of course it doesn’t compare to the «real thing», which can only be found homemade, but the atmosphere makes up for it.
It’s a family-​run place; you can often find Maria herself working behind the counter, and if you speak just a little Spanish you’ll ingratiate yourself to her immediately. The menu changes daily, but is generally predictable: a plate of rice, beans, some kind of stewed meat in a flavorful sauce (i.e. chicken, beef, pork, goat) and the typical starchy root vegetables (i.e. plantain, yuca, yams). They’ll pile a veritable mountain of food on your plate, and it should never cost more than $ 10.
Along with heartwarming food, the restaurant truly resembles a Dominican cafeteria, and functions as a kind of community center for Main South. Good food, friendly people, and a warm tropical atmosphere that can really provide some relief on Worcester’s dreariest winter days.

The tostones are good, but the rest could be better.