Kuya J SM City Santa Rosa - Cafe & Restaurant — Restaurant in Santa Rosa

Disappointing Experience at Kuya J – SM Sta. Rosa Branch

I usually write positive reviews when I’m satisfied with both the food and service, but today I feel compelled to share my disappointment.

Despite several empty seats inside, we were made to queue outside just to place our orders. After ordering, we were told to expect a 40–45 minute wait, which we accepted. We then waited outside standing for another 10–15 minutes before being seated.

We expected things to go smoothly after that, but after 30 minutes, only the sinigang was served. Since there was no indication that the rest of our food would arrive soon, we requested the rice so we could at least eat with the sinigang — but even that took several follow-ups and arrived partially uncooked.

We were a group of four, but only three soup bowls were provided — one of which still had water in it. We weren’t sure if it had just been washed or used and not dried properly. Since we had nowhere to empty it ourselves, we had to ask the staff to take care of it.

It took almost an hour before the rest of our viands arrived. Even then, we had to follow up again for the second rice platter we initially ordered, as well as for basic items like tissue. What added to our frustration was seeing customers who arrived after us being served first — even though we didn’t order anything that required extra preparation.

Throughout the experience, no staff member gave us any update on the status of our order, despite several follow ups, which made us feel ignored and unvalued as customers.

We’ve had consistently good experiences at Kuya J branches in Cavite and Manila, which is why we chose to dine here again. But this visit fell far below expectations. The food may still be good, but good service is just as essential. I hope this feedback encourages improvement — because loyal customers expect and...

We went to Sta. Rosa area to drop off my dad to his work. Because of the heavy traffic, we got hungry and the closest mall is SM Sta. Rosa. Since we were on vacation from abroad, we crave for filipino food, after walking around the mall, we (husband and a friend) decided to eat at Kuya J's. Staffs are friendly, so one of the server direct us to our table and gave us the menu. So we gave the server our orders from the menu. We ordered Bicol Express, grilled tuna, pinakbet and garlic fried rice and then for dessert we orders all three of the halo halo. The food came in more than 20 minutes, which is understandable if the food is BAGONG LUTO, but then the food came an its almost cold. The plate is not food friendly, the reason I said this because as soon as the food arrives and the server sets all the dishes to our table, the ulam is sliding off from the plate. I think the plate is not intend to use for food. Iced tea pitcher that looks like a flower vase. The bicol express is dry and salty, grilled tuna has alot of scale around it however, pinakbet tasted perfectly. While eating at this place we saw a mice running around the party room? We took a video of it. One of the server saw it but did not do anything. Our fried rice has a piece of hair on top. And for our halo halo, I ordered saging saba halo halo, the saging saba is old, I can't even chew it and I couldn't even finish it. One ordered Ube halo halo, and its bland. and then the halo halo itself is almost perfect until you can't even halo halo the halo halo. It defeats the culture of a halo halo. It looks like a Korean dessert "bingsu". This place is not recommended for us balikbayan. Such a...

Our experience at KUYA J SM STA ROSA (NEW RESTAURANT - EXTENSION BRANCH) was deeply disappointing from the very beginning. As soon as we were seated, we noticed hair and even boogers on the plates, which was both shocking and completely unacceptable. This immediately raised concerns about hygiene and cleanliness.

The staff were clearly unorganized and lacked proper training, which was evident throughout our visit. The waiting time for our food was excessively long, and when it finally arrived, it was riddled with issues. The scallops were served cold, some dishes were not properly baked, and the chicken order was completely wrong. To make matters worse, the staff were not welcoming or accommodating, which made the experience feel even more unpleasant.

Even at the very end, when we were settling the bill, the receipt was incorrect, adding to an already frustrating experience. This isn’t just about poor service—it’s about the failure to meet basic standards of food safety, professionalism, and customer care.

We’re sharing this feedback out of genuine concern, hoping that management takes these issues seriously and implements immediate improvements. Customers deserve a clean, organized, and enjoyable dining experience, and we hope future patrons don’t have to go through the same disappointing...