El Gordo Coqui — Restaurant in Berkeley Township

I really wanted to like this restaurant. I have eaten their food three times now. The first time I ordered, I got a chicken and beef empanada. The beef was outrageous, the chicken was ok... a little underwhelming. I ordered a beef empanada again for lunch. The second time I tried it I took one bite and it seemed "off" so I turned it upside down and the amount of grease that came out was considerably more than the first time. I had to drain it to try to eat it. I thought, maybe they are having an off day because the first one was honestly delicious. So a week later I decided to give them a third shot. I ordered the beef empanada and the yuca fries. This time, it was still extremely greasy and now it had potato in it. The first one was literally all meat, no veggies. I was unable to finish it. The fries seem commercial and not homemade. I had outrageous yuca fries at a Hispanic restaurant in Lakewood that were hand-cut, thick and crispy. These are much thinner and limp. :( Will probably give them another shot to try the pernil but the empanadas (at least the beef) are not consistent...

Stopped by with the wife for lunch today we wanted to give it a try and get some empanadas to go. Wasn't really sure what to expect. But let me say we were both really suprised and delighted by the food. We got pernil, beef and the chicken flavor. Now my wife is Puerto Rican and even she was impressed with the pernil ones. The pork was well seasoned and moist throughout. The empanadas were filled too. We have gotten empanadas from other places before and were disappointed by how much filling there actually was. Not here!! They were packed full of meat. Making the $4.50 price worth it. They were out of 2 flavors that we actually wanted to try so we will have to go back and see if we can get those another day. The only room for improvement would be the sauces. Having to pay for sauce then getting a dinky little cup was a little annoying.

Will definitely be grabbing some more empanadas another day. 5 empanadas 1 yuca...

Ok, real Boricua talk here. We have extremely limited options for Puerto Rican food around here. This is as authentic as you can get without having to travel up into the northern parts of Jersey. Those empanadas seasoned to perfection, moist and crispy the way real empanadas are supposed to look like. The arroz con gandules made in el caldero seasoned with sofrito with endless flavor. The pernil made tender and juicy. The pernil sanweech tan bueno dios mio. This is the spot for your Boricua cravings. There will be a little bit of a wait because food made with love and passion doesn't take ten minutes. But they just opened and have some kinks to work out. Anyone complaining about 80s House music like TKA and George Lemond playing...ay dios mi...por favor no vengas acqui mas carajo. Esto...