Bistro Taino — Restaurant in Bogota

First, I want to start by stating we are happy we found this adorable Puerto Rican restaurant in Bergen County.

We live in NJ but were in the Bronx and wanted some alcapurrias. However, we needed to head back to NJ, and I found this place after doing a Google search and decided to give it a try.

We were very pleased with the location and the aesthetics of the restaurant.

Mauricio is one of the hosts and has always been very amicable.

Service:

Dior 5 * (Dining) - We first visited this restaurant in late September and had the pleasure of meeting Dior who greeted us with a warm smile and personality.

• Dior was knowledgeable about the menu. • She offered food and drink recommendations. • Since one of us has a shellfish allergy, Dior was very attentive to this matter - from taking the order accordingly and working with the kitchen to ensure the alcapurrias were cut in half when served. • She made sure the orders were accurate and arrived timely. • Her service was personable, warm, and attentive without being intrusive. • Due to our experience with Dior, we have returned several times and have recommended Bistro Taino to friends & family.

Jacob & Lucy 4*(Bar) – the only reason I am giving 4 vs 5 stars is because the times we have come in and sat at the bar, we have known what we wanted, ordered and were served. We have started conversations with them during non-busy times since we would’ve liked to make this a “go-to” place.

Food 4* - During our visits, we’ve tried the alcapurrias - both the ground meat and the salmorejo de jueyes, empanadillas de salmorejo de jueyes, mofongo con chicharon, bistec encebollado, chillo frito and lechon. All have been good.

Cocktails 3* - We have tried the Piña Colada, Sangria de Parcha, and the Puerta de San Juan. These drinks are on the sweeter side, not strong but ok.

Overall:

In addition to this restaurant, they have sister restaurants with Cuban and Mexican cuisines.

The playlist is pretty good. I was a little disappointed during this time of year they didn’t have a “Navidad” vibe. It would’ve been nice to hear 1-2 “Parranda” songs. I did make this suggestion.

We have seen the two owners and the bar manager during our visits. One of the managers (the Cuban one) was friendly, attentive, and he asked how everything was, etc. The other owner and the bar manager walk past you like you are a tissue on the floor. Unfortunately, sometimes leadership styles impact the culture of an establishment because some of the employees appear intimidated to speak or it could just be their style.

One of the bartenders accidentally made 2 of a drink one of us was having thinking we were both having. However, one of us was having beer. It may be standard bar protocol (I don’t know because it’s not my realm), but instead of offering it, they threw it out. :-|

For the time being, I think we will give this place a break, but we will return because we really wish...

Went in around 3 with a couple of my friends after it was being recommended. They have a small menu but most of the things on it I would definitely try. For appetizers we tried alcapurrias, bacalaitos and chicharron. I thought they were all good especially with that sauce. I thought maybe a few more pieces of chicharron would have been better for the price. For entrees we had fish, churrasco and bistec encebollado. I think we did fairly well with our choices as we all seemed to like it. My churrasco was a little too red for my liking but still enjoyed it. It wasn't amazing but pretty good still. After our meal we had flan and arroz con leche. Both pretty solid.

The service is where we ran into few small issues and one big one. They were super nice about it and apologetic which was really appreciated. They also gave us the desserts for free as an apology. The little things that we experienced wasn't anything that would stop me from coming back. Just maybe something they have to work on. We get a bottle of water and had to wait for our waitress to ask her for cups. My friend and I ordered mango and passion fruit lemonade and when it was put on the table we weren't told which was which. They looked almost the same so it was hard to tell. I might have drank my friends. It was still good though. We got empanadilla which we didn't order but decided to just take it. Didn't get spoons brought out at the same time with dessert. Had to ask for them. The big problem we had was 3 of the 4 entrees came out within 5 minutes of each other. My other friend didn't get his food. He waited about 20min before waitress came back and asked if everything was ok. That's when he said no and pointed at empty table in front of him. The rest of us were almost finished. She apologized and within 5 minutes or so his food came out. He ate about half and took the rest home. He didn't want us waiting on him to finish. Just a couple of things need fine tuning.

Nice atmosphere with good music and it wasn't too loud. Looks like a nice place to have a drink and dinner at the bar while watching a game. Place got busy around 4ish. Parking in the back isn't too big. I imagine when it's busy you'll have to park...

This past Saturday night, it was getting late for dinner (past 2000 hours) and my wife and I were getting hungry. We felt like eating LatinX food, so right away we thought of the town of Passaic.

We tried finding eateries where it'll still be opened by the time we got there, but very few were staying opened past 2100 hours or if they were opened past 2100, these places became a lounge type of establishment with super loud music and drunk patrons, which wasn't our scene.

As luck would have it, Google stated that Bistro Taíno's kitchen was closing at 2200, and when I called to verify this, I was told that the last meal would be served by 2130. I drove to Bistro Taíno as fast as I could legally do so. We got there by 2040.

We were lead to our seats. The place has a nice island decor, with lots of Puerto Rican phrases and imageries. Sabrina was our server, she's jovial, friendly and helpful.

For drinks my wife got a Virgin Piña Colada, I got me a Buscando Guayaba (Toasted Coconut infused with Buchanan's scotch, guava, lime & aromatic Vanilla).

My wife enjoyed her Virgin Colada and I enjoyed my Guava drink, my wife complained that my Guava drink had too much alcohol (this coming from a person that doesn't drink alcohol lol) I explained to her that it's fantastic that they didn't skimp on the liquor.

Our appetizers were: Bacalaitos (Cod fish fritters) & Pastel en Hoja (Green banana with pork wrapped in plantain leaf).

The Bacalaitos were fried very thin, barely tasted any Cod. On the other hand, the Pastel was tasty, full of pork.

For entrees she ordered the Asopaó de Camarones (soupy rice & shrimp), I got me the Rice/Beans (mixed) with Chicharrón (fried pork cubes), Alcapurria (fried green banana, yautía with ground beef) & pastel en hoja. My dish was scrumptious, the rice/beans combo was full of flavor, the Alcapurria was perfectly fried with a good amount of ground beef, and of course, the pastel en hoja was on-point!

We were definitely very glad that the other restaurants were either closing or turned into a sort of disco club/lounge; otherwise, we would have never been able to have found nor tried this place.

We will definitely be returning to try more...