Papi's Puerto Rican Cuisine — Restaurant in Charlotte

My experience:

I went for the first time and I usually look at the reviews but I was so excited that I just forgot about it. The place looks very nice at first instance but once you go in that door is a mess. I’m straight from Puerto Rico and this was a big disappointment! You have to get in line and there is only one person taking your order (Who doesn’t speak SPANISH), this only took about 20+ minutes. Then you have to find a table instead of being seated by a host. The table runners have to find your order by the PUEBLO that’s given to you and they just look crazy trying to find the person for the orders. Instead of taking everything at once to your table, they start to take plates to the tables as they come out.

My food: I ordered beef stew with rice and guineitos. Even though it clearly says on the menu that it comes with 2 sides they charged my sides separately because apparently it DOESN’T come with 2 sides. Also order BACALAITOS.

They brought the bacalaitos and it tasted like it was straight from a box. Our famous MAYOKETCHUP is not HOMEMADE as it should be, instead is a Heinz brand mayoketchup which tastes HORRIBLE! Then they brought my guineitos en escabeche without the actual food. (Not what I expected AT ALL) My beef stew is finally out with a side of rice and it honestly look like beef broth with rice and a lot of potatoes without beef. I complain with the table runner and she took the plate and brought a new one which at least had 3 small pieces of beef.

My friend ordered a PIONONO and it looked like a burned relleno de papa. Not once I saw the owner of this place, which it would be expected that being a new restaurant you as an owner will want your business to be running well.

This is not all... we saw on the door that today Friday would be dancing night, however I saw lights going off and employees leaving. I decided to talk to the only guy who spoke Spanish and asked him about it, he was very nice and tried to answer my question but it is upsetting that people were wasting their time coming to the place and they find out that it’s close. Not once they announced on social media that it would be closed. So I tell this nice guy, “hey, I think you guys should announce that it will be closed because that’s not professional” Another guy who thought the place was going to be open told me “online says that they’re open until 2” and I honestly felt so bad for him but informed him of the people who worked there so they can hear his complains.

This is beyond SAD, to know that a Puerto Rican restaurant is not being what everyone thought it would be. You are expecting culture, expecting popping home flavors but instead you are getting pre-made food with no flavor at all for a high price!

I hope you guys get your things together and hopefully by the time I decide to give it a second try, it’s a whole real FLAVOR that reminds us of HOME! 💔 (1 star for the guy who answered...

Hands down, the best restaurant experience my family and I had in Charlotte, NC. 😊 An authentic atmosphere with an extremely welcoming staff.  From the smiling faces at the counter all the way to sharing conversations with the chef/owner about the delicious menu and her origins, this restuarant made us feel like family.  My 5 y.o. daughter and I enjoyed taking photos with the fun decor that also reminded us of our family trips to Puerto Rico.  We appreciated the art pieces, searched for our family last name on the back wall, listened to the coqui sounds, and my husband placed a pin on the Puertorican map where my family is from.  The dishes were authentic in flavor and brought me memories of having dinner with papi y mami (my dad and mom).  We loved the pastelon, which was fresh out of the oven and presented in a mini caldero (pot).  My husband scarfed down the mofongo con cerdo because it seriously disappeared while I took my daughter to the restroom... lol.  We reccomend you all try their appetizers!  If you love meat and potatoes, definitely save some room for their relleno de papa con carne.  It was my birthday today, and the chef/owner and employees surprised me with Puertorican musical instruments while singing Happy Birthday and served me a piece of the most deliciously moist tres leche cake I've ever had!  If you're a local or travelers visiting Charlottte, like us, we highly recommend you stop here for the amazing food experience ❤  A restaurant where the owner/chef says, "my home is your home" is a place that my family will absolutely love to visit again.  From my family to yours, thank you so much for the experience you gave us!  When we make the 2 1/2 hour trip to Charlotte again, we'll be sure to visit again and have another...

I came to this restaurant for the 1st time this past Sunday and brought my daughter. When we were walking up, two employees were having an intense conversation, one was pretty much fussing at the other but both of them were friendly. However, when we went inside the hostess was not friendly at all. She just stared at us until I said that it was our 1st time coming there and then she explained their process before going back to being unfriendly and would not volunteer any information the way hosts do. I'm not sure if that's just her disposition or if it's because we are of "African American" descent. When it comes to my experiences with businesses, I am not going to pretend like there are not racial factors that sometimes determine in the level of service that people are given. At this restaurant if you decide to dine in you are given a table marker that is for a city in Puerto Rico. Our table marker was for Humacao, a city that is completely inhabited with monkeys. Maybe that was a coincidence. The food was great, I got the steak mufongo and my baby got a chicken pie which she hated but she is that picky stage in her life so her taste buds are unreliable.

I am going back once to see if I have a better experience and if not, I am going to speak with the owner and the hostess. People of Latin descent are going to stop being racist towards people of African descent and stop pretending like their hair texture, their phenotype, their bodies, their food, their music, and entire culture is not all rooted in Africa because they are distant relatives. If they want to continue to hide their African grandmothers in the back of their closets that is their choice but they will not treat African people disrespectfully...