Ñaños Restaurant & Grill Elizabeth — Restaurant in Elizabeth

I’ve been meaning to write this review yet I hadn’t had the time. Came here on Father’s Day with my dad, not my first, second, or third choice but my sister wanted to because she saw videos of it online. Hostess didn’t want to take our number down to give us a call when a table was ready, yet she took everyone else’s. She asked us it was easier for us to wait nearby even though wait time was 1hour. We had to insist her to take our number since the waiting area was packed we wanted to grab drinks next door. When she gave us a call we literally took ONE minute to walk over from next door and by then she had already given OUR table away. She said in her words we “took too long”, how stupid. She eventually sat us with no menus yet we had seen her carry out the menus to other tables. We waited around for the server to ask for the menus, but it seemed as if we were invisible. I had to get up and go back to the host stand ask nicely for a menu and she gave me a blank stare. I repeated myself again and she remained poker-faced. To which at that point I got visibly upset and just grabbed the 3 menus that were right in front of me. We had to wave down a server to take our order. My father took two sips of his his blue sangria and didn’t like it because it tasted watered down so when the server came over to ask about our drinks we asked to change it for a regular sangria and the server said she couldn’t do that. My sister then got upset yet nicely said she could or to send over the manager. Our server quickly took the unwanted drink and brought out the red sangria. I had also asked for a straw for my Diet Coke that took about three asks to receive. My sister and I, we both work in the industry of service and hospitality, I’m a bartender and she’s a server, so we were visibly upset, but trying to make the best of it for our beloved father. When our food came out, we had no plates to share when we asked the server for plates- we had to ask the food runner. The dish my father and I shared was good. My sister’s steak was well done when she asked for medium-rare. She was beyond pissed but at this point she didn’t want to wait for her plate to be fixed. Plus the server never checked on our table once our entrees came out. We had to flag her down for the dessert menu. Finally when we got the check there was an automatic tip gratuity included. We could’ve called the manager over and have it removed considering service was terrible from start to finish. However, we decided the online review would be best since we did not want to ruin our fathers special day. Would not recommend and would not come...

1st time here and I have been looking forward to bringing my kids and mother to celebrate Mother's Day dinner a week after. So let me start with the food selection. I wish they had a better variety of entrees as I feel that it was limited but it is what it is. The food itself - the food was really good. Good flavor and fresh. Really large portions so I have food for the next 2 days. 5 stars on the food itself. Service - If I could give a negative score, believe me, I would. The server came to take our order. We made the order as easy as possible. Food took a little time to come out but that's ok. Now for the dissatisfied experience when it came to "service". Not once, did Gilena (server) come to check up on us to see if we needed any more drinks or if everything was delivered. Then, we all finished eating, and not once did Gilena come by to see if we were done. She attended the tables around us and kept walking. I tried several times to get her attention and was ignored. We literally waited close to 40 minutes for her to acknowledge me and I finally got to ask her for containers so I could pack our food and I asked for my bill. There, she was quick and then I saw the most hilarious thing. $18.29 as a "Gratuity" automatically charged on the bill. Then, the place had the audacity to charge me $0.50 for each container. Gratuity should be factored in on the service itself and not placed on the bill automatically, especially with the below-standard service my family and I experienced. I received my bill and then still had to wait an additional 20 minutes to have my card taken to be charged so I could leave. The bus person who cleared the table took my card and had someone else charge my card so I could finally leave the establishment. Atmosphere- the music was so loud and they sat us under the speaker and we had to shout to each other to speak. This is not a nightclub but a place where one can come and relax for a nice dinner. Some music is alright but not to the level where you can't hear the person or think it's a club inside. We had to shout to each other so try and talk. It's ridiculous. I will never go to Naños Restaurant again. Will miss the food but not the service. No insult to the rest of the staff who might be amazing but it does take 1 bad apple to ruin...

We visited Nanos Restaurant hoping to enjoy authentic Ecuadorian dishes like bolón and encebollado, but the experience fell far short of expectations.

We were seated at 12:55 PM and waited several minutes before the waitress came over. When she finally arrived at 1:01, we asked for bolón, only to be told that the kitchen had already switched menus at 1:00 and she could not take our order. We explained that we had been seated before the cutoff, but she refused to make an exception. To make matters worse, while we waited for our backup order (encebollado and bandeja), another couple who arrived after us was allowed to order bolón without issue. That inconsistency made us feel disregarded and unappreciated as customers.

The food itself was just average—not bad, but certainly not worth the frustration. What truly ruined the experience was the lack of customer service. The waitress never checked on us after taking the order, did not ask if we needed anything else, and showed little effort to make us feel welcome. The long wait times and complete absence of follow-up showed a lack of training and attention. And despite this poor service, the bill came with the service charge already included, which felt unreasonable.

Overall, this visit revealed a serious lack of customer care and accountability. A restaurant can serve decent food, but if the staff is indifferent and management careless, the whole experience suffers. Guests should feel valued, treated fairly, and given consistent service. Unfortunately, Nanos failed in all of these areas.

Suggestions for improvement:

Train staff to be consistent, attentive, and fair with all customers.

Allow flexibility when customers are already seated before menu cutoffs.

Have servers check back at least once after orders are placed.

Do not automatically include a service charge unless the service justifies it.

Strengthen management oversight to ensure both the food and service match the standards customers expect.

With these changes, Nanos could become a place worth recommending. Until then, the lack of customer service makes it hard to...