Its Waao! Elmwood Park — Restaurant in Elmwood Park

I haven't had anything from this location, beyond the food in the glass case & their smoothies. So, I can't say much about the items on their menu. What I can speak on, is the lack of English the staff has spoken or understands over the years, in ALL locations that I've visited. Also, how often THIS location messes up the simplest orders (pulling an item from the glass case, smh) & how long I've waited for the only thing I asked for, that should be made fresh, which is the smoothie. I've witnessed people come in, order after me & get served before me, many of times. This just happened AGAIN a few days ago. Multiple customers placing orders & being served before I was... who's orders also included smoothies. They're also not that friendly in there. The ONE, fully English speaking girl they had in there back awhile ago, was friendly & got my order correct. I haven't seen her since. These types of businesses need to know that their customers are of ALL ethnicities & they need to cater to THAT... not just their own. Best believe they're not staying afloat from their own. They also need to have employees who are fully capable of being truly bilingual... not just BARELY speaking a few words in English, etc... or have at least one English speaking employee scheduled for EACH shift. I mean it can be complicated to cater to each language, BUT ENGLISH? Come on, now... this place has got to strive to do...

I write this review with the hope that the quality of the food might improve. These are my thoughts on the 5 items I tried:

1. Waao Burger - 10/10 - Probably one of the best burgers I've been able to find (worth going just for this burger). Very good sauces, seasoning, and the topings complimented each other wonderfully

2. Hawaiian Hot Dog - 2/10 - It was all very dry (bun and hotdog) making the texture very unpleasant (cardboard-esque). The sauces had good flavor, but somehow they made the hotdog feel even drier.

3. Cuban Sandwich - 2/10 - This was not a cuban sandwich. The normal Cuban sandwich flavors/topings were either not present or were used in such small amounts that they were not noticeable (no pickles in the sandwich and did not taste the dijon mustard or cheese). Bread and pork were very dry as well.

4. Beef empanada - 1/10 - Good flavored meat, but the dough was extremely thick. This made it so that the inner layer of the dough was not thoroughly cooked (aka, the center of the flour was still raw).

5. Steak arepa - 3/10 - The flavor of the meat was om, but it was extremely greasy (dripping oil). For the more grease-sensitive/GI-sensitive individuals, this is a 1/10.

You cannot go wrong with the Waao burger, but any other items in the menu might leave you really...

I honestly can’t comment on their food because I didn’t try it but the customer service in this place is absolutely terrible. I tried calling 2 times urging my lunch hr to order a few dozen empanadas for a party I had in the ending. No one answered, they bee picked up. I get out of work at 3 o’clock and the establishment is directly around the block from my job so I decided to stop in. There were three workers inside that I could see (not in the kitchen) The man in front of me had a decent size order so the cashier rung him up and I patiently waited. When she was done bringing him up, I walked up to the counter assuming I was next. I told the counter worker hello as I stepped up to the register (she didn’t even acknowledge me) and proceeded to fill the previous patrons large order. The other 2 female workers did nothing, didn’t turn around ti help, didn’t ask if I needed anything, didn’t help the cashier fill the large order. I walked out. I purchased nothing I won’t be going back. There are way too many other places that have good food that have much better service. Oh, and I forgot to mention, there were only two people in the place including me and the man in front of me who...