Noches de Colombia Hazlet — Restaurant in Hazlet Township

Normally I truly like this place, but today was bad. We have been coming here since the day they opened. First, staff is constantly changing, with different standards of service. Today was another new server. Young Dominican woman, polite but not a good server. 3 tables when we walked in, 1 finished the other 2 already eating. Within 2 minutes of sitting down, she asks if we are ready to order, a little quick and before asking about beverages. We ordered beverages and appetizers, the counter girl brought us our drinks waitress was not around. She brings appetizers and we order our entrees. Insisting on an item we order every time we come and at every other Noches we have been to, that they don't serve bistec empanizado. We tell her that they do make it with the bistec on the menu and upcharge. Entrees arrive, no check back on food quality, never came back for beverage refills. 3 more tables come in and it is like we don't exist. Have to wave her down to place a to go order and request a box. Then she proceeded to inform us that what we ordered is not called bistec but is carne assado. Every Noches de Columbia has it labeled as bistec. Perhaps she needs to learn the menu, learn the difference between Columbian and Dominican dialects and not to try and embarass the guest. BTW my husband who is Puerto Rican ordered in Spanish to help her out. I observed her taking care of her first tables with great service returning to them several times. Was it because they were mainly white women? Was it because we were a mixed family? Was it because my husband was the only Puerto Rican man there? I don't know, but she lost out on a large tip and only received 15%. She made our experience very poor. It will be a long time before we return to the Hazlet location. We will get our food from Union City, North Bergen or the...

Very mixed feelings. We are fans of authentic Colombian food and tend to frequent restaurants in Elizabeth. I know Noches just opened a few months ago, but... We ordered 3 Fryolada and none of them had chorizo OR beans. We each had about 3 small pieces of plantains and two of three had mostly chunks of fat and no meat in regard to the pork. We received a huge portion of rice, with half an avocado not sliced. Feeling completely ripped off for an $80 to go meal. The vibe is weird. Fast food drive-through, but they have table service, but they have a counter where you can order. There is a lot of open space without tables and not enough seating. An issue we had was that nobody we encountered spoke any English. I truly don't care whatsoever if you speak broken English, my family is immigrants so I fully appreciate, but the place was staffed by people who were friendly but couldn't take an order or answer questions. The girl at the counter was very nice and we were laughing, and I did my best in Spanish but I don't really speak it so we couldn't ask the question we had. We saw our meal was missing part of it once we got home and since nobody there spoke English we decided it was not worth calling. The bakery section seemed pretty slim but maybe it was just a busy day and we were there late. We got the last 2 pan de yuca which were very good. The Guacamole and arepa were good but not worth $10 for what seemed like one arepa cut into triangles. Sadly, I don't think we...

We have been to Noches de Colombia in Englewood and Elizabeth, both excellent food and service. The Hazlet location is new so we wanted to try it out. The location is smaller but with enough seats to accommodate. There is table service and a take out area where you can order pastries. The place was clean as were the bathrooms. We ordered a bandeja paisa, mar y mar, kids chicken fingers with fries and drinks. All were excellent and fresh. The food and drink portions were a bit smaller than the larger restaurants and the chicharron was smaller and harder. We're used to thick, meaty chicharron so this was our only gripe. We will return and mention it when we order so hopefully we will get a better portion. The menu isn't the same as the larger locations but have very good options with some entrees that we. have not seen in Elizabeth or Englewood. The waiter and staff were polite and the food came out super fast, faster than the larger restaurants. Overall very positive experience. Be aware that restaurants are charging extra for credit card use and that the tip maybe included. Check your receipt before paying. I'm used to a tip being included with parties or 6 or more but have had the tip included with 2 people at the Elizabeth location. At Hazlet we were a group of 4 and it...