La Carreta — Restaurant in Hialeah

Let me begin by saying if you are hungry on starvation level DO NOT, I repeat do not go here. Their services is slow I even offer to go help the cook "sarcastically". Thank God I ordered and appetizer. We were a large group, but the restaurant was empty so it shouldn't have cause any commotion.

When we first walked in they were debating on to whom will take care of us. Which to me was tacky, but as I said I was hungry, so it didn't face me at the moment. At the table the server took everyone's order for appetizers and some straight out order they food. They brought out bread which was gone in less time that it took thwm to butter it. (Little to none on each slice). By the time the appetizers started coming out mysteriously extra food were being delivered to the table. The first time a guy accepted and added to his bill, but the next one we all were like wait what only leave it if is going to be free. No one that order it. Than she took out food order by that time I was full of water, bread and yuca frita. So I only order fried plantains (maduros) and they Moro (black beans rice). An hour and so past I was falling asleep on the table from the long wait. Finally my food come out and my rice looked as if it was scrapped from the bottom and corners of the pot. Server changed it. My friend seating with me order chicken rice and she said it was slimy and her son's chicken was refried (bones were black) and it just dry. Everyone had a problem with their meal and I would thought after taking all that long they would come out with the most delicious meal in town after all the wait. I was so sad to pay for that meal, but I was tired and just wanted to go home. The only positive thing I can say is my maduros were good (that's too hard...

La Carreta name isn't what it used to be in my opinion. I moved from Miami about 8 years ago to the west coast of Florida. When I'm back home I like to eat some good old fashion cuban food. So one of the places that comes to mind is La Carreta. I'm writing this review with the hopes that things are better the next time I go. I ordered my timeless favorite a Pan Con Bistec w/ cebolla cocinada, papitas, and mayonesa, no lettuce no tomato and my Iron Beer. When, I got it the sandwich had lettuce and tomato. I tell the waitress about the error and she takes the plate. She comes back about a minute later with a new sandwich or so I thought. I open it up and it's the same sandwich. They basically picked the lettuce and tomato out of the sandwich. You could literally still see the imprint of the tomato. Funny enough my before the waitress came back my wife said, you could have just picked out the lettuce and tomato. I said no, the whole point of me ordering that way is because the lettuce and tomatoes makes the bread soggy. I like that crunch. At that point I called the manager, I said I don't want this sandwich it's all soggy, I want a new one. He apologized and said it will be a few minutes but he will get me a new one. A few minutes later I got my sandwich and just the way I like it. I appreciate the final result, the sandwich was great so I was happy to pay for it. Side note, my daughter had the palomilla. It was completely flavorless. It was nice and thin but it had zero seasoning and it was dry. La Carreta palomilla always had that classic cumin, mojo taste to it that we love, but not today. My wife had the sopa de platano. She gave that...

I cannot complain about the service, but their food... I have been #1 fan of the carretero breakfast and been craving it for a while, my favorite La Carreta is the one on Kendall Drive but we live in Hialeah so, even though I've come here before, theirs never measured up to the one in Kendall. But today I thought let's try it one more time (the last time we went for breakfast to this location was the day after Thanksgiving last year with my son and wife visiting from North Carolina and craving their cuban food. Well last year was a total disaster as they didn't have staff to cover, food was limited and service horrible. So move on to today... you would think that due to this terrible pandemic, they would work extra hard with their meal preparation. To start, the utensils were dirty so we grabbed plastics they had set up for takeout. Their bread was old, hard and smelled sour. The cafe con leche was cold, and the carretero.... oh what a disappointment... the eggs cold, ham thin and not cooked, fries ok and the croquetas they looked like they had been on a diet, fried with old oil, you can smell it and taste it. For close to $19 breakfast for two (2 carreteros), my husband was grossed out, to the point he vomited when we got home. Needless to say we couldn't eat it. Did we tell the waiter? No, what for, it's not their fault. His service was excellent which is why we tipped 18% and gave 2 stars (one for great music and one for the waiter).They have no control over the meal preparations. We were the only ones this morning, the cooks can't say they rushed to serve...