Woulibam Restaurant - Fine Haitian & Caribbean Cuisine — Restaurant in Maplewood

I want to start by saying this is definitely a unique restaurant that fills a gap in this industry in this area: fine Haitian dining. It is a step in the right direction. I called to make a reservation for 14 for a family dinner at 7p. I was asked to limit our stay for 2 hours. While that's unprecedented for me, I appreciated the fact that I could get home early after dinner. The food was overall delicious. For appetizer, I shared a serving of meatballs. They are drier than one might be used to because that's how it's made in the culture but well seasoned. I also had the pate Korde which was very delicious and a little spicy. For my entree, I had the conch with plaintains. The amount of conch seemed a little small but it was delicious with onions. $7 for a small side of plain white rice was a stretch! The reason for the not so positive experience was mainly service. The hostess Sue, though friendly, was also our waitress and bussing tables. Too much for 1 person. Our waters were not refilled unless we requested it. The food LITERALLY came out 1 at a time with 10-15 min gap between the delivery of each dish. She didn't always know which dishes belonged to which guest so we were constantly calling out the dish that arrived to the table. There were 1 or 2 dishes that arrived that we didn't order and Sue said she wrote everything down so I guess meant it was our fault. You could taste that the beans of the 3 bean sauces that were delivered to the table were burned. To make matters worse, when my mother told the owner, she said she was aware but they served it anyway. My mother asked Sue what took some of the food so long and she responded that the food wasn't taking long but she wanted all the food to come out at the same time. In what planet is the first person being fed at 8p and the last after 10p represent food coming out at the same time? My husband got his meal last after 10p and the bean sauce he received was cold and of course was burned. Despite all this, my Haitian mother was so happy that their a fine dining Haitian restaurant in the area, she spoke to the owner and told her what a great job she was doing. After paying the bill, my husband was told they forgot to put something on the bill. After 2 hours of waiting for food and a large table of guest -- large bill, the nerve! We left without any drama fortunately. This is a step in the right direction for Haitian restaurants in this area of NJ but there's so much more to improve for it to last. We left around 10:40p and there were people that just received their meals dining though the restaurant closed at 10p. I hope for the best with this restaurant. It would be a shame for that talent in the kitchen to...

I placed an order over the phone for their shrimp and chicken pasta and wings, but was given a different price over the phone despite their online menu stating otherwise. I explained that over the phone and they decided to just give me the price that’s stated everywhere online. When I came to pick up the food, the owner, Johanne and the person I spoke with over the phone continued the discussion about the prices. I even showed them that their own menu has the same prices as online and is less than what was said over the phone.

After giving them my card, I went home and realized that they charged me the higher price. When I called back the next day, I spoke to the man who originally Took my order and and told him what happened. He was kind and said that I could either come in and place an order and I’d just pay the difference or just get the refund of the difference back. So I placed an order over the phone the next day and came in to pick it up. The owner came out and saw me and had an immediate attitude and said, “Your order is $15!!!” (Despite the price being different online). I was still going to buy the food for the $15, minus the money they overcharged me for. When I went to tell her that I spoke to one of the employees, she didn’t even let me speak 3 words and started screaming, “I’M THE OWNER!” out of nowhere. At that point I didn’t even want the food and just wanted my money back. She then continued to berate me and talk about how food is expensive and stated that she’s not giving me a refund. So she walks away to the back while I was talking and it made a scene as the workers in the back were watching and listening from the door. She walked away in anger and then another worker came out shortly after with the refund. I took it and left.

After this experience, it’s easy to see why it’s difficult to support black businesses, especially Haitian businesses as they disrespect their own people but show respect to other races.

If you want to support a REAL Haitian restaurant with excellent customer service, please literally go down the street on Springfield Avenue to another Haitian Restaurant called Neguess Creole Restaurant located at 2117 Springfield Avenue, Vauxhall, NJ! Their food is AMAZING, more affordable, excellent customer service, and honest...

I like the atmosphere and the music , I had diner there the other day and I liked the experience but service wise they should really keep up to the great reviews they've been having ... First of all we ordered ahead of time even when we were gonna dine in to save time because I don't understand why the waiting time has to be so long .... Anyways my friend ordered legumes and was served one with sea food when she said she was allergic to sea food and she was wondering if they had another option they said they had legumes with goat meat but " more expensive" ( legumes is legumes I never heard of different prices because of the kind of meat you put in ) but here's the interesting part after an eternity they came with the "legumes" with goat and it still smelled like the previous one when my friend mentioned it I said they would never do what I think they did because its too dangerous to play with allergies but my fears were confirmed as my friend found a piece of crab leg in the "goat legumes" and the goat in the legumes was "tassot" .... Thank God she didn't have a reaction to it as she barely ate it . But seriously this wasn't a great move .... I decided to give them another shot nevertheless and today I ordered the lambi and plantain , I was shocked when I saw what I paid for including the delivery .... I honestly couldn't believe it it was so little that when I first grabbed the bag from the delivery guy I looked to see if it was my order because it was so light . they !mostly served onions ....anyways its OK to serve small portions but that's really a rip off ... I'll go back to my usual Haitian restaurant around or I'll just cook:)

They really have a great set up and atmosphere I honestly love it but if they don't change things they will lose a lot of...