Criollisimo Restaurant — Restaurant in New Britain

I don’t ever write reviews especially if they are negative however I need to voice my terrible experience with this restaurant. I had called about a month in advance to get catering for my graduation party. The first time I called they sounded extremely busy and the women on the phone asked for my name and number so she could call me back. Very understandable. I waited two days and didn’t get a call back. I called again after two days and again the women asked me for my name and number and she would call me back. Luckily, she called me back a day later. She took my catering order and then she told me to call a week before the party so I could confirm the order and pay. Therefore, I called back a week before the party and the owner, Brenda, answered the phone. (I believe I was speaking to Brenda the entire time, however I am not 100% positive). I explained to Brenda that I would like to confirm my order and pay for my party on Sunday August 16. Brenda told me that she was the owner of the restaurant and is not open on Sundays and is unsure who told me they would be able to cater for Sunday. She then proceeded to tell me to find someone else to cater for me because she would not be able to. I explained the situation and told her that I had placed this order a month in advance and the women I spoke to confirmed that they would be able to make it for Sunday. Brenda then told me to give her my name and number and she’ll call me back. I did not trust her so I went to the restaurant. I spoke to Brenda in person and I decided i could pick the food up Saturday since they are not open on Sundays. As Brenda was taking my order AGAIN she changed her mind and said she would cook for me on Sunday because the food would not taste the same a day later. She then stated that she would have to charge me EXTRA because she doesn’t work on Sundays. Since I was extremely desperate and time was running out i agreed on the extra fee though the food was already over $800. Brenda then wrote my name and number down and said she would call me by the end of the day to give me a price and would not let me pay while I was there. I thought that was strange since I was already at the restaurant and just needed a price. I waited till the end of the NEXT day and never received a call. I decided I wouldn’t trust Brenda or this restaurant. I then decided to call another restaurant “Caribbean Restaurant” in Meriden which was super professional and organized and were able to cater for me with just two days in advanced. I’m sure Criollisimo has delicious food but the customer service and ethics of this restaurant and ownership are flawed and it seemed to me like they did not care. They lost about $1000 that I would have paid to get food catered as well as 50+ people being exposed to their food increasing...

First of all I want to say nothing wrong with the food, it smelt great and I’m sure it was. I deliver for doordash, I’ve had some not so great interactions with this restaurant before but today was appalling. I call every establishment before going in to make sure the food is ready to avoid waiting inside. I was told word for word “I’m too busy right now” and then hung up on. As someone who’s had years of experience in customer service, it’s disgusting as either employee or owner to speak to any customer like that. There was no way I was going to forget about that.. I decided to go in and confront whoever that was. I was instantly greeted by a very polite young lady asking who I was picking up for. I was then directed to a counter by who I assume was the person who answered the phone, a older Spanish women. I’m going to assume she owned the store considering she felt it was okay to embarrass herself and speak the way she did in front of everyone. At around this time I can sense the hostility and wasn’t sure how she would react being confronted over the disrespect, so I decided to turn my phone on and record the conversation in my pocket. I’ve gone over it a few times and it’s clear as day what’s said. After being handed the food I VERY politely said “In the future, you shouldn’t speak to a customer the way you did over the phone. It was rude and unnecessary.” She blew up. “GET OUT!” “GET OUT RIGHT NOW!” “YOU NEED TO LEAVE” at this point were both talking over each other. I’m staying calm, while she’s shouting... at the CUSTOMER. I want to make it clear I didn’t walk in here looking for problems, I was just annoyed at the situation. I told her she needs to learn some manners and she threatens to call the police. Ive had a few friends who have had similar experiences just nothing to that extent. I’ve read most the reviews and the restaurants defense is they’ve been on that corner for 33 years. Bottom line they need to get rid...

I ordered my mom who is 91 years old some roasted pig, that this restaurant does every year for Xmas eve. We placed and paid order on the 23rd . On pick up time which was at 11:30 a.m- to 12:000 noon on the 24th. we went to pick up her order and was told that the first batch was already sold out, mind you we were already scheduled to pick up at that time. Then after driving there to pick up my Moms order, we were given a new time to pick up for 2:30 p.m., ok so we go home and have to tell my mom that they changed the time to 2:30. My mom is diabetic so it caused some problems with her eating schedule, but we gave her a little something to hold her off. At 2:30 my son goes over there with the receipt to pick up her Oder and the owner, Brenda Torres, tells him that they have no more pork left, mean while she was putting some orders away, meaning she still had meat. My son explains to her that his grandmother had been waiting for several hours and was really looking forward to having her roasted pig. Brenda, did not apologize for the inconvenience and did not even offer to refund the money. He asked her to please give the money back and she offered to give him $30.00 back, we paid $36.00, not sure if she expected a tip for her bad services. My son told her that was poor business and the reply she have him in front of other customers present at the time was that when she looses one customer, she gains 20 more new customers. Very unprofessional accompanied by a really bad attitude towards customer. This caca bad behavior and it will not be tolerated, she is running a business, not a charity act. Will not recommend any one to go...