El Pollo III — Restaurant in New York

I will give 1 star for the times the food was exceptional, however on a dark and stormy night when cooking was not an option, me and my loved one decided to support our small business owner and order from El Pollo. We decided to order 2 orders of oxtails with rice and beans which is usually one of their best dishes. Unfortunately on this rainy night it was not. The oxtails were under cooked yes RAW, I tell you. Not the braised off the bone meat the way its suppose to be cooked, but instead fatty, chewy and just plain out disgusting. This was NOT the quality that they pride themselves on. I am disappointed because I am not a fly by the night customer, I am a regular who has spent $$$ here over a short period of time. To make matters worst when I called back the brother (this is family owned, I have had many conversations with the mother and daughter) he flat out lied denying that the oxtails were raw as well as the carrots it was cooked with. What spanish place you know ...has ever had hard carrots in any kind of stew.???. This was the most unpleasant experience I have had with them. They have lost me as a customer and I suggest you skip this place. Save your money and the headache. To my fellow foodies...

Very rude guy working the front desk. The food is very good I come back to buy once in a while but the server at the front desk very rude. I got an extra charge for delivery “Tip” $6. I’ve ordered before and they don’t charge me a delivery “Tip”. I asked him why is it obligated he said because it’s far away. It’s a mile away and I’ve ordered before with no “TIP” charge.

(edit: I’ve ordered multiple times and haven’t been charged, only gotten charged with the individual I spoke with that day. It’s not about money it’s about how it was stated. You could have just said there was a delivery fee for my address which is 1.2 miles away instead of saying I have to “Tip” for my delivery. I would have tipped anyways if you would have implied a fee. Also if you can’t deliver don’t offer...

I ordered from UberEATS and only ordered an arroz con Mariscos. First time ordering from this place. The description on the app stated "shrimp, calamari, crab meat, clam, mussels, and lobster meat". There was a good amount of shrimp (mostly small ones) and calamari. It came with 2 clams (very tiny meat) and 4 mussels (very bad quality, no meat). The crab/lobster meat were just crab/lobster delights (imitation meats made from Pollock). The rice was good but I was disappointed with the quality of the clam/mussels and false advertising with the crab/lobster meat. I didn't expect a whole lobster tail or a big crab but was expecting small pieces of it. I definitely wouldn't recommend this dish but I will try the peril next time to give them one...