El Pollo Inka Peru — Restaurant in New York

Extremely disappointed with the customer service, management, and hygiene at this location.

I’ve been eating at this chain since I was a kid, and at this specific location for years. I used to live a block away and would eat here three times a week. More recently, I had been a regular every Tuesday evening. But after how I was treated on March 23, 2025, I will not be returning.

At the end of my meal that day, I noticed a service/gratuity charge on my bill. From my own experience working in the service industry, I know this is typically reserved for large parties or bills over a certain amount. When I asked the server if this was a new policy applied to all tables, she said yes. Even though I hadn’t been informed beforehand, I didn’t argue — the service charge was $6, and I was planning to tip $5 anyway. Then she explained it was added because during my previous visit on March 11, I tipped 50¢.

Here’s the context: that visit was awful. My food took over an hour with no explanation, my order came out wrong, and another table-who also ordered chicken and arrived after us-got their food first. The server never communicated or acknowledged the delay. My partner’s food also took a while but came out before mine, so we ended up eating separately. By the time my corrected plate arrived, my partner was already done. I had lost my appetite and just packed it to go.

Instead of asking about that experience or showing any interest in what led to the low tip, the manager instructed the servers to automatically add gratuity on my next visit.

TIPPING IS OPTIONAL-it’s based on the quality of service received, not a guaranteed payment. Retaliating with a forced service charge because of a previous tip is unprofessional, petty, and honestly a joke.

What’s worse is that this wasn’t an isolated incident. Over the years, there’s been a consistent pattern of mistakes — missing items in deliveries, incorrect orders, and once I had to wait an extra 15 minutes for a takeout order because a server gave the tostones from my meal to another customer. No apology, just more waiting.

And on top of all that, the hygiene is unacceptable. I’ve personally seen both servers and kitchen staff enter the restroom still wearing their aprons — completely unsanitary and gross. If this happens in front of customers, I can only imagine what happens behind closed doors.

This place has gone downhill. The food can be decent, but it’s not worth the repeated headaches, unprofessional service, or lack of cleanliness. I recommend Inca Paisa or A Lo...

I was excited to try something new last week and ended up choosing this restaurant. The reviews didn't lie, this place does get packed. I entered the place around 7pm with only two tables empty. My sister and I walk up to the bar and ask if there was seating available and the woman replied no to come back later. Again, we clearly see two tables open so we asked her again and point to the tables. She says we can sit in the back because the table in the front is too big for two and continues working. This should have been a sign for me to walk away but we decided to stay. (FYI another two guest arrive and with no questions ask they were seated in the table "too big for two"). I was hoping the gentleman who came over to clean our table and give us menus would be our server but the woman who told us there was no seating was our waitress. Though the restuarant is crowded I could understand the wait time but the waitress didn't move from behind the bar for such a long time even the customers who sat next to us already had drinks and their order taken by the gentleman who gave us menus. Let me just fast forward to the fact that I ordered a second glass of water and 20 minutes pass with no refill. I'm not even sure where the waitress was. Not to mention they were suppose to bring us something to the table as an appetizer and being that she forgot another table whose been there longer than us, she gave it to them. In my opinion the food taste good however, we were served chicken with the head still on it. I did not order the chicken so I did not notice until we took the chicken home and i seen a wing. Then the neck. Then I picked up the head. I did not take a picture of the chicken after I discovered it because I immediately threw it away but you can see it on the plate in the restaurant of the picture attached....

So I moved to Florida almost a year ago and couldn't wait to visit New York for the food. So today I visited my favorite place to eat only to discover it was sold. I didn't see the usual people working there, so I was worried. I sit down and looked at the menu, and it says "Peruvian Restaurant", and next to that says "Halal". I ask the waitress for a delicious Sangria, but now they don't serve it. No pork dishes either which is part of Peruvian qusine.Tasted the chicken and green sauce, and it tasted completely different. The recipe is off, way off. Or it tasted the same as every other mediocre Peruvian restaurant you wouldn't want to go to. Nice remodeling but I'm not there for the decor.

This place is NO LONGER a Peruvian restaurant. It is not a Hispanic restaurant. They just have Spanish people working there.

This place is a Halal restaurant, and a mediocre one at that. It's not geared towards Hispanics no matter how many Spanish people they hire.

So I'm going back to Pio Pio until I find...