La Tamaleria Colombiana NY/ LITTLE COLOMBIA — Restaurant in New York

You should read the reviews before visiting this place. Drove with the fam from NJ, and felt very disappointed with the quality and the misleading reviews from social media. Nowadays social media has a lot of power to drive business, but unfortunately, they are not honest as they might be influenced by monetary compensation. Well portioned tamales and lechonas, and the arcade game area well arranged but with some limitations.

Took the drive out to the city to visit La Tamaleria, but to our surprise, the food was a slap in the face. Order lechona and a tamale. For some reason, they used these flat bamboo plates and I get the idea they want to go green of some sort, but the plate has no edges, and once you start eating some of the food lands on the table. The rice was pretty much dry and lacked flavor. The skin or “cuerito” was re-heated and it was bland. As other reviews pointed out the peas were hard as a rock, and their visit was dated at the beginning of January 2023, a couple of weeks later in our visit we found that the restaurant does not put any effort to correct their mistakes which are in their control. The tamale, definitely we can infer that they are produced in large batches and forced to store for several days before the lot is re-heated and served. My suspension was corroborated by the large batches of a response from the reviews. As you may know, once the food is stored for several days its ingredients absorb their contents and it shows when we open the tamale and the egg was not white and had a brownish color. Very well proportioned relative to the price, but some adjustments need to be made. The arcade was pretty well lit and it had a cozy ambiance. Some old-school classic games and Rana, a typical Colombian game, come with a price of $19.99/ hour, but not sure what would happen if you go over the hour and you haven’t finished the game; would they charge you for another hour? Or would they let you finish the game without charging you extra. This was not explained.

I get the owner started with a small shop outside the train station and the quality is what made him thrive kudos for his effort. It is true that in a small setting, it’s easier to keep high-quality control, but when scaling gets harder and harder, yet, must pay attention since these little mistakes can be costly.

And, can someone please explain why is there an 18% gratuity included on the bill? Where does this...

So went earlier today. Way overpriced for the portions and poor service. First of all the waitress got out order wrong, giving us combos versus what we asked for… cost more by the way and then said it was because we got the wording wrong .. when we finished, she asked if we wanted dessert.. we all politely said no, we’ve had enough… for her to say well you can buy it and take it home.. very forceful. When our bill came, there a 20% gratuity included. Only 4 people. when my husband gave his card to pay, the waitress stated there a 4% charge to use a card no bless we paid cash.. - NEVER have I heard that before. She then tried to say, oh it only like a dollar more.. 4% of our bill, with 20% tip - not the standard 15% - it was much more than $1!! We also did not like that the whole dinner, she was constantly after us to take pictures, upload to Instagram, send likes, send to Facebook.. she gave us some kind of raffle ticket but in order to win we had to take pictures of it with food and post, to the point we couldn’t enjoy our food for the constant interruptions for requests for pics and posting. Even when we left, asking us to QR scan and sign up with pics and Instagram and posts. We will not be back. This place felt more like we were being pumped for marketing, advertisement and sales as if they make commission?? The owner must be more focused on social media and posts, but then overcharges and false up charges the people that actually come, for cash so he doesn’t have to pay taxes I’m sure.

REGARDING THE OWNERS CHILDISH AND IMMATURE RESPONSE - FOR ME TO COOK AT HOME : exactly something I would expect from this establishment seeing that over charging, up charging, and misrepresentation of common practices, taxes, and the law is the specialty. I will be sure to now post everywhere and everyplace I can, Facebook, Instagram, twitter and every social page I visit, to tell everyone I possibly know not to go to this place. 15% is standard ti supplement their waiters minimum wage, not 20%, that’s my discretion that’s greedy. Most if not all card services and establishment do NOT pass their fees to...

**The good: The place is very nice, clean and cozy, nothing like most other Colombian or Latin restaurants I've visited in the area. The service is excellent. Johana went above and beyond to meet my requests and was very attentive, helpful, thoughtful, and polite. I was in the area for a couple of days so got to try a some of dishes. They tasted great, just like home. Tamales are big and tasteful, super-recommended. I finally could eat a "envuelto" that tastes as real "envuelto" in the US. Coffee was superb too as you would expect from a Colombian restaurant. This is the only place I've found lechona here in the States. I'd also suggest to add some other Colombian treats like "buñuelos, pan de yuca & pan de bono". They would be a great addition to the menu.

**The bad: (and why I took 2 stars of the review) Seems very difficult to get some of the dishes they offer. While I was there there was no "envueltos" (I had to return another day to get them). Also, they seem small for the price (although I totally get the owner's comment about the required work to make them). I couldn't try the empanadas either, there was none of the three types they offer. "Caldo con costilla" tasted good and was very nice served (see pic) but the meat was scarce. It included an egg which was a nice touch, but I'd rather get a real portion of meat than an egg. I got the "super-box" of lechona which costs 15+ but was very disappointed with the portion size. It was no more that a couple of spoons of lechona in the box. It was actually below half of the box size. Again, I DO understand the work involved, but would like to be informed in advance about the portion size. The pictures shown in the displays are very misleading. Not sure if it was only my case but, looking at other customers pics on-site, they appear to be better portioned than mine. Also I got "chicharron toteado" which is not the original one that is shown the pics that are on site and...