Red Fuego — Restaurant in Orem

I am going to start off by saying I really really really wanted to give this place a 5 star. Went tonight with my wife and kids and ordered a lomo saltado, ají de gallina and half a chicken with yuca and rice, when I ordered the guy told me they had run out of chicken and that it would be a 30 minute wait so I said that was okay.

30 mins later the lomo saltado and ají de gallina came out and to me it wasn’t a surprise it took that long cause if you read their reviews that’s a normal wait time for them. My wife and kids ate their food and literally finished it all, the cashier came up to me to tell me the chicken was done (50 mins after I ordered) but that they had run out of rice... I was forced to pick a side I didn’t really want because I honestly wanted the rice but I wasn’t gonna complain because I was pretty hungry by then so I just told him to bring me French fries. It took another 10 mins after that for them to actually bring me my food out.

I manage a chain of restaurants (5 locations) and if any of my food takes that long and on top of that something my customer ordered ran out I would have given that meal for free or offered free dessert, anything to make that customer feel he was important. And that I acknowledge we messed up and that his business is important to me. But in this ocassion not even a sorry was offered to me.

Overall the food was really really good (with exception of the sweet potatoes fries that were soggy and cold) the lomo Saltado had a good flavor and the aji de gallina did as well, and when my chicken came it was not good, but great!!! Prob some of the best I’ve had here in Utah. But for an hour wait? Just not worth it. It saddens me because it’s locally owned and family owned and I know they are trying to figure things out because they are starting to get more reviews and customers..... but good customer service should always be the end goal and I felt that didn’t exist there with my experience with my meal.

If you go when it’s not busy, go in and eat because the wait won’t be long and you will enjoy it! I just don’t recommend it when you see 10-15...

I have been a loyal red fuego customer since the first one opened in Orem. My new job is in Lehi so I decided to give the new Lehi location a try. Sadly I was thoroughly disappointed. Because of this I decided to stick to the orem one since I felt it had been reliable.

Unfortunately just a week later after my experience at Lehi, I was left disappointed as well. We had decided to go eat as a family with my father and his two brothers who were born in lima. I found that the plantains had been changed from the previous ones to harder, flavorless plantains. All of my family was sad about this fact since this was a main reason to come to red fuego. We had to wait about an hour for our whole party to get their meals when we had been told 25 minutes for the chicken. When the chicken came it was burnt to a crisp. And the most dissatisying fact of all was the main individual in charge of the cash register. I have seen her various times before and have always been greeted in a cold manner, no eye contact, and just made to feel unimportant. My father and uncle frequently went to check on their meals and this was what they experienced with her as well. I believe that it would benefit red fuego to take this feedback into consideration if they would like to keep their customers. I am also leaving my Lehi review because I feel that the opening of the new restaurant is partially to blame.

Lehi review:

Because I love the food so much I know that sometimes I have to wait for my to go order so I was planning for this. To my surprise it was ready when I got there, so that made me happy. This feeling quickly disappeared when my husband and I began eating. The Lomo saltado was a mess compared to my previous experience. Mainly because the fries were not cooked fully and were chewy. The seasoning was bland. My side of fries was the same consistency, raw. The plantains were different than ever before and I could tell they had switched from the previous plantains they used to use. One of the biggest perks of this restaurant was that their plantains were authentic,...

The food here is great... But the wait makes it not really worth it. The first time we waited over a half hour in the restaurant. Because of the wait we decided to order take out the next time.

Tonight we ordered at 5:45 and were told it would be ready at 6:30... I got there to pay and pick it up only to be told we could take a cheap substitute or come back for what we actually ordered in about 40 more minutes. I opted to wait and went back just after 7 and was told about 10 more minutes... At almost 7:15 they brought it out and informed me they still had to do the substitution on one of the meals. So and hour and a half after ordering my family's meal they still didn't get it right...

Like I said... The food is really good... But not worth the wait... I'll look for other options next time I crave chicken or Peruvian food. There's several options in the area.

PS.... Nice reply... Now the truth... I discussed the options with the young lady at the front counter and said I'd be back for what I ordered (despite an additional 40+ minute wait)... Which I still never got. I got yet another substitute on the 1/2 chicken I had ordered 1.5 hours earlier. But don't worry about trying to change my mind, I won't be back to find out if your service has gotten any better.

Every negative comment gets a cheap seemingly snarky reply... Never an an admission of fault, never a promise to improve service. I can deal with lapses of judgement and still find forgiveness and be willing to give my money to an establishment... But your dismissive attitude is more than I'm willing to contribute to further.... Good luck.

3rd edit... We paid cash... If you want to put it on a card put it on the one we...