Abuela Chona — Restaurant in Portland

The food is absolutely delicious—customer service needs significant improvement. We visited them in the Forest Grove food carts in September and ordered two plates. The lady indicated they had run out of fries. We went ahead and ordered the plate anyway, although it was charged at full price. Just today we came to visit the new food carts in Hillsboro, so we first checked in with the same lady, making sure she had everything in the menu. She chuckled nervously but confirmed she did. We ordered one plate and when we were about to order the other two, she said she only had enough fries for one plate and that we needed to wait about 20 min. for the rest. Second time we can’t eat fries; worth mentioning we were the only ones at the food cart area. We continue to order, and had to repeat the order 2 more times, as I had ordered an extra empanada in lieu of not being able to wait. When we all had ordered, the lady asked if we had cash as she needed to fix something in the order. We told her we only had our cards and that’s what we were planning to pay with. We had to repeat the order a third and fourth time because she assumed we were going to pay with cash and deleted the input in the machine. I was already upset because it was the second time we try to enjoy a full meal from this place, but they don’t have everything they offer to meet the demand; they try to get us to pay with a method that’s not available to us at the moment, and on top of everything, we had to go over the order several times, and the lady even lectured me not to get upset as she is trying to accommodate me. I don’t know what she is doing, but regardless of how many people show up, they should offer the full menu and have enough for everyone. Additionally, the plate is advertised of two empanadas, fries and an alfajor, which we never saw when we got home, and were still charged full price for everything. It would be a much better experience if the quality of the food matched how customers are tended to. Very...

I tried this place on a whim and felt compelled to leave a review because I think the woman who took my order and prepared my food could learn more about effective communication and setting realistic expectations with customers.

First, when I ordered the spinach empanada, I asked how large it would be. The woman proceeded to demonstrate with her hands the size of what to expect. When I received my order, the empenada was small--probably about one third of the size that she showed me. I would have ordered more had I known that I would be receiving a meager amount of food.

Second, I waited for a LONG time for my order, so long that I had to ask whether they forgot to make my food or perhaps left it in the oven too long. I was the only customer, so she could not use busyness as an excuse. The woman explained that they cook their empanadas fresh, which is fine. I think she should have told me up front when I placed my order how long a wait to expect. All in all, it was about twenty minutes until I got my tiny empanada.

Finally, I paid for my food with Google Pay which allowed the business access to my email address. I would normally expect to receive an email receipt, but what I didn't expect was to immediately be added to their mailing list without giving my consent. When I arrived home, I discovered an annoying email from the business--that really pissed me off.

Three strikes, Abuela. Your food was mediocre, but worse, your business practice was frustrating and...

OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE!!! And the food…meh. I can’t imagine this restaurant staying in business much longer with an $8.50/empanada. And I’m not sure what part of Argentina the owner is from but who puts yellow cheese in a jamón con queso empanada!?!? We brought my daughter here to celebrate her 22nd birthday. We contemplated leaving as soon as we saw the prices on the menu. But we are Argentinian and we were eager to finally try this place out. We ordered wine, a charcuterie board, French fries that tasted like nothing and a variety of empanadas ($167 for 4 people). The only empanadas that were decent in taste were the chorizo and criolla. The corn, spinach, and jamón con queso were horrible! And when I asked the server what the little dish with a greenish dip was, I couldn’t believe she said it was chimichurri. That was the worst chimichurri I have ever had! If you want good Argentine cuisine, go to Alecocina food truck in Hillsboro! This place is a rip off and the food...