El Familiar — Restaurant in Toms River

Went here for dinner Sunday night (9/1) and was sorely disappointed. Ordered guacamole, never received it. The salsa tasted like marinara sauce. Only had one silverware bundle and when I asked the waitress for another, she said she would bring it and then went out back, to the bathroom and then to the back of the restaurant, and we never received the silverware so my boyfriend had to grab one off another table. I ordered the enchiladas verdes and he ordered the mexican fiesta, and wow, disgusting. The food was flavorless and the enchiladas were doused in lime juice to compensate for how bland it was. The rice was dry and inedible. The verdes salsa was underneath the salad it came with and not on the enchiladas themselves. While the portions are large, it doesn’t matter if the food isn’t good. The waitress only stopped by once when we were almost done eating to refill our waters and after waiting another 15 minutes for the check I had to hold my card out over the edge of the table to get her attention. Would never come here again, subpar food...

Fantastic food, courteous staff, and friendly management make this a great place to eat anytime! My wife and I moved to Toms River a little over a year ago, and live about 2 miles from the plaza. We checked out El Familiar based on a local suggestion, and we are glad we did! Their menu is quite extensive, and everything we have ordered tastes delicious, authentic, and cooked with care. The staff is always quick on checking in, and always smiling. The owner, Nick, is friendly, and will often pull up a chair and chat with regulars (us included). He is also not beyond cleaning tables when his staff is busy. My only caveat is that I wish they had a separate private room for hosting larger parties - but we have managed to host about 16 people there for my wife's birthday dinner with no issues (just be sure to call and plan ahead!). El Familar quickly became one of our favorite restaurants in the area. If you enjoy authentic Mexican and Colombian cuisine, give them a try and you will not be...

I haven't been home in Lakewood in a while but we really wanted to have some Mexican food and seeing the 4.5 stars from 960 reviews we wanted to give it a try. This is an abomination of representation of Mexican food. I am shocked.

My cousins said their enchiladas were salty, the tostones were so flat and hard it cut my lip. I was really excited to eat my flautas but when I saw them open their take out boxes I was nervous to open mine. The cheese they put on the beans and the flautas was not cojita cheese, it looked like mozzarella or a parmesan? I'm not sure but it wasn't doing it for me. The rice was alright, but everything in the box looked like it was one color super bland.

I personally do not like to throw out or waste food so I ate what I could and threw the rest out. My cousin only ate half of her food and threw the rest out. I had high hopes especially because it took us an hour total for travel time to pick up and drive back home. I would not recommend going here based on...