Los Hornitos Bakery — Restaurant in Town of Wappinger

I was really excited to try this place as I’m always on the hunt for amazing and authentic Latin cuisine, and when I walked in the door I was pleasantly surprised by the wide variety in their menu. I was with my mom and we ordered an assortment of pastries and a couple of empanadas and while we waited I snapped some pics of the adorable atmosphere.

As we moved down the counter and deeper into the restaurant to make sure we were socially distanced I noticed something a little off putting. One of the ladies that was working had come out of the kitchen and walked up to the woman at the grill who was making my food and started talking to her. This of course is not an issue, what bothered me was that she was eating food from a plate she was holding in her hand and talking very close to someone who was cooking my empanadas. I waited to see if this would be a brief encounter which to my surprise it wasn’t, and as I saw food falling from her fork I felt I had to say something.

As politely as I could I asked if she could eat her food away from the grill and my food that was being prepared. To my astonishment she not only began to defend herself, but the woman making my food suddenly said “that’s my daughter!” I was so shocked by their response that I just paid and left. Without even having my first bite this place left a bad taste in my mouth from this one encounter and I most likely won’t be going back and wouldn’t recommend purely based on their customer service.

I’m half El Salvadoran and have worked in family restaurants since I was legally able to. I was always taught to never eat food in the prep area and certainly not where customers can see you unless you’re sitting at a table on break. Have you ever been to a restaurant and seen employees eat their food while they’re making yours? Nope, and there’s a reason for that. I haven’t worked in a restaurant in a minute but I’m pretty sure the health inspector would still frown upon that. And hey, I’m all for people making honest mistakes, but to then argue and get so defensive over these actions was just not acceptable in my eyes. It’s unfortunate because I really wanted to support and like this place, especially since my...

This is a bakery with a limited meal menu. The owners/ operators are Chilean. The Chilean offers are out of this world, which includes the oven baked empanadas and what ever they have as the special of the day. The Chilean cuisine and bakery have a French influence. They also cater to the Mexicans and Caribbean clientele which make up most of the Hispanic community in the area. They do a descent job at it, but it's not their specialty. They are very friendly and if interested they would share their immigrant story with you. I am not Chile, but I've visited Chile, a few times. I remember a popular roadside eatery on the old roadway between Santiago, the capital, and Viña del Mar, a seaside town on the coast. That place is named Los Hornitos (The Little Ovens) and they are known for their empanadas. I mentioned that to Monica, the owner, and she shared with me their reason why they opted for the same name for...

I wanted to get pernil and the spot I wanted to try is closed on Tuesdays. I recalled that a lady at a Poughkeepsie library stated Los Hornitos in Wappingers has very good food, so I ventured over here. I was attended to by an older lady and asked the price of the pork since I was looking at the chart above her head and not a menu. She proceeded to ask if I would like it with rice and beans, or rice and salad. I answered and she gave my total. I wasn’t done ordering but I wasn’t in the mood to do more business if she wasn’t in the mood. There were no people behind me. I get that a few customers just left so maybe one put her in a mood or she expected a surge of customers soon and wanted to rush me. The food was really good, and the portion was admirable. I also enjoyed the sauce that was given for the pernil. I may go back eventually to try a baked good like the tres leches, but not in a rush to have...