El Artesano Restaurant — Restaurant in Union City

I like to keep a list of bookmarks on the ready. That way, if I ever happen to be in a certain neighborhood/have a specific craving, I can pull out that list. This was one of those times. I was running some errands nearby and I also had a craving for a Cuban sammie. My list showed me that El Artesano was one of the restaurants I wanted to try. Hubby and I stopped in on the Sunday of President’s Day Weekend at around 11 am. The restaurant is set up kind of like a diner. They have diner-style counter seating, and they also have two dining rooms. It was packed at that time but luckily, we only waited 5 minutes for a table.

They have different specials each day of the week and one of the offerings on Sundays are Ajiaco Criollo, which is a Cuban-style stew. This one had potatoes, sweet potato (or maybe some kind of squash?), plantains, and super tender pieces of pork bone meat. It tasted more like a soup than it did a stew, but it was still delicious nonetheless. I ended up dipping my Cuban sammie in the stew, which sounds weird but don’t knock until you’ve tried it. The Cuban was good but I felt like it could have been a bit toastier/hotter. It seems they pre make the sandwiches in the morning and have them ready to be heated up once ordered. Hubby had his go-to, the masitas (fried pork chunks). It comes with two sides. I don’t really love this dish because the pork tends to be too dry, but he enjoyed it. For drinks, I had a cortadito and he had a fresh orange/carrot juice and both were a great addition to the meal.

Tip - parking is a nightmare in that area. I’m not sure if it’s a Sunday thing or an all the time thing. I would recommend parking a bit further and walking over. The time it’ll take you to walk over will be shorter than the time you’ll spend circling...

Sorry but, I have no idea IF "El Artesano" (4101 Bergenline Avenue in Union City), with 2,006 Google reviews and a rating of 4.4 (as of the time of this writing) is the same restaurant I went to this past Friday, April 7, 2023, hoping for a Good Friday's Bacalao Guisado dinner. What a disappointment! Upon setting foot in the restaurant, we spotted a 3-person party, one of whom was having Bacalao and just the appearance of the dish (chunks of dark-looking thin fish, swimming in a red broth) made us change our minds instantly. For appetizers, we ordered FRITURAS DE BACALO, served almost ice-cold, slapped on a small paper plate, that were the size of a quarter coin, and had minimum bacalao flavor; and YUCA RELLENA, with very little Picadillo filling, that looked like a "nuked croqueta". We also ordered AJIACO, made with the wrong squash (calabaza) and other poor quality ingredients, that was so sweet and odd tasting, that it was impossible to eat. Ditto with a CALDO GALLEGO, kind of cold and with a rancid flavor. We had ordered 2 Cuban Sandwiches as well but, given the negative experience with the apetizers and the soups, we opted for cancelling and settling the check. The 4 mentioned items set us back $20, which is quite expensive, considering we left the soups intact. NOTHING, and I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, that we tasted WAS REALLY CUBAN. I wish I could say otherwise but, everything we had was awful. We left "El Artesano" in complete disappointment and will not recommend...

I traveled approximately three (3) hours to eat cuban food at this restaurant and I had the worst experience with Cuban food at this restaurant. I purchased 4 Cuban sandwiches and 4 steak sandwiches, coquettes, churros, and pork platter to bring home to my family. Because I craved authentic Cuban food. I was incredibly disappointed. The food was tasteless, not cooked fresh, and seemed like old leftovers from three days ago the bread was awful and it tasted like it was over two days old The only item remotely fresh was the plantains. I was halfway home before I tasted the coquettes they were old, tasteless and you can’t imagine how the rest of the food tasted after I got home. I will never buy food or visit this restaurant again. You watch the interview of these two Cuban brothers and how they seem to continue Cuban tradition and you want support them except you are extremely disappointed with the lack of quality of food. The order was expensive only to have wasted my money and throw the entire purchase in the garbage because it was not edible. This place desperately needs a new cook and the brothers should pay more attention to the quality of food that is being served. I would recommend anyone who is interested in eating at this restaurant avoid it and don’t waste your money. This is not authentic and fresh...