La Churreria

The food was excellent. I had mofongo with fried pork. I also ordered fried Yuka. My friend ordered lechón with onions and side maduros. Everything was delicious must try if you're in this area.

I grew up in this restaurant. I'll always remember a billion mirrors lining every inch of the place. It's unique in that aspect because I don't recall going to any other location with that setup. That's what stood out to me as a kid. My father always brought my family there for dinners & I'd make funny faces into the mirror until someone would smack me. Regardless, this was always my go to restaurant once I became an adult. My brother & I would casually mention it & immediately think, yep! We barely even had to discuss it. As soon as the thought came up, we were there. That's how insanely good the food was. Just the idea had us salivating for Churrasco. No, not the baby ones either, we were full throttle, give us everything you got! So this was our spot. Whether it was a quick steak sandwich, espressos during lunch time, or a full on churrasco extravaganza, we never passed up the opportunity. We even mentioned this restaurant to friends as being the best, not just in Union City, but all of the tri-state area! I even had one friend of Puerto Rican decent who described it as the most authentic Cuban food you can find. My friend expanded on his appreciation. He explained that truly authentic Cuban food doesn't rely on fancy décor or chic waiters. A genuine Cuban restaurant is essentially an extension of the owner. It's essentially a mom & pop. You go there for the food & you leave having experienced it for all that it is. It was no surprise to me that my younger sister wanted to go there. She explained to my mother that La Churreria was her preference as she too loved the restaurant & that she'd be happy to spend her birthday there. We made sure to bring my entire family. We had a lot of first timers! Unfortunately, things started to look bad from the start. The mirrors were still there, my nephew had a blast with the weird faces. Yet, no one was paying attention to him to warrant a smack because the restaurant was almost entirely empty. To expand on that, as empty as it was, it took about 15 minutes to use a restroom. In their defense, it's a smaller restaurant. So you can't fault someone taking their time in the bathroom. I just found it very odd that a waitress came over to knock on the bathroom to rush the person out. It appeared to me that the older gentleman was bathing in the sink. I guess you do what you have to do but that isn't something you look for in a restaurant experience. When he exited the bathroom he continued to linger & comb his beard outside. He said with an accent I couldn't pick up, "You go ahead, it's free." No thanks. Afterwards, the food came out. Unfortunately, the food was nothing like I remembered it. I sat there with my family simply going through the motions. Not a single one of us had that look of enjoyment you'd expect to see at your favorite spot. Something changed in this restaurant & it was obvious. I would give 3 stars if it were just for the fact that the staff was friendly. I can't though, because during the middle of our full course meal, they started cleaning the two bathrooms. One man had plastic gloves on & I could see him pouring detergent/bleach. They kept the door open & it got to the point that my elderly grandma called the waitress over to politely berate how inappropriate as well as unhygienic this whole ordeal was. She demanded that they at least close the door, which they did, but she just shook her head in disappointment. My grandma & mother explained that they knew the owners. It's my understanding that the husband passed away & for that I give my condolences. I was told that the wife is now solely in charge & at her age it's clear that she may be struggling. So it's truly unfortunate that a place like La Churreria could experience such a drastic drop in both quality & professionalism. I came back there expecting brilliance & left embarrassed after speaking so highly of it. I will always remember that wonderful place that was like a wall of mirrors, but it seems like all good things must come to an end.

Food it's just ok, prices are decent, I ordered the tamal cubano a cuban sandwich and soup, definitely not the best cuban restaurant, plenty of other places around the area that are much better. Parking: Parking it's hard to find, drive around a couple of times.

Pollo la parilla the best