Borinquen Restaurant

Steak? Check. Lettuce. Check. Tomatoes? Check. Cheese? Check. Bread… Nope. What?!! No bread. Instead substitute w/​fried plantains. Genius! There you have it the Jibarito. The taste is fantastic. It is worth the trip to come out there and get one.
They also make their own hot sauce. I’ve only had the red sauce, but it was so good I bought a bottle and brought it back to Cali with me. It didn’t last long.
If you’re ever in Chicago, getting the Jibarito is well worth searching for this spot.

After reading the reviews below — another reason why I stopped patronizing this and other PR restaurants in Chicago.
Why waste my money and pay for «at times» good food served on styrofoam plates? Is it the poor service? The rude employees?
No thank you, I’ll pass.

Will never go back to El Borinquén, bad customer service.
1. Warm water no ice
2. No salsa jíbara
3. No lechón
4. The waitress brought us an almost empty bottle of valentina hot sauce all grimy. GROSS!!!
5. She never came to check on us.
6. The jibarito and rice were barely warm.
7. I got up to get my own foam tray for leftovers.
She did not deserve a tip!!! She didn’t even say sorry for not having any of the above items.
I wouldn’t give it any stars, but wouldn’t let me post.

A local recommended this place & I am glad he did. The pork jibarito was delicious. I have never tried a sandwich like this before. Loved that they rubbed garlic mojo sauce on the tostones for more flavor.

I heard the steak jibarito they have here is pretty damn good… I can confirm that it is worth the $ 7 that it costs. One of the women that works there told me the pork jibarito is even better.
I also got the garlic shrimp which was comparable to the shrimp scampi @ Red Lobster.
The staff is really nice as they really take pride in their establishment. Strange setup for this place as you walk by the kitchen to go to the back of the place where the dining area is. The dining area has quite a few tables and the walls have paintings of jibaritos. Also, its byob so bring whatever beverage you like. Easy street parking as well.

I went to this place moths ago and the food was absolutely delicious… although i must say that service was SLOW.
But the reason why i’m rating it so low is that a friend posted a picture on FB showing an empanada with 2 screws in it! How does that happen?

I have never been to Humboldt Park before and I was super excited when I got to go here!
They invented a sandwich called the jibarito, which is basically a sandwich with lettuce, thinly sliced spiced beef, cheese, and onions, all put between two plantains. The plantain is hand mashed and double fried so that it is crisp and can hold everything together. One of the best parts of this sandwich was the little bit of garlic they put on the top to really get the flavors going. It was amazing and it came with Puerto Rican rice.
I also got a stuffed potato ball which is basically mashed potatoes with meet and cheese stuffed inside, and then deep fried. NOM NOM NOM, it went so well with hot sauce!
The only thing though, was that the service was so bad! We couldn’t get anyone’s attention and we ate for 2 hours. The restaurant wasn’t even that full yet! If they could better the service, this place would be awesome!

Worst customer service. EVER!
This is my first time coming to this particular restaurant at Borinquen Restaurant in Humbolt Park, IL. The day I went here was this past Sunday, for Pride Parade. A group of us wanted to eat RIcan food afterwards and definitely cool down from the heated sun burns we had onto our skin.
Anyhow, we walk in — the restaurant arrangement is weird.
There’s a cashier ahead but a kitchen to your right side when you walk in. It’s cool to see how they are preparing your food and stuff. They immediately asked us if we’re going to eat in or take out. We said we would like to eat in, then they mentioned just go in the back and someone will wait for you. Cool, right? Eh.
No one sat us down. We chose our own table.
No one checked on us… for like 10 minutes afterwards, until we asked for a waitress to serve us = ridiculous
I was checking out the place and see how they run… It’s completely cold and old. The vents looks horrible and uncleaned. There were spider webs in the ceiling (Mind you, this is the time spent that I personally spent looking at for the next 10 minutes, after the server asked for our drinks=20 minutes in), and prep station looks so uncleaned! They used their actual rolls in a plastic bins, which those plastic bins are suppose to use for office usage and to be honest I’m not sure if I saw soap next to their sinks!
ANYHOW.
25 minutes in…
The waitress who have took our drinks and food, have served other people’s food. Three families after us were served right away with full customer service. Unlike us, we weren’t checked on or anything. We felt discriminated because of what we were wearing.
There’s only two lesbian couples and two straight girls, trying to enjoy dinner before we all split our ways apart. One lesbian and the other straight girl, have been here before and loved the food.
I was wearing a lot of beans, rainbow arrangements on my outfit and wanted to support my gay community, but in the meanwhile we kept getting stared at and the waitress avoid eye contact with us. Never in my life, I’ve felt discriminated in a restaurant because what I was wearing. The customer service is too ridiculous and unpleasant feeling to be at.
After 30 minutes of no checking in with us, we left.
We left with pride and angry emotions because there is still discrimination in the world.
You guys at the Borinquen Restaurant needs to get it together.
You guys would have have gotten a huge tip from us, but you gave us the worst customer service ever!
I am never coming back here again. Like EVER!!!

The lechon jibarito (pulled pork plantain sandwich) is awesome. Sometimes I’ve found the jibarito to be greasier than other times, but the taste is always fantastic. They make their own hot sauce. I’ve tried their red and green hot sauces and both are great, though I prefer the red hot sauce.
The prices are good. The most expensive thing on the menu is $ 15, but the jibaritos with included Puerto Rican rice is about $ 8.
The place BYOB.
The ambiance is very casual. The décor isn’t fancy or hip. I cant comment to cultural authenticity since I haven’t been to Puerto Rico yet.
Good for groups for a casual dinner. Good for take out. Service is sincerely friendly.

Ok, so my husband and used to go here at least every weekend when we lived closer and it was always fantastic (my husband is Puerto Rican). Yes the atmosphere is kind of funny and the waitresses were never overly excited but you go for the food.
Anyway, so we went again last year for a take out order and the service was atrocious to say the least, the food was just ok, so since we hadn’t been in a while, we went in today for another take out order. OMG will NOT go back.
1. We ordered Relleno de Papa (meat filled fried potato) and it had absolutely no flavor AT ALL, not to mention, I found a hair in mine, EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!
2. The Bacalaito (fried cod fritter) was most definitely not fresh, tasted stale
3. You order your food, they tell you to wait at the other end and then they totally forget about you! You just basically stand there waiting for food that apparently you should get back there and cook yourself if you want it good, fresh and quickly.
To make matters completely worse, there is not ONE Puerto Rican cook behind the counter. If you want good, fresh Puerto Rican food find someplace else in the area.
Sadly this restaurant 2 years ago would have gotten at least 4 stars now, if I could give it 0 stars I would.

Cafeteria feel is still in effect.
The steak jibarito is still decently delicious, but… I think I remember it being better. It used to be an A and now maybe a B, B+ possibly.
Appetizers were meh. I don’t even remember what I got at this point but everything I tried was a D, C– at most.
Would I come back here? Probably. Not breaking the door down or anything but it is close to where I live.
PSthehotsauceisstillprettygood. That is all.

So dating a Puerto Rican, whose family lives in Humboldt Park you know I was forced to go here. At first I was like where the hell did they bring me?! They are trying to give me water in a damn Dixie cup! But after my steak jibarito came. I was almost more in love with the sandwich than my actual boyfriend!
(Yelp is saying this place is closed but I can’t imagine it is! I was just there a month ago.) This place is a hole is the wall. maybe even worse. But the food IS AMZAING! I order my steak jibarito with extra garlic (please don’t judge me and my garlic addiction, I’m middle eastern). I can honestly say I’m pretty well versed on ethnic foods and cultures. But for one of the first times in my life, I had an explosion of flavors I couldn’t quite understand how they worked so well. I’m also more of a fan of high dinning but I will always vote to go here over most places!
Lets break this down for you non Ricans. The jibarito has:
1)Steak — which I’m not a huge meat eater, you can also get other proteins
2)Mayo– which I HATE
3)Fried Plantains– this acts as your bread, nice and crunchy
4)Lettuce — …
4)Tomato– …
5)American Cheese — I was confused why just plain cheese at first
6)Garlic — the sandwich is topped with this amazing garlic mix that must be laced with crack because I order extra every time.
6 ingredients I would have NEVER ever put together but somehow is amazing! And especially from here, because at other places I have not liked it as much. The prices are so low and the other food I’ve tried is just as good! The only downfall. no matter what, my jibarito’s I try to make for my man are never as good :(
Now granted I’m not Puerto Rican, but have been eating home cooked Puerto Rican food for about three years now and to me, this place is spot on. Of course nothing beats homemade, but I will continue to drive out there for this place.

EVERY TIME I TRY THIS PLACE it’s one bad experience after another. I ordered my food at 3. They called me at 3:25 saying the food is ready but there’s an extra $ 2 for delivery based on my area. I told them I should’ve been notified from the beginning. These people DO NOT KNOW CUSTOMER SERVICE. So they say they will waive the fee. It is now…4:20 and I still have not received my food. It’s ridiculous. I called to ask about my delivery and I was told he left at 3:30 and had three deliveries. So… my food has just been sitting in a car for 50 minutes? Are you kidding me? So I ask well is my food going to be cold? She said for me to check the food and if it’s cold I can send it back… and i guess ultimately NOT EAT.
Un real.
Ps. It’s 4:23…and it’s still not here.
4:39 he just found the place. the girl that I just spoke to at Borinquen told me that IT WAS NOT HER PROBLEM!
WOULD NOT GIVE ME INFO ON MANAGER OR OWNER

Well. First I would like to say that my Puerto Rican Beef Stew had ZERO beef in it! There was 4 – 6 BIG BONES in it but ABSOLUTELY NO MEAT whatsoever! What a big big disappointment! The stew on the other hand tasted really well and spiced — I just wished there was ANY amount of meat in it.
The steak jabarito was alright. It was yummy right when it was made but when I heated the rest of it later to eat it — it was just eh.
The meat pie was okay. I’ve had better elsewhere. Maybe it was an off day? Maybe because I came in at noon and they aren’t use to cooking so early in the day? I don’t know… but it wasn’t what I was hoping for. I would have much rather went to Whole Foods and got some ready made food.
Whatever. You live, you eat, you learn.

Epic FAIL — Borinquen ruined Christmas!
My fiancée and I bought a Christmas tree and decided to pickup takeout from Borinquen on the way home. We called our order in and allotted 20 minutes before pulling up in front of the restaurant with the tree on top of the car. We were hoping for a quick in and out.
I checked in with cashier who said the pork mofongo wasn’t quite ready yet and I’d have to wait. And WAIT I did. After another 20 minutes had passed, I politely asked the takeout person how much longer they thought it would be? There was a bit of communication barrier and she gestured for my receipt — I showed it to her and she looked in some bags and yelled out to the cashier. My Spanish is nearly nonexistent but I’m pretty sure she said something to the effect of she didn’t see that order anywhere.
As I stood there waiting, I saw several people who walked in after me, place a takeout order on the spot and get their order before me and walk out. This was discouraging and it took another customer who asked me if I spoke Spanish (no) who let me know he basically heard the kitchen say that my order was never initially put in. No one from the restaurant communicated this to me. I was thankful there was a least a customer who cared enough to let me know.
So wait another 35 minutes I did. They substituted the takeout person out and the new guy took one look at my hungry face and asked what I was waiting on. I couldn’t help but laugh a little as I explained how I had been in their restaurant for nearly an hour for an order I had called in advance for. He tried his best to put everything together but they had no more potato balls ready and it would take another 15 minutes to fry up.
Any Christmas cheer I had from getting our tree was gone at that point and I told him to give me what he had ready. I appreciated the gesture of him adding something else to substitute for the potato balls but it was too little, too late.
Never again Borinquen.

This is Jibarito paradise! I had the steak and I believe my husband had the pork, they were totally amazing and absolutely delicious. It’s an odd sandwich because I am not used to fried plantain instead of bread but it was a great experience and we’ll be back… probably over and over…
The place is definitely a neighborhood hot spot with plenty of locals and very very casual. We weren’t worried about the neighborhood (like some of the reviewers indicate), The place is similar to a cafeteria feel but you have a server (and she was very nice). The food was amazing, we tried several dishes, one was like a plantain volcano filled with seafood, it was like nothing I’ve ever had before and was incredible. If you want authentic food at least try it, everyone there was friendly and the service was good, the food was great and the Jibarito… unbelievable…

Its not that the people weren’t friendly, they were just very busy. We didn’t have a menu so couldn’t call ahead but we wished we had! Over 30 mins wait for 2 sandwiches. It helps if you’re with someone who speaks Spanish too :)
I will say that this place is probably great for meat eaters. I had the veg jibarito which was lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayo w/​garlic on top. It was fine but, you know, lettuce and tomato. So I won’t be back b/​c its not for me but my boyfriend will! He was gaga for the pork jibarito. I am told that I should try the chicken soup. Maybe I’ll come back in the winter for that.

I went here about a month ago with my boyfriend. He ordered the pork sandwich and I got the steak and fried plantains.
He really enjoyed his, but mine was alright. It wasn’t anything standout, which was disappointing. There wasn’t much seasoning to the steak, so I used a lot of hot sauce.
The service was alright. We had to grab our own hot sauce from other dirty tables.

Although this spot is known for its Jibaritos, I always opt for the regular sandwiches. Ya see, the bread is always toasty and perfectly crunchy… and tastes so good no matter what type of meat you get. My favorite is always the lechon (roasted pork). It was very tender, flavorful and not at all greasy. Delicious. The sandwich comes with lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayo. Ask for it without the mayo… as it can get a little messy. The sandwiches (unlike the jibaritos) do not come with a side of rice. The arroz con gandules is soooooo goood here, so you might wanna order it on the side.
The meat patties (beef empanada-​esque) were beyond yummy… as were the rellanos de papa (beef stuffed potato). We really wanted to try the cod patties, but they were out. Sadness.
If you’re looking to dine in a hurry, try to get here during off-​peak hours. Service can get a little slow as the restaurant fills up. You might even consider ordering take-​out.
Credit cards accepted AND they happily charged 3 separate credit cards without grumbling. Much appreciated!

Thanks to WGN news for introducing me to the delight that is Puerto Rican cuisine! I picked up two steak jibaritos on my way home from a successful interview and it was the perfect way to celebrate. The plantain «bun» was a lot crispier than i had anticipated but this «sandwich» was ridiculously tasty. Next time I will be sure to ask for extra garlic — I’m Ukrainian so there is no such thing as «too much garlic»!
Fabulous!