El Nuevo Borinquen

This is my FIRST PICK whenever Im near Humboldt Park and get a craving for Puerto Rican food. I dont even have a favorite dish anymore since I’ve thoroughly enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve ever eaten. GOTTA TRY the steak Jibarito thoooo!!! Its always ON POINT!!! Their mofongo is another favorite of mine. Definitely giving them a BIG THUMBS UP!!! I’ve been coming here for a very long time and will continue to do so every chance I get.

This was the first Puerto Rican restaurant that I have tried and I was impressed. I had my first steak jibarito (with arroz con gandules) from this restaurant and it was delicious.

My wife and I stopped in this gem after walking the 606. Fantastic surprise!!! The staff is super nice and was willing to field our questions about the menu. The food was great– their specialty are definitely Jibaritos. We both loved them and I would say it’s almost necessary that this is what you order.
Additionally we can recommend the Alcapurrias and the empanada de carne. Both delicious!
Summary: Very nice staff, fantastic food, well priced.

It was nasty. If you don’t know how Authentic Puerto Rican food is supposed to taste then it’s for you. I’ll just stick with my grandmas Puerto Rican cooking.

I stopped in for lunch with my uncle. We had the sopa de salchicion and it was good. Also had tostones con mojo. Fresh and flavorful.
The waitress was nice and timely with our meal.
Music could be lowered a bite.
Other than that, I was very pleased with the food, service and prices.

By far the best steak jibirito I have ever had. Super flavorful and good portions at a very reasonable price. Probably one of the top 5 sandwiches in the city!

Been here a couple of times, keep going back can’t get enough of the Mofongo, this is green plantain smash with butter and garlic, absolutely delicious and u can stuff it with shrimp or buttered chicken, the best. Highly recommend, and for dessert, OMG coconut Flans, best of the best.

My husband and I wanted try this restaurant with the new management we will never go again. The steak Jibaritos had no flavor the rice con gandules had no flavor. My pork chop meal was horrible I felt that they cooked the pork chop in bad oil. It was just bad we never go again .my pork chop tasted like Cod fish just bad. Then to top it off the bill was over $ 40.00 it was just two dinners I felt that they jacked up the price to get more money out of us. Never again!!! Oh and the tostones were really bad greasy and thin just bad. Just not a happy customer

Came in months ago with co-​workers being that it is under new management. We had to take our meals to go because we sat seated nearly the whole hour of our lunch time with no food placed on the table. We went ahead and paid for take out at the register and still had to wait to leave out the door.
Today five of us coworkers returned (ordering ahead on the phone) and received our plates timely. We were told by the waitress who was nice we could pay separately while dining in. When it comes time to pay the bitchy cashier/​cook/​maybe management refuses to ring us up separately. After I offered to pay the bill on behalf of all of us (I know where everyone works) I realized we are charged a gratuity which we were gracious to already leave on the table in cash.
Normally I would of returned to receive my cash back but this refusal to work with the customer was not the waitresses fault. We liked her. Some of us wanted to tip better individually with our separate payments. She would have earned more.
Customer service such as this caused less money in tips to the waitress and five less patrons of business due to being so damn greedy. We will also spread the information to the other staff of a large building.
Looking forward to the next new management staff… scratch that… next new establishment period in due time. It will happen, I’m sure of it!

Same old place with just a new sign. Walked in and out of the restaurant after 10 minutes. The 4 dirty tables with the tip from the previous patrons gave it away.
Sat at a table for 10 minutes and no one even acknowledged my presence. Restaurant wasn’t even busy.
I stopped coming to this place 5 years ago and it took 5 minutes to remind me why I stopped patronizing this dump.

First time I’ve had mofongo since being in Puerto Rico. Was everything I wanted it to be!

I love the food here people are really nice too you I’ll come back again. ill tell my friends about this place too order for there party’s

Really good ! I had veggie jibarito (sorry if the spelling is wrong) it’s sooooo good! Highly recommend this place !

The food was great. Our server and everyone was really nice and friendly. I loved their empanadillas and tostones. Wish I lived in Chicago, Take me back!

The previous owners of this place had seem to let it go. I went back and gave it a try. the staff was extremely helpful got my food in a flash and it was very good.

El Nuevo Borinquen is nothing like the old Borinquen. The food is so tasteless. The rice is hard, Jobaritos only came with one thin slice of steak and no flavor, the caldo de pollo con Mofongo needed some more sazón and adobo. I also ordered some alcapurrias that had no taste and one of them had a big hole in the middle where all the meat must off fallen out when frying it. The hole was filled with oil and they had the nerve to serve it like that. NOT EVER GOING BACK!

Waited approximately 2 minutes to be greeted. Hostess for carry out was vey rude care free charismatic. Did not even get the correct order. Had to close my business again in order to get the order corrected. No apology by hostess or anyone in regards to the issue. She’s to busy singing and dancing instead of attending to the customers who pay her salary. The male here who appears to be the «manager» also made no attempt to correct the issue. The kitchen area is not the cleanest either. City of Chicago should have never issued them a business license.

I don’t think there’s such a thing as a bad jibarito. None that I’ve experienced. However this one was not bad, just a bit plain. I was missing a garlic taste or more seasonings on my chicken one. I enjoyed the rice and beans that came with as a side.

Quality does not match the cost. The rice had a funny taste and the rellenos de papa look like fried chicken, not the smooth texture you expect. The steak jibarito was average but I’ve had better. The alcapurrias are actually good, probably the best part of what I ordered. This wouldn’t be the first place I’d go to for Puerto Rican food in Chicago.

The food here isn’t the greatest. I don’t think I would return. It’s a decently sized restaurant too and they were decently busy.
Our server seemed very lazy. Gave us a pitcher of water and didn’t even pour us the water. How lazy can you be?
I give them an extra star (or else it would only be 2) because we left valuable photos there. It was a fat photo album and they wrapped it in a bag for us to come back and pick it up. I’m just really grateful that they cared a little to not throw it out.