El Fogón Dominican Restaurant

We love El Fogon! The food is delicious. Even on the small plate the portions are huge. We always order from the menu but our server lets us know what is just coming out of the oven so we usually change our order to get the freshest dishes straight from the oven. The shakes/​smoothies are amazing and come in flavors that you just don’t find at other local restaurants. The family combos are the best deal going…$ 25 with drinks and sides. Beats KFC bucket at $ 45 all day long!!! I have never waited more than 15 minutes for a full meal. You have to tried the fried Plantains… the beef stew… the beans and rice… the sancocho… heck try it all. Dominican comfort food at its best!!! We will be loyal customers. Can’t get enough!

We went today to try out this new place. We sat down at 1:00, and ordered off the daily menu small plates that run around $ 8. This place has most plates around the $ 15 and up mark, which tells me this hole in the wall will price themselves out of existence.
I ordered the Pernil and my wife a «steak with sauce» dish as the server said there were limited options on the menu. We waited over 45 minutes for something that is usually prepared ahead of time and ready to serve. Literally two other groups were sat, ordered, served, and left before we even had our food!
They didn’t have the usual side dishes to go with the meals ready yet (at 1:00?), so we asked for tostones instead. I received my Pernil 10 minutes ahead of my wife, and it was cold along with the tostones. Since it was now close to 2:00, I decided to just eat and get out of there. My wife’s food was just a milanesa thin cut steak with mojo, nothing like what was described by the server.
We asked for the check to leave, and after 15 minutes I decided to just hand over the credit card to get out the door. The server came back, she charged us $ 14 a plate for the food when the menu clearly stated $ 8!!! She disappeared into the back, I left in disgust, and will let my credit card company take care of the dispute. Worst experience in a long time.

If you are looking for authentic caribean food with that home made taste, then this the place to be. With a varied menu for every day of the week, and featuring those antojitos dominicanos that will transport you back home. The best sancocho and rice and beans and roasted pork. Yum thanks God the fogón finally brought decent eating to Gastonia.