Mi Gente Cafe

This was my first time at Mi Gente and I was blown away by the food and the value. I got the small lunch special with pepper steak, arroz Moro, and yucca fries. The portions were huge I felt like I could’ve split a small with someone.
I tried my friend’s Maduros and definitely want that next time. They were perfectly sweet and tasted very fresh. We finished lunch with a cappuccino that was absolutely incredible. I feel like this is going to be my new spot for coffee rather than Dunkin or Starbucks

All around excellent in every aspect, I’ve been here many, many times and it’s great every single time. The staff is super friendly, the food couldn’t be better!

I love this place. I used to eat there all the time. When I worked nearby I ate a lot of it. It’s so delicious and reasonably priced. Can’t eat it too often. I think the fat from it hurt my stomach sometimes. It’s sooo good though. The beef stew is awesome and I love the pork but it’s kind of salty. I like the empanadas but you have to get them early in the day when they’re fresh. The guy who serves you (or John Leguizamo as we refer to him) is great.

yum. everything is yum.

Delious delicous delicous. They do need to switch up the menu more often but I guess why ruin a good thing?

The family and I got stuck in a downtown Newark hotel due to a plane failure. It was lunch time and we wanted to try a local joint instead of eating in the hotel restaurant. I came across this place in Unilocal with mixed reviews. So, we had to try. We were glad we did. We ordered lechon with rice and streamed vegetables for $ 6. The second plate was a grounded beef /​plantain casserole with rice and streamed vegetables. Again, it was only $ 6. We loved the proteins. The lechon tasted porky with crispy skin. It was seasoned perfectly. The casserole was unusual. We never thought beef cooked with plantain would worked, but it did! The vegetables were plain but it complimented perfectly with the highly seasoned casserole and fatty pork. The rice was rice, good tasting carb that worked well with the Cuban foods. The service was A plus. The young server was very friendly and offered to let me try all the items on the streamed tables. The only negative was the place was small. There were only about 4 tables. If We ever get stuck in Newark again, we are coming back.

I been to this place many times but I’ve been holding off to review it because the food can be hit or miss. On its day though, the food is easily five-​stars. ANY of the dishes are really good (the ropa vieja, pepper steak and shredded pork are probably the best). Not only are the meats good, but the variety of rices available are amongst in best in a place like this. Unfortunately, that’s only on a good day.
Other days, the food is just slightly better than average (3 stars). I think it has to do with time of the day. The later you come, the longer the food has been sitting out.
All-​in-​all, if you’re coming here make sure you come before 2:00PM on a weekday, when there is a lunch crowd so the food is fresh (be prepared to wait in line!).
PS: The garlic sauce is ALWAYS good, get as much as you can every time!

The young guy who serves the food doesn’t give you much to fill your appetite. Cheaps out.
My entrée had twos small pieces of chicken and three small potatoes

Too expensive for the portion of food, taste and quality are not that bad for colombians cooking cuban food.

Great food and friendly staff! Everything tastes great, but make sure to get there before noon so ur food is the freshest!

The food is excellent, but go around 10:30 — 11:00 before the lunch rush gets there! I usually go early and grab my stuff to go, as it gets way to crowded to eat in peace. The cook and staff are super nice, especially with them having to explain everything in English to me. I love the beef stew and the fish soup (try it before deciding you don’t like it, as I was told lol). As for the crowd itself, they can be a bit rude and obnoxious, that’s why I go before the crowd gets there. Their coffees and lattes are pretty good too!

Wow! Mouthwatering and low cost lunches. This place gets 5 starts for their prompt service and delicious food. Most of the food is ready to go, there’s more than enough staff ready to serve. No cash on you?! No worries this place accepts debit/​credit cards with a minimum of 3 dollars. The place is small and you might not be able to sit and eat your food there but one can definitely get lucky. Either way this is not a reason to prevent anyone from trying this place. Buen probecho!!!

This is Newark hole-​in-​the-​wall 5-​stars, not fine-​dining-​in-​a-​major-​metropolis 5-​stars, but it’s still darn good. I’m a huge fan of central American food and this is on point.
Food: The food is fresh, consistent, and cooked with love. If you have food allergies or restrictions, you’ll find something that suits your needs or palate. (…As long as you aren’t restricting salt.) Seriously, even their grilled chicken salad is darn impressive, but I prefer the stewed dishes and pastelon.
A few people have told me they don’t go here regularly because it’s food like their mom makes. If my mother cooked like this, I’d be 500 pounds of awesome. It’s home cooking, but it’s superlative home cooking.
Service: Everyone who works here is really friendly and efficient. I’ve worked in food service and have to admire how organized and calm they are during the lunch rush. I’ve seen them fall into the weeds a few times, but overall they are really quick. Everyone is bilingual to some degree.
Prices: Can’t be beat. For $ 6.50 you get two satisfying meals. The $ 6.50 «large» size is actually enormous. Plus, this is filling fare, especially if you intend on committing carbicide.
Catering, delivery, ambiance: I’ve eaten in-​store, catering, takeout, and delivery. The shop is small, but pleasant and decidedly un-​Newark. It feels communal and safe, which is too rare in this war zone of a city. Delivery takes some time during the lunch rush, but nothing crazy. Their catering is just as good — or better — than normal dishes. (Meanwhile, I’ve had catering from nearby La Cocina and it’s so bland and soggy that I’ll never eat there.)
Mi Gente all the way!

A few tips for any new-​goers to Mi Gente:
1. It’s not a place you trek from another state/​city to. It’s delicious but it’s more of a lunch/​breakfast joint for locals. Go if it’s convenient, otherwise you’ll be kicking yourself if you spent an hour getting here and realizing that it’s not what you expected.
2. Try not to order the grilled chicken your first time. Instead, try their chicken stew, or even their baked chicken. Ropa vieja is a must if it’s available.
3. Their cappuccinos are a bargain and DELICIOUS.
4. There are long lines during the lunch rush-​hour but it goes very quickly. (10 minutes max).
5. Their tostones aren’t the best but the maduros are on point. Can’t go wrong with red or beans either.
6. Chicken empanadas are way better than the beef.
I’ve been a patron here for almost 4 years and the staff is super friendly and the food is consistently good. You end up smelling like food when you leave but it’s a small price to pay for a cheap/​yummy lunch in Newark.
Oh, and here’s the typical ordering process:
Choose your meal size (extra small, small, or large). I personally choose the small one, the larges are the size of a typical chinese food styrofoam containers. The smalls are slightly … smaller.
Choose main entrée (I recommend any of the stews, pepper steak, tilapia, or ropa vieja)
Choose 2 sides. Any will do. They’re all quite good.
They also have salad, chopped fruit in the fridge, and flan! Awesome flan by the way. Well worth the money.

My days working in Newark are swiftly drawing to an end. I am so excited to move on to a position in Jersey City (!), but will really miss this place.
While it is true that there aren’t a ton of places in this part of Newark to grab lunch, there are enough choices to make the lines coming out of Mi Gente impressive. People clearly come here over other choices in the neighborhood. What draws people here from other places is simple: fresh, delicious, and crazy cheap food.
If the ropa vieja is available that day, I order it without question. Topped with a couple little plastic ramekins of their hot sauce, and it’s a just about perfect lunch. The black rice and maduros are great accompaniments. I always order a small, and generally have a few bites left over.
Don’t let the line deter you; you will be in and out quickly. And whatever wait you do encounter is worth it. Going to Mi Gente makes my day. I’ll be sad to leave them behind.

One of my favorite restaurants in the area ! My favorite meal is the baked chicken with black beans and rice with steamed veggies!

I love the prices, but the food left much to be desired. Maybe I went on a bad day or tried the wrong thing…
The Rundown:
–Filling
–Insanely Cheap
–Big Portions
–Fast Casual
–Grilled Chicken: Thin, Dry and Hard To Chew
–Popular With The Locals
–Flavorless, Dry Yellow Rice. I Added A Ton of Hot Sauce For Flavor/​Spice
–Absolutely Perfect Sweet Plantains– Nummy Nummy NOM
–Friendly Personable Staff
I really want to fall in love with this place, but I thought the food was mediocre at best. I think Mi Gente Café is worth going to, but don’t go out of your way to eat here. Based on my fellow Unilocaler’s reviews, I plan to come back and try something else sometime in the future.

Don’t order delivery from them!
They said it would take 15 – 20 minutes for delivery and after an hour had passed I called and they said they were on their way. 30 minutes later, I called again and said the guy came back because he couldnt find it. my office is 2 blocks down the same street and I had given directions and my phone number, just in case!
Thanks to Mi Gente, I never got to have lunch =(
Really would have loved to taste their food as the reviews are very good.

When a top secret work operation took me to Newark I found myself gubbbbbin at Mi Gente.
Its a little authentic place with amazing food. We arrived around 11:50 at 12:05 the line was out the door and down the street. Lunch rush fo sho.
Lunch for 4 peeps for 40 bucks. They have a bathroom in the back thru the kitchen that they let me use. How nice nice it was pretty legit to and I got to see the operation in the kitchen, Bonus!

Came here for lunch, waited on a line of about 15 people out the door, most being regulars, which is always a good sign.
People come for the lunch special, a choice of 1 main (about 10 different meats), 2 sides (various rices, beans, and sides) for about $ 8 with tax.
I ordered the red beans, maduros & the pastelon (south american lasagna).
Everything was delicious, I wouldn’t have gotten the pastelon if i knew it had even more plantains in it. I know for next time. The red beans were perfectly salty and tender; maduros sweet and not greasy; the pastelon was cheesy and meaty, but i would have preferred ropa vieja or something just meat.
The wait was about 20 minutes, which is not a problem of service quality, just the effect of serving good food.
I will be back and you should too!