Memo’s Restaurant & Bakery

The goal was to grab Colombian food for my family. Here’s how it went:
The pros: meat in the bandeja paisa was well-​seasoned, rice was fine
The cons:
Food felt reheated, cold. Ever have cold fried egg? The arepa was old to the point it felt like biting into rubber. This was surprising as we waited quite a while for the take out order.
Apparently, if you pay with credit card, you are overcharged. I find this incredibly dishonest and the sole reason I am taking the time to write this review.
The meal subtotal was $ 44. The man showed me my bill, I handed him my card. He muttered, ok, $ 46 then. (What? Ok…). After 5 minutes of struggling with their CC machine, he scrambles over and hands me a receipt for ~$ 49.
$ 5 discrepancy. I asked for an explanation. With a smile, he claims he would have charged me less if I had paid with cash. He said the remainder was sales tax. Wrong. If it were sales tax (rate of 6.35 for CT), it would have still been less than the amount charged. Instead, they charge you a merchant’s fee. This is common practice in some more «urban» areas, but COME ON… really?
Consider it a donation to the business.
Some tips to future patrons: pay with cash, check food for warmth and freshness, doublecheck amount you will be charged prior to handing over your plastic.
Tips for the business: be open, be honest. If you feel the pinch to tack on merchant fees, post this publicly so customers are aware.

The food is good and inexpensive. However, it’s very greasy. Take out is wrapped in paper and put into a paper bag. By the time you’re ready to eat, the grease has soaked the bag.

Fantastic place! I drive 20 minutes about twice a month just to eat here. I’ve been here over a dozen times and I can honestly say I’ve never had a bad meal here. Great portion sizes and great prices. Wish there was one where I lived. CASH ONLY!!!

Great place. Wide variety of choices service is always on. Although Colombian food is not on the top of my list nor an expert on this place is fabuolous

This is one of my go to places when I’m in the mood for latin style soups. Every day is dedicated to a different soup. The only one that I did not enjoy was thier fish soup, which is made with cod and was very salty. If your only interested in the soup, make sure to let them know because their version of a standard order includes a large portion of white rice. I usually opt out for the rice.
On display, they offer a variety of empanadas, pork, blood sausage, yuca etc. The emanadas are very small and not too flavorful. I’ve tried the chicken and beef. The pork was so so. I have found that they sit in the display case for quite sime time. I’ve even seen them microwave them prior to serving. Heat lamps usually work well.
Their grilled chicken is juicy and tasty. When you order the meal, you get a plate full of carbs… white rice and soggy french fries. As a bonus you’ll get a piece of sweet spanish banana and a white disk. I’m still trying to figure out the nutritional value and purpose of this no flavor having thing they put with their meals. It has absolutly NO flavor. I’m told its made from white cornmeal. On one order, I was asked if I wanted some, which I quickly replied «NO, I don’t like those.» It was as if I said «BOMB.» Long story short, I took the no flavor having disk as to not offend. One day I’ll figure out what to do with that thing, other than spit it out of my mouth.
Nice seating area inside. It’s far from fancy, but nice enough to enjoy a meal while watching soccer. If your in the mood for a Columbian food eXperience… stop by and give a try.

Unless you speak Spanish, good luck.
I speak & understand enough to get by but attempting to understand culinary terms, beside the obvious ones, make ordering cumbersome & eventually frustrating as zero of the servers (4 on @ a time) spoke a stitch of English.
As for the food? It’s just OK. Almost everything is deep fried. I had the arroz con pollo… mushy rice w frozen peas & cubed carrots w shredded chicken all bathed in a tomato-​y sauce. Not anything reminiscent of the delicious arroz con pollo I’ve had in many Spanish speaking cultural restaurants. But to be fair Colombian isn’t my favorite as far as Latino style food goes anyway.
Service was slow but friendly.
Portions are large & the price point low.

I was put in a very dangerous situation earlier today because of the Owner of this establishment. The owner was in his delivery van earlier today, and not only was I cut off for no apparent reason, I was braked checked 3 times. It wasn’t until I took the next exit to avoid further confrontation was I left alone. Full story below
I merged onto the left lane on the i95 heading north. This van was about 25ft away from me at the time of my merge. He proceeds to speed up and go right up my bumper. There was no reason for this as we were in rush hour traffic at 8am in the morning. If I had moved over he still had a plethora of cars ahead of him. Then in a shocking move the Owner of this establishment goes to pass me on my right, which is all fine and dandy in my opinion, only he doesn’t try to pass me, he merges onto me and forces me into the shoulder. If I had not moved half of my car would have been scratched and dented. Mind you he’s driving a Memo’s delivery van and I’m in a small Honda. After I avoided his attempt to squash me, he proceeded to brake check me over 3 times. I merged onto the middle lane trying to avoid it but he followed and continued his childish assault. I had to take my phone out of my pocket and pretend to video tape him in order for him to calm down. Even then he was shouting and yelling and making moves to intimidate me. I decided to take the next exit and let him go on his merry way.
It was bloody ridiculous. An owner of the establishment acting like this on the road while driving his company car. I would not support a person like this, and you shouldn’t either.
Cheers,
LN

The food isn’t what you’d expect. It’s a bunch of small items that are under the heating pads and they sometimes microwave things for you when you order. The food itself is amazingly good considering the price and the fact that it’s been sitting out. Their chimichurri sauce is also great and on all of the tables. It’s something great to have for breakfast or just to stop in really quick for a small bite. The only problem is they close at 8 and sometimes you really crave Memo’s late at night.

Memos; another spot im gunna box up and ship to San Diego! I think the whole restaurant should fit in one of those flat rate boxes…
Arroz con Pollo with some plantains, and an Arepa con Queso?! Itsa wrap! Ya gotta check out Memos for that official Colombian! Its in the same spot that La Orquidea used to be in, im not sure if its same owners, new name, or if its new heads runnin the show all around.
This is a «must hit» again before i make moves up outta here! No question!
The bakeries got some ridiculousness as well, dont sleep!
Note: CASH ONLY!

My favorite Colombian restaurant in the area. Beats La Sopresa. The platos tipicos (typical dishes) are great and my favorites:
Bandeja paisa (country platter), $ 10 — thin pieces of grilled steak, pork chicharron, an arepa, rice and beans, topped with a fried egg. A very filling meal, probably enough to be shared between two people.
Carne Guisada, $ 11 — stewed beef served with potato, fried yuca, sweet plantains and rice. The huge chunks of tender beef with perfectly cooked potatoes were a hit and took me right into comfort land.
Cerdo saltado — fried pork with fries and rice is also a great choice