El Chevere

«El Chevere» used to be a staple of the «pollo a la brasa» and known for their rachi and pancita. This was one of the worst experiences I have had. Being Peruvian I appreciate authenticity. This place lacked flavor and freshness.
The chicken was dry and the only ok part was the skin. The Chaufa was edible and shared by my part of 4. The lomo salt as was dry, flavorless, and chewy (old). My mother got the «pescado encebollado» which had a thick sauce overloaded with flour. The fish was breaded and bland, no idea what they were thinking.
Chevere please FIRE your cook. What a disgrace to the brand smh!!!

We went here the other night and had pollo saltado, vegetable chaufa and the rotisserie chicken. The chicken in the saltado was so chewy and dry that i couldn’t eat it. The chaufa was good but very oily. The rotisserie chicken was dry and tasted like it had been sitting out all day. We have been here many times and it seems everytime we go back that the quality of the food keeps going down. We won’t be going back here again. The waiters are very rude and don’t have any manners, once they take your order you don’t see them again until they drop your food off. There is always a homeless person at the entrance as well and the manger allows him to harass customers as they come and go. If you want authentic Peruvian food, i suggest you go elsewhere.

I only get the rotisserie chicken here for lunch. It’s usually cooked very nice, but sometimesit can be a bit dry. Overall the chicken is very flavorful. I usually get the chicken with a side of tostones or maduros, both are delicious.
The thing that sets this place apart are the baked empanadas. Every time I go, I make sure to get an empanada and some green sauce that usually comes with it. They’re fantastic.
Great spot for lunch!

Got takeout from here last week! A friend recommended the place so I thought I’d try it out.
I got pasta & steak /​/​my other half got chicken & rice. He loved the chicken it’s a week later & he’s still talking about it. My steak wasn’t seasoned & the pasta tasted better when I put the green sauce on it (I loved that green sauce!!)

Authentic Peruvian food. My judgement is set when I have the aji peruvian green sauce. Does it have all the flavors — yes! Does it have a nice spicy kick to it — YES (could be more but it’s there!). The chicken was delicious. The plantains were okay not great. Little difficulty with communication, the lady kept speaking to me in Spanish when I clearly kept giving her answers in English or saying what? I mean, I don’t mean short words, full sentences so fast that I cannot even pick up any words. I felt like an idiot ok! Anyways, regardless of that, she was sweet and made me a killer latte! 2 meals to go + latte = $ 12 and change. I mean… amazingggggg. Go here go here! Oh and we took the food to go, but could definitely sit here, so clean… cute set up– plenty of seats!

The food is decent but the prices have gone too high. They give you a good amount, but the quality of the food is just not worth the price. There are far better Peruvian restaurants worth your buck. The location is also crap, you have people loitering constantly outside the place. No reason to come back.

I wish i could give this place more then 1 star but unfortunately i cant. This place has fallen out in recent years.
Stopped by recently to grab some pollo a la brasa, the chicken was bland and dry. The green sauce was watery and also bland. The table we were placed in was clean but the wall next to it was dirty and brown. The service was mediocre at best. Come here if absolutely have to.

On my way to visit family, my fiancé and I stopped to eat here. We went inside and the place looked open from the outside, but when we went inside we were told to go into the dining room only to sit and be told to hurry up in Spanish because they were about to close. Well we had just come from NYC, and we were tired this really wasn’t the way we wanted to be greeted. We ordered quickly, picking the simplest thing we could find. Then I asked the bus boy/​server for hot sauce and I received a face of unhappiness that made me feel uncomfortable. Do I really need to be made to feel as if I’m bothering when I’m spending «my money»? I don’t think so. The last thing was that they put all the chairs up while we were eating, well I was done. Never going back. Food was also not that great, presentation was horrible. If you run a restaurant, you should care about your customer and how they feel at your location because they do have a choice.

The food here is great! It’s Peruvian food and it’s absolutely the best I’ve had. Stop by for an affordable meal. You won’t regret it at all!

This would be my 2^nd time here, just as good as the first time! Food was great and service was just as great! If your in the mood for some great Spanish food, this is the place to go!

Came here on a Friday for dinner. Their green sauce is soo good, I’m still trying to figure out what they put in there. There’s about 3 or 4 chevere’s in Passaic and they’re all good.
Every meal they serve comes with a mini salad. I got the quarter chicken with tostones & yuca… Sooooo good. Can’t go wrong with fresh & decently priced Peruvian food.

Best prices for lunch! They have set menus everyday of the week from 12−3pm that is $ 7.50 for a soup or salad, an entrée and a drink. How can you go wrong with the deal! I have come here a million times especially for the chicken it is the best! Oh and the Lomo Saltado too definitely can’t forget about that. Will continue to come back for a long time!

Excellent rotisserie chicken, best I have had in the area. The dark meat in particular. It takes about 20 minutes to prep, so call ahead. I would also recommend the yucca. Street parking seems generally available. Very excited to come back and try some of the seafood dishes, which many people were eating and looked STELLAR.

The best food and deals you would ever have in passaic. The best Mexican food and roast meats and I love the pork chops here. Dessert are awesome and the meal deal can feed like 4 people for 20 dollars or less. Great food

The Wife is a big fan of Peruvian food, ceviche is her weakness, she also loves the Arroz Chaufa w/​seafood (basically seafood fried rice).
We were disappointed when we came to El Chevere for lunch and they did not have ceviche. My Wife ordered her usual, Chaufa, i ordered a fried fish platter which was huge and full of various seafood and fried Yuca.
Overall we enjoyed everything, bathroom was pretty nasty, place could have been a little cleaner.

Definitely one of the best in Passaic … Never dissapointed by their lomo … Service is a hit or miss sometimes.

Fantastic place. Food is always top notch. So good!

I love to come here and gorge on the chaufa de pollo and fill my belly with inca kola!

Delicious and reasonably priced. Order bistec a lo pobre.

Omg, omg, omg!!! Everything is great and they give you so much food for your money. You have to try this place!!! You will leave happy and full!

Today I looked at myself in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself. I’ve turned into a real pig now! Arrrrgh!!! It was like a Kafka-​esque nightmare turned reality… and I wish it was a dream! Mamma mia!!! While in Thailand last week I gained 3kg just in 1 week, and I still haven’t lost a single kg from my 3 week trip in Europe last summer in which I gained 4kg doing lots of pastry shop-​hopping. In Vienna alone, I had 9 different cakes in 1 day from my hotel cake buffet, Café Sacher and Demel just to give you an idea of how out of control I can get. I was blessed with a fast metabolism in my youth that I thought I can stay skinny eating whatever I want as much as I want. In 10 years I’ve gained 15kg! I’m really feeling my age now!!! Yikes!!!
This is supposed to be a food review and why am I writing all this? Because, guess what? I finally decided to go on a diet! That’s right, for real this time! Sooo, what does any Unilocaler do before they go on a diet? PIG OUT!!! Hehehe!!! So when my friends invited me for lunch at El Chevere today, my immediate reply was «HELL YES!» LOL! Until I reach my goal weight I will disappear from Unilocal for a while. So this is going to be a very special Unilocal review… siiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!
EL CHEVERE IS THE PLACE for really heavy rich Peruvian food with OUTRAGEOUS portion size. The portion size is ridiculous for the price, and that’s what I love about this place. Que chevereeeee!!! I’ve uploaded the picture of my Bistec a lo Pobre (big FRIED steak (not grilled, but FRIED) with 2 fried eggs on top of rice, french fries, and maduros) so that you can see how big it is. It can feed 2 people! And can you believe this is only $ 14 and it’s one of the most expensive meat dishes in El Chevere? Make sure you eat it with «aji», the green garlicky sauce on the table! Que rico!!! If you want something cheaper and filling, you can order their pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken), which only costs around $ 7 and super delish! And let me repeat again, make sure you eat this also with «aji», it makes it even tastier! My friend’s Lomo Saltado was huge and yummy, I loved the savory slices of onion, peppers, and tomatoes in it! And what’s Peruvian food without our favorite potato salad with rich creamy Huancayna sauce? Sometimes we crave for unsophisticated but undeniably delicious unhealthy food, and this is one of them. Que rico! Mmmmm! And although I was soooo stuffed, I couldn’t resist the dessert because I know I’m gonna be starving myself starting tomorrow. It’s amazing that I always manage to find a room for dessert no matter how much I eat, it never ceases to amaze my friends. I don’t even know what this dessert is called, but basically it’s a fried spring roll with sweet creamy cheese inside served with whipped cream and strawberry sauce. That alone probably must have been at least 500kcal. I was like, «Hey you guys, feel free to try some of my dessert because I don’t think I can finish it» but no one had any room in their stomachs to try it. So guess what? I finished it all! I can’t believe it! And now I’m feeling guilty for even ordering it! Arrrrgh!!! This is why I’m getting fat!!! I hate you El Chevere!!! But I still love youuuuu!!! Eres chévere que chévere que chévere guau guau!
I don’t know how, but I’m gonna try to seriously eat healthy from tomorrow. I’m famous for my «mañana diet», I guess I don’t have to explain because it speaks for itself. Although none of my friends take me seriously anymore, I hope some of you will support me! Cheers!