“There is a lot of great Puerto Rican food in Vineland. Downtown was one of the top rated, and boy was it packed on a Sunday when I visited. Everyone is wearing masks and keeping safe and sanitary with COVID. They have tape marks on the floor, and customers were courteous to mind distance in line, etc. There were a lot of people stopping in for food at dinner time on a Sunday when I was there. They move the line somewhat quickly, but there was still a wait. Many people called ahead to order, but even those who did, ended up having to hang around a bit for their food. I was there over 20 minutes as a walk-in. The staff is friendly, but as others have mentioned, if you don't speak Spanish, there is a language barrier. I was there so long, though, that I observed that if they recognize you as a regular, they are more at ease about the language barrier because they memorize what their customers usually get, and it's easier to serve up what people want. So this tells me any complaints about language differences have more to do with the staff really wanting to please people, and just being nervous that they may not be able to get the order just as a customer wants it. For me, I have some Spanish skills, but I am not familiar enough with PR cuisine to know all these vocab words for food I can't even explain in English, so I didn't even try my Spanish until I got to the register, because I couldn't formulate a sentence around all the great looking foods to which I was totally ignorant. I always make fun of those laminated street sign menus that show pictures of food with prices... yeah, I understand why they make those. (They're still tacky though.) Anyway, I need to brush up on my PR food vocab, and maybe I'll get access to the delicacies they have to offer here! TIP: It definitely did help when I googled this place's FB photos and showed them what I wanted. They had big smiles of relief when they could know exactly what I wanted. They so want to please people here, you just have to calm down and be creative about communication. For my visit, they didn't have mofongo out in the case but when I asked for it, she made a special batch for me, which is totally a fifth star!!!! You pay at the front, and each takeout container is labeled so the cashier can tally it. This is a convenience store and takeout foods kitchen. There is also an eating area in front, with quite a few tables, and a view out the front window.“
“There is a lot of great Puerto Rican food in Vineland. Downtown was one of the top rated, and boy was it packed on a Sunday when I visited. Everyone is wearing masks and keeping safe and sanitary with COVID. They have tape marks on the floor, and customers were courteous to mind distance in line, etc. There were a lot of people stopping in for food at dinner time on a Sunday when I was there. They move the line somewhat quickly, but there was still a wait. Many people called ahead to order, but even those who did, ended up having to hang around a bit for their food. I was there over 20 minutes as a walk-in. The staff is friendly, but as others have mentioned, if you don't speak Spanish, there is a language barrier. I was there so long, though, that I observed that if they recognize you as a regular, they are more at ease about the language barrier because they memorize what their customers usually get, and it's easier to serve up what people want. So this tells me any complaints about language differences have more to do with the staff really wanting to please people, and just being nervous that they may not be able to get the order just as a customer wants it. For me, I have some Spanish skills, but I am not familiar enough with PR cuisine to know all these vocab words for food I can't even explain in English, so I didn't even try my Spanish until I got to the register, because I couldn't formulate a sentence around all the great looking foods to which I was totally ignorant. I always make fun of those laminated street sign menus that show pictures of food with prices... yeah, I understand why they make those. (They're still tacky though.) Anyway, I need to brush up on my PR food vocab, and maybe I'll get access to the delicacies they have to offer here! TIP: It definitely did help when I googled this place's FB photos and showed them what I wanted. They had big smiles of relief when they could know exactly what I wanted. They so want to please people here, you just have to calm down and be creative about communication. For my visit, they didn't have mofongo out in the case but when I asked for it, she made a special batch for me, which is totally a fifth star!!!! You pay at the front, and each takeout container is labeled so the cashier can tally it. This is a convenience store and takeout foods kitchen. There is also an eating area in front, with quite a few tables, and a view out the front window.“