El Unico Restaurant

It is a great place for a quick lunch at a very low price. Food is good, and comes with lot of rice and beans — so prepare to leave full. I’ll give a 3* to the food and 5* for the price. So in average is a 4*. I’ll come back any day for lunch here.

Only if there were no other Spanish restaurants around, would I go here. Had some food ‘to-​go’ from this place very recently. The reason why it’s so dirt cheap is because it’s mostly rice. The picadillo is blah. The roast pork is just about flavorless. The black beans are good.

A friend who lived in Weehawken told me about this place a few years ago — good cheap food and lots of it. It sounded like my kind of place. I started to go there every Sunday with my family until one day, my husband had severe diarrhea and my 4-​year-​old son vomited everything he ate in the restaurant bathroom. Then my daughter spotted a roach crawling on the wall. My daughter and I were fine, food did not bother us.
I related the story to my mailman, who was born and bred in West New York/​Union City and he laughed at me, «I can’t believe you went to eat THERE — everybody knows it’s a dive, they cook rats in the kitchen and you never know it!» I was scared out of my wits never to return.
Fears aside, food was salty, as many other reviewers say, but personally I like my food well salted. Rice and bean portions were exceptionally large. Chicken was moist and tender, but not seasoned in any particular way — just salty. It was decent fare, not a lot of selections, but nobody went home hungry. So taste-​wise and portion-​wise, everything was fine, but there were no veggies and I guess taste/​portion doesn’t matter too much if the food is unsanitary. But maybe I’ll go there again hearing that it’s under new-​original management and update this review.

No comprendo que bueno puede ser, os juro que gaste más de $ 100 dólares, en servicio para tres personas y quedamos muy desepcionados
Lo único bueno es el café.

Their food is always, I repeat always oversalted! Their rice is very undercooked too! I’ve ordered from there over 5 times and the rice has been consistently undercooked! The only thing I’ve bought that is worth going back for is the steak and onions. The seasoning is spot on. I wish I could get just that without the rice.

Basic Cuban food done right and for a steal of a price. Everything is ala carte. If you get there after the lunch rush you’ll probably miss out on the platano maduros or the yuca. Eating in offers great variety but the place is a bit dated. Everything from the Picadillo to the sandwiches are great. A definite must try if your in the area.

pretty OK cheap food… but I’d only do take out [or delivery], here… why– it’s a sleaze pit, there are too many creepy crawlies; denizens of god knows the hell what, that hang and eat here. I don’t dig the vibe. also, they are a bit disorganized behind the counter; when someone has my change in hand, and they keep yacking with the person next to them, i want to go crazy. I don’t rush people, and I’m courteous ;but please don’t hold my change in your mitts any longer than necessary !!

This place is the best place in Weehawken to get your cuban fix! I come here 2−3x a week for lunch and it never disappoints me. Where else can you go and get 2 – 3 cups of Moro or white rice with a whole side of chicken, beef, pork for under $ 4 daily!
The food is set on a daily menu selection where it is mass produced for the day for all customers, that’s how they keep their prices low and affordable. If that bothers you, i would not recommend this place.
If your like me, and you dont care, order the pollo asado w/​white rice and salad and thank me later.

So I’ve heard of this place from friends who live in the area and they’ve always said how good the food was at ridiculous prices but I never thought it’d be that good!
I walked in here to get a quick bite before going back to work. I order the Pollo Asado with Arroz Moro and Maduros. When I saw the menu I immediately assumed that the $ 2.50 price advertised didn’t include the rice or the side but after stuffing my to go container and ringing me up with a can of soda my total was $ 3.50! I literally looked at the server and said, No Way! I love good food deals because let’s admit it I love going out to eat. I couldn’t wait to get back to work to see what all the fuzz was about in the taste since I was already proven that the prices were awesome. One word: DELICIOUS! The food was super tasty and fresh.
Although the location is basically a hole in the wall the food is great, most holes in the wall are great like that. The locals kept coming in and out in the short period of time that I was there so I’m sure they’ll be around for a while.

Amazing food at amazing prices. I ordered a meal (YES, a full meal) of white rice, ground beef, and black beans (and I think yuca but can’t recall) ALL FOR $ 2.50. Literally nuts.
Delicious food at astonishing prices. Hope it never changes! Wish they took cards, but it’s understandable considering the low prices.

Here comes the updated review,
—Prices are going up here, an order of food which used to cost me $ 12 now costs $ 15 (portion seemed less)
– Witnessing how the servers are putting food out its as crummy as the rest of Bergenline food (stuffed rice with a hint of meat)
Place remains clean, organized — but for the price/​food ratio: you’re going to have to order more or remain hungry, there are other cuban restaurants that for the price offer a nicer ambiance at an acceptable price, El Unico was a simple idea an express, quick way to get food granted food prices good up, but honestly the cuts that are served aren’t magnificent,
Establishment does not accept credit cards, CASH only, so if you have no cash on you get ready to pay the bank $ 5 to get cash from the closest working ATM (Pathmark BOA)
I’ll wait until (1) prices become more affordable, (2) the previous owners open up another shop

I literally come here once a week. It’s like my Cuban «Cheers» … They all know what I want I can sit down and they will bring me my order. They definitely fill you up good, for CHEAP. $ 4 will get you chicken, rice, beans, and plantains. My kind of local place.

This is my spot in Union City. You can feed the whole family here with $ 10. And the food is delicious. Pan con bistec is on point. Love this place!

Seriously, even if they were giving the food away, why, WHY would you eat somewhere known for many years, to have a HUGE roach problem.

Love this place! Have tried shredded pork and shredded beef so far and plan on working my way through the menu. Large portions of meat (chicken, beef pork), rice and beans, and yucca or fried plantains for less than $ 5 a plate. If they have the French toast type of desert the day you go it is amazing but you will need to pack up half your food to save room for it. The staff are extremely friendly… Some language barriers, there’s no «menu», its definitely a hole-​in-​the-​wall but who doesn’t love cheap authentically ethnic and delicious food?

The food here is really good and affordable. They could use some better ambiance though. Too «divey» a feel, then it could be great.

The best Spanish Food Ever! $ 3.50 for a huge plate of the tastiest food you’ll ever eat! Great sandwiches, great chicken, pork, beef, beans, rice, and much more.
Only $ 5.50 for oxtails! $ 5.50! Awesome!!! My family has been coming here for over 20 years, El Unico is family tradition for us. The restaurant is newly renovated
and the food is better than ever!
My only complaint is that my stomach isn’t big enough to eat more!
P.S It is very clean inside and I’ve never seen a roach a day in my 20 years!

Madd. Cheap. $ 4 gets you a full meal. Like, real full. Leftovers the next day full.
Ropa Vieja, Oxtail, chicken, rice and beans are good.
Not the cleanest. But for the price, how can you complain?
They cater too if you have a big crowd.

The prices have gone up since I first started coming here (by atleast a dollar a dish)… Which was almost the entire reason I liked this place to start with. BUT! The outside is looking better, the inside is looking better (somewhat cleaner) and with that I don’t mind paying a little bit extra.
and they have Jarritos in glass bottles. PERFECT.

I think my first mistake was walking in with really high expectations. I expected a mind-​blowing plate of cuban food after reading some of the reviews and old articles about this joint. On a 1 to 10 for food quality I’ll give it a 5, only because my Ropa Vieja was pretty decent. The Roast pork w/​Potatoes and Croquettas were really not the best. Service was a bit slow too. Maybe I should not be complaining, because it was so damn cheap.
It’s got the old school atmosphere and authentic cafeteria style vibe, which I thought was cool.
Just manage expectations.

Cuban food for dirt cheap prices. They have $ 2.50 specials where you get a meat, choice of beans (black or red), choice of rice (white or yellow) and maduros. It’s more than enough for a meal and a half and try to go around closing time, 9pm. They will pile your food high to get rid of what they have and even better is getting an order to go-​rice, meat, beans, maduros so packed that the lid keeps popping off.
This is a little Cuban kitchen, don’t expect anything fancy. Food is tasty, flavored with a good amount of salt as with all Caribbean joints. I wouldn’t say it’s the best but for the prices who would complain?