Negativity
Thank you😊
Thanks I’m sure we’ll try
No we opened in March
A restaurant is not about nationality it’s about great food… do you say that about Italian
Based on your longer comment, I think you may have missed the point regarding our “negativity”. We were not calling into question the quality of your food, but simply pondering if there will be enough interested customers to allow your business to thrive. We actually hope you succeed, and dramatically so.
All of us here at the Hungry Onion, contrary to referring to us as “uneducated” are actually pretty well versed in all types of cuisine from around the world, either through travel or authentic restaurants bringing the culture to us, such as yours. Many of our members have extensive restaurant experience in ownership, back of house, front of house, service, and advertising.
If anything, our “negativity” was based out of hope that you would, in fact, end up with enough customers in order to thrive since we who are from this area have seen ethnic restaurants come and go because there was not enough interest. You said “a restaurant is not about nationality its about great food”. That is what should be true, but is not always the case because people are ignorant and/or hesitant about trying different cultures and flavors in an area dominated by potential customers who think Chipotle and Taco Bell is “Mexican food”. Italian, which you gave as an example, is an apples-to-oranges comparison because of how well-established it is in the NY/NJ area. I do a lot of travel and visiting in central Pennsylvania, and have seen Italian/pizza places come and go. Was the food bad? Or are people set in their ways, who may live out in, say, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania not too hyped about Italian as opposed to more “American” genres of cooking?
You say our opinions are worthless, so I’m not sure if you will respond to this post. I guess you really think we are ignorant if you are coming at us with “yes I speak English”, as if that somehow has an effect on where we might eat.
Best of luck to you and your business. A simple explanation of where you are coming from and why we are wrong would have been better than an attack, as a business owner.
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Re-read the comments posted and maybe you will understand how I would take some of those posted reviews would bother a new small business, it’s been hell through this Covid situation when officially opening for two days and shit down the third, our opening was a Huge success from our community support and then a shut down… most if not all Puerto Rican or other ethnic restaurants are as some called it, hole in the wall, our mission and still is our mission is to have a classy sit down family restaurant with a taste that most have never had. Maybe we’ll make it through this pandemic or maybe not, but as for our service and unique food, maybe we’ll survive… as for the way I came at your page, I apologize and wish that you and your readers would understand the frustration
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I understand your frustration. This community shares that frustration. Cooler heads prevail.
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As former police, I’m sure you have a tough skin so don’t let these comments get you going. As a Middletown resident and business owner in town I only wish you the best. I’m not sure if you still do not have a social media/web presence but I would strongly recommend that you reconsider that stance.
Many people like to browse menus before making a decision, especially now with people ordering more takeout than anything. Also a well laid out and enticing menu online can get people to call that normally would not have. I judge “Italian” restaurants by their menus. If they serve chicken parm with a side of pasta I generally file that under American dreck, but if they serve hand breaded and fried chicken cutlets with Grandma’s special marinara sauce I may be more inclined to give it a try. 
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He is on Facebook with a menu and a few photos.
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Sharing it here.
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Moderators Hat On
Gj,
Ok, let’s try this again! Hello and welcome to Hungry Onion, glad you found us here. Just a FYI I am a moderator here for our local NJ board, each board generally has their own moderators and for NJ it is myself and @seal, so on behalf of both of us, Welcome!!
I went back and read each comment which was made, including one of my own, and I’m sorry but I don’t share your view of the outward negativity towards your establishment. My comment specifically was in response that someone observed your street frontage sign hadn’t been replaced yet, I responded I don’t think sign companies are working during the pandemic, as an essential service. This wasn’t intended to be negative, it was giving a reasonable explanation outside of ownership / landlord neglect, how you interpreted my comment as “negativity” towards you certainly was not the intent, quite the opposite, however I will apologize for your reading it that way.
We have a highly populated board with many Monmouth County residents who actively participate on this board (and several others) this is an excellent opportunity to showcase your brand, let us know about you/your restaurant and give us more reasons to come try your place. Some like our own @gcaggiano is an established food blogger by his own right. Several other owners, managers and fellow industry employees participate as well. We enjoy and welcome owners and managers to participate in the conversations.
There are several other members like myself, who are also “industry”. I’ve spent my entire life in the restaurant business so I am very familiar with the struggles that a new owner like yourself faces, so don’t be so quick to discount us as an uneducated/ignorant group of people.
I would also like to thank you for your service as a police officer, both, yes both my parents are retired Newark PD. So I’m also very familiar with your life of service and for that I again thank you.
I think I got most of the formalities out of the way, sorry for the rocky introduction but let’s hope that now we have cleared the air a little bit you might check back with some specials or anything you would like to post to familiarize us with your brand. Good luck God Bless stay safe and I do wish you much success.
Regards,
Notjr/Bob
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Welcome to HO. @Gjtorres1 !
I won’t rehash what my fellow mod, @NotJrvedivici already said except to say we wish you the best of luck. Many of us have eaten in at least one of the restaurants that used to occupy your space.
As for me, I made ropa vieja recently, and I look forward to trying yours. If it’s better than mine you will have a customer for life.
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Thank you for your comment
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just saw that they did a Facebook live spot on the Curbside Pickup Facebook group. Glad to see them getting the word out!! I need to try this place soon, Peurto Rican is one cuisine I’d def like to try- wish these guys well.
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Link to the Facebook live that @Metsfan86 was posting about. Don’t know if it’s going to work here, the sound wasn’t that good so I couldn’t listen to it here at work.
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