El Nuevo Frutilandia - San Francisco

El Nuevo Frutilandia is a small family-owned restaurant located in the heart of the Mission district in San Francisco. They specialize in Puerto Rican and Cuban cuisine. I have yet to have a positive experience there. And from other reviews I've read, I'm not the only one. The service is consistently slow, or non-attentive altogether. The food can take up to an hour to come to the table, whether the restaurant is busy or not. Regardless of how well the chef executed the dishes, after an hour even the most patient person loses their cool.

On a recent visit, I decided to arrive at 11:30 a.m., when they open for lunch. I hoped (wrongly) that being the first customer of the day would insure quick service and fresh food. The waitress brought me water and bread fairly quickly, which wasn't difficult, since I was the only person there. The french bread was nicely toasted, but the butter pats were frozen solid in their little foil covers, always a pet peeve for me. I don't like starting my meal tearing my bread into crumbs trying to butter it. But that was nothing, it gets much worse.

I ordered a Papa Rellena $1.50 - Mashed potato balls stuffed with ground seasoned beef. For an entree I opted for vegetarian (because I was scared) and ordered Yucca al Mojo de Ajo $5.95 - Yucca stewed in a lemony garlic sauce, served with white rice and red beans. 20 minutes later my potato appetizer arrived immediately after I heard a microwave go "ding!" I hate microwaves, but realize they are a normal part of food service. Surprisingly, the potato was warm on the outside, cold on the inside. It had very little flavor, and the tell-tale flavor of refrigeration eclipsed any actual seasoning that may've been present. Another 20 minutes, still no customers, but it was still a challenge for the chef/cook to provide efficient service, even to just one customer.

When the waitress brought my plate, sans beans, she explained that the beans were no good (leftovers from yesterday) and she had to throw them out. The new batch was still cooking, and not ready to serve, so she said she was going to reduce the price of my plate. This is one of the worse, and most consistent problem with this place. They often mix up orders, or get them wrong altogether, and don't inform the customer until the food is arriving, already late. They get testy when you show disappointment or want something different from whatever wrong dish they're trying to force on you. The yucca was overcooked, but still had a nice blend of garlic and lemon flavor. The rice must've been spritzed with lemon juice as well, because it also had a fresh lemony flavor. She only charged me $3.50 for the plate, but I would've preferred another option for my protein, because I was pretty carb loaded by the time I left.

I've been there before, and ordered their traditional meat dishes. The service is painfully slow, and the food is consistently inconsistent. They don't offer Arroz con Gandules - Red Rice with Pigeon Peas, which is so common in Puerto Rican cooking. They do offer the pressed Cuban sandwiches, which may be the only thing they get consistently right. I also saw alot of people ordering their chicken soup, which seems really popular as a take-out item. They sold three while I was the only customer that day. The prices are very reasonable, most plates are $8 - $10.

VEGETARIANS/VEGANS: I don't recommend you eat here. They put milk in their smoothies, which is not obvious from reading the menu. Pork was present in a dish I ordered that was supposed to be vegetarian. Nothing is organic and the owner/servers aren't really accommodating when I interrogate them about the possibility of animal products being present in their food.

LOCATIONS/HOURS: 3077 24Th St, San Francisco, CA 94110, (415)-648-2958. Call for hours.