Sosua becoming a food desert

[Fulano2]

I had a Land Rover Discovery in 2016/17, the years I thought I would like retirement in the DR, so I had to take the nightmare to the Germans in Sosua on a monthly basis.
Just at the end of their street, corner Main Street, I always had lunch at that comedor.
Great menu. Rice, beans, two pieces of chicken.
I don’t know if it was coincidence but every time I ate their with my young BIL, we had the same menu at 150 pesos. The beers were more expensive.

 

[FF1]

The "Welcome to Flip-Flop" chant the chicas have to do when a customer walks in is so cringe and enough of a resason not to go there 😁

 

[Gadfly]

Restaurants here with waiters or waitresses taking your order require more patience than I usually have, due to the slow, dumb, aloof, disappearing, who-cares-about-you service. Almost always a disappointment.

 

[JD Jones]

It's sad when Expats open a Restaurant , with their hard earned money, and work so very hard to get a Good reputation , and then they think they can sit back, or worst case NOT EVEN BE THERE for a time, and allow some Dominican with barely a High School Education and Zero Culinary Skills to RUN the Place ..usually destroying the Reputation in the process in a very short time ... the 40 Minute Microwave Post for flip Flop above is just soooo typical of that . Did Gregorio just get tired of running the place , did he sell it ? the guy was so gung Ho , a real go getter and very concerned about his Rep .

I was surprised to read that as well.

 

[keepcoming]

What are the successful/good restaurants owned by expats in Sosua/Cab? Or the North Coast?

 

[RDKNIGHT]

I eat dinner out 4 to 5 times a week.
Margot, Charli's and El Rancho are constantly good.

Taberna El Conde used to be decent - but the last 3 times I ate there - two of the meals were literally inedible.

But last night I had desire for a good burger so I tried the fairly new place, Toro Loco. - supposed to meat barbecue restaurant.
The one beer, bacon burger and fries were mediocre, but acceptable in flavor. Then the bill came 2,100 pesos !
I told the sever take the factura back and use your calculadora again.
then it came back 930 pesos. I say if you can't do the simple math in your head you should not handle money !.
OK - but later that night I was quite sick all night, not sure if it was the hamburger, bacon or vegetables - but it will be a long time until I put myself through food positioning again.

Then tonight I went to Flip Flops. I used to eat there often. I ordered a beer and a burrito but after 50 minutes I had finished the beer and still.....no food.
And I was the only customer.
Even though I paid for the food as I decided to just leave the kitchen said - well it will be out of the microwave soon.
Sorry - if you need almost an hour to cook a burrito in a microwave you should re-think your kitchen.
I said screw it - and left and left the food in the microwave (maybe, if they were not lying)
If the owner of Flip Flop reads this - take charge of your business if you want to continue to sell food. But I won't be back for a very long time.

Wow ruff two days .. cook home its safer ..

 

[Auryn]

Toro Loco is apparently a money laundering enterprise and therefore they don’t care about much besides making that work.

I don’t know about gringo owned and I don't go anywhere near the vicinity of Pedro Clisante, ever, except for breakfast at Dolce & Sappori. But my favourites are:

Bliss in Cabarete(Callejon)- hands down. Italian owners and they’re always there. Delicious, ambient atmosphere, and top notch service.

Hispañola Diners Club in Sosua.- great food but the service can be bad.

Waterfront at Playa Alicia is okay. The food
wasn’t anything incredible but the atmosphere is nice. Packed on weekends.

Sakura Sushi in the Encuentro Food Park. They serve very quickly and always a nice
presentation.

Nectar in Cabarate.

And I haven't tried them, but Blue Moon (Indian/Dominican fusion?) in Jamao, Kasbah and also Affirmation Cafe in Cab are supposed to be great.

 

[chico bill]

Toro Loco is apparently a money laundering enterprise and therefore they don’t care about much besides making that work.

I don’t know about gringo owned and I don't go anywhere near the vicinity of Pedro Clisante, ever, except for breakfast at Dolce & Sappori. But my favourites are:

Bliss in Cabarete(Callejon)- hands down. Italian owners and they’re always there. Delicious, ambient atmosphere, and top notch service.

Hispañola Diners Club in Sosua.- great food but the service can be bad.

Waterfront at Playa Alicia is okay. The food
wasn’t anything incredible but the atmosphere is nice. Packed on weekends.

Sakura Sushi in the Encuentro Food Park. They serve very quickly and always a nice
presentation.

Nectar in Cabarate.

And I haven't tried them, but Blue Moon (Indian/Dominican fusion?) in Jamao, Kasbah and also Affirmation Cafe in Cab are supposed to be great.

Where did you hear or how do you know Toro Loco is a money laundering front?
It wouldn't surprise me.
The restaurant layout is strange. The dish washing area is right next to the grill and in line with the bar and visible (kind of cramped) and no place to stack dishes.
But there are a couple different seating areas.

 

[Auryn]

Where did you hear or how do you know Toro Loco is a money laundering front?
It wouldn't surprise me.
The restaurant layout is strange. The dish washing area is right next to the grill and in line with the bar and visible (kind of cramped) and no place to stack dishes.
But there are a couple different seating areas.

Dominicans.

Key word in my post was apparently. I’m glad you posted a review because I didn’t plan on it but I definitely won’t bother to go there.

 

[windeguy]

Ceiba Cafe in Perla Marina. Good pizza and expanding to other Italian dishes. Owners from Italy.

 

[chico bill]

Dolci is up for sale …waitress are nice but they need to hire ones with more English..wrong orders brought to table few times..

Really? That's a great breakfast spot and does great business. Of course the gringa owner is always there, to keep things ship shape.
If a Dominican buys it then it will be gone in 8 months

 

[chico bill]

Restaurants here with waiters or waitresses taking your order require more patience than I usually have, due to the slow, dumb, aloof, disappearing, who-cares-about-you service. Almost always a disappointment.

And for God sakes if you have one dish for 550 and a beer for 150 why do they need to pull out a calculator.
I've never seen another country with such non-existant basic elementary school math skills, or poor calculator skills as well.

 

[jd426]

Restaurants here with waiters or waitresses taking your order require more patience than I usually have, due to the slow, dumb, aloof, disappearing, who-cares-about-you service. Almost always a disappointment.

The people in the Kitchen are Not much Better if you don't have someone literally looking over their Shoulders . Technically the Owner/Manager needs to see every plate going out . The Mistakes I have seen are mind boggling like Mold on the Bread. Im sorry but Dominican Employees just dont care . Even good places I love are completely different when the owner or his Wife or Partner are not there
The only consistent experiences I have had is at Restaurants Run by a Tight Family only , who are there every day , they rotate I guess .. year after year , same consistency and high Quality Maybe they just take the time to TASTE the food going out .. La Locanda in Santiago is one such example . I would love to hear More such examples in Sosua, but do they really exist .. One owner operator just does not seem to be enough . Its always hit or miss.

 

[chico bill]

The people in the Kitchen are Not much Better if you don't have someone literally looking over their Shoulders . Technically the Owner/Manager needs to see every plate going out . The Mistakes I have seen are mind boggling like Mold on the Bread. Im sorry but Dominican Employees just dont care . Even good places I love are completely different when the owner or his Wife or Partner are not there
The only consistent experiences I have had is at Restaurants Run by a Tight Family only , who are there every day , they rotate I guess .. year after year , same consistency and high Quality Maybe they just take the time to TASTE the food going out .. La Locanda in Santiago is one such example . I would love to hear More such examples in Sosua, but do they really exist .. One owner operator just does not seem to be enough . Its always hit or miss.

The Owner of Hotel El Rancho restaurant is always there and or his wife.
The food is consistant and the service is good.
I suspect servers who don't perform don't last very long

 

[FF1]

And for God sakes if you have one dish for 550 and a beer for 150 why do they need to pull out a calculator.
I've never seen another country with such non-existant basic elementary school math skills, or poor calculator skills as well.

I remember once at El Flow I had 2 Presidentes, 100 pesos each, she needed a calculator to add 100+100.

 

[jd426]

The Owner of Hotel El Rancho restaurant is always there and or his wife.
The food is consistant and the service is good.
I suspect servers who don't perform don't last very long

Hate to differ , but he is NOT always there, because I make sure to ask for Andy when I am in there and last 2 times he was not there ..
And I have sent Friends to go eat there, and they love the food, and they asked for him , to say I said hello, and he was not there either.
He knows me as we speak to each other in German only .
The Employees did a good job and the Kitchen is good . He does have it under control. I dont think he or his wife would EVER leave for a week at a time, and let the employees run the place ,that is for sure.

 

[slowmo]

The only consistent experiences I have had is at Restaurants Run by a Tight Family only , who are there every day , they rotate I guess .. year after year , same consistency and high Quality Maybe they just take the time to TASTE the food going out .. La Locanda in Santiago is one such example . I would love to hear More such examples in Sosua, but do they really exist .. One owner operator just does not seem to be enough . Its always hit or miss.

New Cafe is family run.

 

[CristoRey]

The "Welcome to Flip-Flop" chant the chicas have to do when a customer walks in is so cringe and enough of a resason not to go there 😁

He was over in Thailand/ SE Asia recently so perhaps the lack of service ChicoBill experienced was as a result of him being away. Either way, there's no need to bash him on here. I've known Greg for about 10 years. He's good guy with a big heart who's put food on the table for a lot of less fortunate Dominicans.

 

[jd426]

No One is bashing ANYONE .. we discussing what works and what does NOT work ..
We know Gregorio CARES . and if He were there he would be all over this ,and correct what needs correcting .

When Shark Bar on PC was open I said same about some of his Employees, some of them just did not care , and even overcharged . . Lou is a Dear Friend of mine, but im not gonna Lie about the Food I get Served .
Im sure Greg will Sort it out when he gets back.. but is it better he know the truth, or we blow smoke up his Arse ?

 

[drstock]

Dolci is up for sale …waitress are nice but they need to hire ones with more English..wrong orders brought to table few times..

... Or you could learn Spanish!