Caridad

This place does not live up to the Name «Caridad»; barely average food. The Spanish food in this part of Bushwick is trash, so it’s not like you have better choices unless you head out to the heart of Bushwick near Myrtle & Knickerbocker. The rice & Beans were fine. I ordered Lomo Salteado, it was undercooked and soaked with oil along the poor looking onions & Peppers. The fried plantains were also soaked in oil. Almost any other Latin spot will cook better food.

Food is great, as what’s expected in this Franchise. I’ve seen the cook a handful of times and he seems like a very nice humble guy. Now the waitresses on the other hand, have no experience providing any type of service what so ever. They are not welcoming, accommodating or friendly. Although they know how to make an amazing Morir Soñando (a Dominican style milkshake), I would only recommend this place for take outs. Owner, please train your staff how to provide service properly. They are hurting your business!

Compared to the other Caridad restaurants, this one is a bit pricey. Not sure why. Mofongo mofongo mofongo. Try it!!! Ask for some gravy on the side and order the fried cheese. AAMMAzing!!! Sooooo tasty won’t disappoint.

Good food, good service and pretty cheap for the amount that you get. This place definitely has a lot of potential though the meats in our Bandeja Paisa was slightly dry. The portion is huge but flavor was not as good as we’d expected it to be.

The sudden closure of Pollo (also known as Pollos USA or ‘that Colombian Chicken place’) was a bit of a shock. The place was less than two years old, had a spotless interior and attracted a quite mixed crowd of local Hispanic families and both on-​and-​off duty police officers. And they served a really quality product, especially the juicy birds and beans that came from the product.
But one they were closed without explanation. Then after a couple of weeks the slightly remodeled «Pollos Cumbia de Maria» opened, with a couple of menu additions and the promise of some dancier music on the soundtrack. Then that was gone after a few weeks as well.
More remodelling ensued, this time a total teardown and refit for the space. Tiles were installed on the walls, chandeliers hung from the ceiling and new tables with baseball tables and national flags brought in. It’s not a very cohesive look, but in general the whole operation appears to be aiming for a more upscale crowd than what was here before.
The menu has sprouted entirely new subsections, including the promising addition of the Puerto Rican favorite mofongo (which I definitely intend to get on a return visit) and Peruvian standby lomo saltado. Almost everything is in the teens, with several entrees now more than 20 dollars. I can’t be sure about what caused the previous place to fail, but I don’t think it was the absence of luxury dishes.
For an accurate side-​by-​side comparison, I ordered my stand by from both previous incarnations, the half-​chicken with rice and beans. The price has now increased from $ 5.50 to $ 9.50 with something of a shrink in portion size. No one is to going to go hungry or broke with what’s being served — it’s still quite the feed, but its disappointing how fast the price has gone up.
The Puerto Rican-​ness in this incarnation means that level of the white rice has been increased (no one knows how to make as well as these people, the secret ingredient is of course butter) while the beans seem to be marginally worse. The chicken skin is not as flavorful, but there’s no issue with dry meat that occasionally happened during Pollo’s later days. A highlight is the salsa verde, a not-​spicy but garlic-​heavy condiment that I liberally covered everything with.
A mixed bag, then. I’m really sure this is the restaurant the neighborhood demanding or wanted — it was empty for the hour I was here, although I do usually see some people eating on the way home from work — but it is solid enough to go in the meal rotation.

I came to the restaurant a number of times when it was Pollos USA and thought they made great chicken. New management came in and completely redid the place. The décor is understated and well done – clean, simple.
But the real star of the show here is the food. They brought in a Dominican chef who prepares proteins like a champ.
As a steak purist I’ll admit he might overseason the Churrasco (skirt steak), but the seasoning is so good I prefer it this way. The palomilla and other beef options are also delicious, and the bandeja paisa gives you a flavor of all of their great proteins.
There’s no shortage of Dominican/​Puerto Rican/​Caribbean food joints in Bushwick and South Williamsburg, but this place honestly stands above the rest in ambience/​décor and excellent food. Will continue coming back.

My boyfriend and I use to come here when it was Pollo USA. We were disappointed at 1^st to find that they were no longer here. We decided to try Caridad anyway and are glad we did. They décor is nice and the food was great! They ended up having what we use to order at Pollo, but better. We had the Bandeja Paisa with carne asada. The menu has a good variety. The papaya juice was amazing. Def will be back.

The food was delicious and the service too. Very attentive. Had the chicharon mofungo & the paisano plate. The place just opened up about a mth ago. They r still not licensed to sell liquor. I will definitely come back.