Donde Adela Colombian Restaurant

Had lunch here on Valentine’s Day. The restaurant was busy and lively with people. Our server Andres was attentive and kind. My party ordered beef empanadas to start, oxtail stew with rice, sobrebarriga, and bistec caballo…beef dishes that were delicious. The food was great and the atmosphere was welcoming and warm. If you’re Colombian you better come here and if you’re not you better come here.

Wonderful and ambience! We are originally from Venezuela and it brought us back in time. It's a great experience and great food!

I was so excited to have found a Colombian restaurant near my house. I have been to this restaurant twice hoping I would change my mind about the food. The first time I tried the sancocho de gallina, to be honest I was not blown away. There was barely any flavor. The second time I got the Bandeja paisa. The arepa was so stiff, the rice so dry, the chorizo, beans and chicharron did not have much flavor. Overall I think the food is very bland here. Not going back.

The Ajiaco, the bread, plantain and yuka were phenomenal. However it was a disappointing taste of chicharron, we don’t eat much pork, this chicharron had a full pork stinky flavor, very different from what I had in Colombia, or even a Mexican supermarket.

Authentic Colombian food. For appetizers I recommend the beef empanadas and the chicharrón. For entrees the mojarra frita and carne asada are great options. The fruit juices are exceptional. Also highly recommend trying the conocut lemonade (limonada de coco).

This Colombian restaurant is really good so tasty! The ambiance is nice, and the service is excellent. There’s this one server he’s always super friendly and funny with the kids, which makes the whole experience really warm and welcoming. I definitely recommend this place!

One of the best Colombian restaurants I have tried. Place is cozy and it makes you feel you are in Colombia. Service was great and we did not wait too long for our food. We also got lucky and we did not have to wait for a table. Food was excellent and you can taste that it was fresh and homemade. Highly recommended!

Food was good. I bought the empanadas de pollo with a traditional Colombian drink. It came out to be $13. A little overpriced. The cashier was friendly when asked questions. The food was made within a reasonable time. Overall if your craving Colombian food I would recommend.

This place is always a quaint little spot to go to when over in this area. Food is the right portion size! Enough to eat with a little room left over for dessert if you want some. Service is great for this spot, having nice people there serving and greeting you. they have a little marketplace there as well to buy little Colombian D'licious goodness to take home...

Craving some Colombian food and with few options in this area, this is a pretty good place. The Jugos are amazing with my favorite being the Jugo de guanábana. I get it with milk and it's pretty sweet almost like a piña colada. If you have never tried it go for it! However all of the natural juices here are pretty excellent. The empanadas are fresh and came out piping hot! I love how the empanadas are fried and not the baked kind that you will typically see in Argentina, although those are delicious as well, these just seem to have more flavor and less breading to me. Their ají is on the spicy side and pair well with the empanadas. The chorizo was dry but still delicious and the chicharrón was perfect. We shared a ajiaco soup which they do on Fridays. This is a typical dish from Colombia and perfect on a colder day. It's basically a chicken and potato soup made with some seasoning called Guascas. It was a smaller portion than I expected and in my opinion was missing the best part which was sour crème to make it a little thicker and topped with capers. To each their own but without it, the soup just felt lacking. Overall the food here is very good. I would just get a few things here and share. It's on the pricy side but to be expected. There is definitely something you will find that you like. The service is great and they are very friendly. It's a small place but they seem to be growing and increasing the size. They also sale Colombian candies and desserts and those are all amazing. This is a fun place to eat at especially if you've never tried Colombian food and are curious or if you just miss The homeland.

Food here is always one of the best places to go , great flavor , presentation and great portions , place has been getting better on seating and hold more people now , location is really easy to get and good parking , staff is friendly and always trying the best to give you a good service , you will get extreme best service when the old lady is present , but guy today had us rushing in the ordering and one thing is I never like a place that doesn't have prices on their menu as you can get charge different all the time , put some prices in the menu so people don't guess prices

Always our go to spot when we're craving some authentic Colombian food! My husband and I order the Bandeja Paisa which will definitely fill you up! Order the beef empanadas for an appetizer, they're great also. We've tried a few other places in Southern California and this by far is the best place around. The wait can be a while since the restaurant is on the smaller side and they are always busy, but it's just because the food is that good! Staff are friendly and everything is made to order. Can get a little loud but that's how it's supposed to be - family-friendly and everyone enjoying the company with good food!

I have been searching for a good Arepa and man did I find it, hands down the best Arepa I have had. I also ordered the empanadas all beef which were very good and flavorful. My main dishes were the Cazuela de frijoles and the oxtails. I am not very big on beans especially as a main dish but I had to try it and it was amazing. The flavor of all of the dishes was on point, the frijoles were filled with chicharrones, sausage, beef, plantains and avocado. The oxtails were tender and perfectly seasoned. The drinks were also very good we both had the maracuya (passion fruit) with no milk, it was sooooo refreshing. Looking forward to visiting this spot again.

Coming from a traditional Colombian family. I know when I see original from not. These beans were disappointing, although the flavor is good and the rest of the chicharrón was ok it's a shame. Hopefully they will realize that for us that know our traditional beans will call them out on it. It's easy to get and appreciated for sure. The empanadas and fresh guanabana juice was delicious though. The ambiance is tropical and tranquil. The service was nice and welcoming.

I'm still dreaming about how delicious this place was. Colombian chicharrones hit different. I wish I had gotten even more orders to go for my trip back home to Arizona. Lol Until next time California.

I called to make and order, the first time nobody answer, the second time a lady answered and I said I would like to make an order, she said oh you have to do it online and I did so you can't get my order over the phone ? And she did okay bus just give me a minute I was waiting no lie like 5 minutes and she never come back to get my order. The food there is not that worth all the time that you have to wait even if you go to the restaurant. Because they need space and more servers. Definitely no coming back.

If you've never had Colombian food this is a great place to start. The flavors, ingredients and presentation are spot on. During our quick visit to the area we ate here twice and bote were worthy of high praise. The family who owns and runs the place are all helpful and kind adding to the experience and an awesome reminder/representation of Colombia. Empanadas: great fry and crunchy outside, flavorful shredded beet filling and their spicy sauce (encurtido) was killer too. Picada: Huge, sharable plate of chorizo, carne asada, yuca frita, papa criolla (baby gold/Yukon potato), patacón (like a plantain tostada), chicharrón, mini arepa, and morcilla (rice stuffed blood sausage), avocado and lime. Great way to try different things and feed a group. Cazuela de Frijoles: bean soup, chicharrón, chorizo, platano, avocado and rice... sooo damn good! Bandeja Paisa: rice, beans, carne asada or ground beef, sunny side up egg, chicharrón, avocado and plantain. All these typical, traditional plates were delicious and devoured quickly bringing big smiles as we reminisced about the beautiful and amazing place Colombia is. Thank you to all at the Donde Adela team... your meals were the dining highlight of our trip

I got the beef empanadas, chicharrones, and ox tail. The empanadas were good and well seasoned. They came out hot and served with a side of aji. The Aji is a little too chunky for me but still taste great. The chicharrones was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The oxtail was stewed with tomatoes and onions in a rich broth served with rice, sweet plantains, and salad. Oxtail was sooooo good and by far my favorite plate here. The meat fell off the bones and the sauce/broth was perfect with the rice and salad. This is a great local home style authentic Colombian restaurant that provides great service. Looking forward to trying the caldos next.

Wow where to begin. I'm from an area in New Jersey where Colombian food is absolutely abundant but since moving out here 4 years ago I had yet to find a decent place that resembled authentic Colombian food...until now. It was a bit busy when we arrived but the service was amazing once seated. The menu was generous and the atmosphere was very pleasant and authentic to a Colombian restaurant. I had the beef Empanadas , Patacones and Chuleta de Cerdo with a side of frijoles...I was not disappointed. Everything was absolutely delicious and freshly cooked. My husband had the Bandeja Paisa and he was also very pleased with his meal. I would 100% recommend this place to anyone missing home, 10/10 will be dining here again! I would have posted more pictures but I ate everything before I remembered to take a snap.

Muy Rico Los Frijoles de Cazuela Bien Precios Servicio Rápido Mi primera Vez se los recomiendo‼

Food is definitely authentic. You walk into a tiny old school homey feel kind of restaurant. Self seating and the staff will automatically approach and greet you with menus that welcome and thank you, give you restaurant history and family pics. Super neat and such a beautiful way to welcome you into a small Colombian slice of yummy. Def recommend the chicken empanadas! Their ají is delish with them! Their yucca frita delivered the best crunch topped with what you know is sofrito made from abuelitas scraps that have been never ending :)

The best Colombian restaurant you could go to. I got the pleasure of meeting Adela and she was such a sweet and warm woman. Me and my sisters came to this restaurant for the first time today and were blown away by its authentic Colombian ambiance. The customer service was great, the music was amazing, and the food was F A N T A S T I C!!! I ordered the salchipapa, empanadas, Cola(ox tail), Calentado con todo, changua, buñuelos and hot chocolate. 10/10 on all of them. Muchísimas gracias!!! Cuando volvamos, la primera cosa que vamos hacer es comer en tu restaurante

I have been coming here now for over 10 years and I am so happy to see how much Donde Adela has grown! Additionally, the quality of the food has never changed. It's so amazing to have authentic delicious Colombian food nearby.

Food is superb! Waitresses get a little annoyed when adding or asking questions. I also go here for breakfast

La comida súper rica, comimos bandeja paisa y empanadas con ají muy bueno, lo malo es que tienen muy mal servicio al cliente, una mecerá con cara larga y ni te voltean a ver, al llegar, nos sentaron y no nos atendieron si no hasta en 20 min, eso por que vimos que atendían a otras personas que iban llegado antes que nosotros y preguntamos que aún no nos avían atendido, y la mesera con cara larga solo llamo a su compañera, supongo que la manager era la que se acercó después y nos tomó la orden, muy buenos modales ella, Ya nunca volvieron a checar si ocupábamos algo. Nos gusta este lugar por la comida y antes avían dos varones que nos atendían muy bien con muy bien servicio al cliente, me pregunto si aún trabajan ahí. El servicio al cliente sirve mucho por que son la cara del restaurante, si no ahí buen servicio muy buena pueda estar la comida pero la gente ya no va a regresar.

Great food and service! I always get their bandeja paisa, can't go wrong with that dish. Their arepas are delicious, never dry. Most of the time there is a long wait but the food makes it worth the wait. I love their empanadas with their green ahi salsa!

Good little Colombian restaurant in Orange County. The beef empanadas were delicious!

Absolutely Delicious Excellent Customer service The Place was spotless Super Clean all you can smell is the mixture of all the devouring food

The staff is Very rude. They make you wait in tiny hallway. Just don't come. Food is ok but not worth the very poor customer service

I have come here a couple of times now and I am currently addicted to the frijoles en cazuela. So meaty and delicious, it's incredibly comforting. The sobrebarriga criolla tastes homey and flavorful, like your mother might make. The empanadas were a hit with my picky husband. The agua panela makes a refreshing accompaniment, the tartness of lime keeping it from being cloying. Admittedly, sometimes homey can veer into blandness but if you have spice averse eaters, it's not a bad thing. I read the negative reviews and I am completely baffled. Are we talking about the same restaurant? The restaurant has always been spotlessly clean and the service warmly welcoming. The salsa music and the tourism videos of Colombia make it easy to relax and forget the busy world outside while you wait for a steaming plate of Colombian comfort food.

Food was okay, not very hot! Most of it was just warm. Trouble ordering and the waiter service understanding is. Experience was great for the family! Trying new foods together. They close pretty early 7:45pm on a Friday night

the service has improved a lot, the food too, reasonable prices! I go at least once a week and always love the food...

Food is homemade quality!! Service is friendly & the restaurant has good music and vibe!! I truly recommend this place, give it a try!

I tried Colombian arepas in Vegas and I was so looking forward to try authentic Colombian food in SoCal. I heard great reviews of this place so first time I went was on a sunday but waitlist was over and hour and we left. next time I tried was a weekday. my group ordered about 6 different dishes, honestly the food was just ok. from all the plates I tried non of them was extraordinary and even one of my friends got sick, he said he felt it was the pork (something like chuleta de caballo?) I don't know if we went on a bad day but I wouldn't recommend this place if you are trying South American food. Service was good but place was hot.

Very authentic. Food is always amazing and the customer service is spectacular! I recommend the empanadas and bandeja paisa.

Omg !! Empanadas for the company potluck !! These were some of the best empanadas I have ever had! I can't wait to go sit at the Restaurant. Please try it with the green sauce!

Today was my first time at this restaurant and eating colombian food. I ordered beef empanadas to go, and I got chicken instead. The empanadas are pretty small and don't have that much flavor. Inside the empanada, there is also boiled potato, which was not season ( the ratio is half meat and half potato) Because there was so much potato I could not taste any flavor. The price was three empanadas for 7.16 . Sorry, did not enjoy them

La comida buena pero pésimo cervicio lentos hasta la chingada terminamos de comer y el agua nunca llego no sé cómo la dueña no ve eso y pone acción se hace p;$&@(:

Food is great! I ordered the Bandeja Paisa. You can get the meet "molida" or a piece of asada and it comes with chicharrón, avocado, beans, rice, a fried egg and sweet plantains. The plantains that come with the meal are literally to die for. My group also had the empanadas paired with a fresh salsa. Service is pretty good as well! They did what they could to seat all parties that were waiting pretty quickly & we're pretty attentive of our party. The ambiance is a little loud considering how small the place is and how many groups are having conversation over the music they're playing, but over all not bad. :)

What a nice surprise. Now that La Colombiana in San Clemente has closed, Donde Adela has become THE best purveyor of traditional Colombian dishes. This is fantastic food like your Colombian grandma used to make years ago. This is traditional home cooking and is the best of its kind in SoCal. First, the ingredients are fresh. Second, they are cooked just right, and spiced just right. And the selection is right out of a neighborhood cafe in Colombia, circa 1970. The traditional arepas are large and thick and flavorful. Each one is about 5 inches in diameter. No stingy little arepas here. They offer a great variety, from plain and cheese, to mixed with chicharrón and other tasty combos. They are hot and greasy and tasty. The rest of the dishes are just as good. The rice is really moist and fresh, unlike plain, "rice-cooker" rice. The steak is cooked just right and is full of flavor. The fried yucca is crispy and hot, with just a dollop of a chimichirri-like sauce. The empanadas are really good, with a light crust. Plantains are as expected: sweet and hot. Anything you order here is good and tastes homemade. I particularly like the aji sauce that they serve alongside the empanadas. Ask for it to dip your arepas in too. It's fantastic. Not very spicy, just a nice cool, fresh accompaniment to the other dishes. Can't go wrong here. And order a Colombiana soda to go with whatever you order. It'll be like sitting in a neighborhood cafe in the Colombia of forty years ago. You'll love it. I know I did.

As a Colombian living in SoCal, I have very few, or nearly zero, options to get traditional Colombian food within 1 to 1 and a half hour drive. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found this place on my way back from a conference and let me tell you, as I walked through the doors I felt as if I had just gone out of a plane in Colombia. The service was wonderful and with the same warmth expected of my Colombian people. The wall decor, the music, the colors, everything transported me to my Colombia. And I haven't even talked about the food. Finger-licking delicious. My only sadness came when I was informed that certain foods are not available during the week. but this just meant I would have to go back on the weekend. If this place were closer to home, I'd be having lunch and dinner every day of the week!

Mala actitud, desde que pedimos reserva nos atendieron de mala manera, pedimos un buñuelo y una pandebono mientras esperamos pero nos hablaron en tono de regaño por pedir que lo calentaran un poco y por pedir servilletas, tampoco dieron una bolsa y te dan las cosas con malísima atención, veníamos de lejos y nos fuimos decepcionados, no tomamos la reserva, en lo poco se ve lo mucho y preferimos no comer a que nos siguieran atendiendo tan mal. Bad attitude, since we asked for a reservation they treated us in a bad way, we asked for a donut and a pandebono while we waited but they spoke to us in a scolding tone for asking to be heated a little and for asking for napkins, they also didn't give a bag and they give you things with very bad attention, we came from far away and we left disappointed, we did not take the reservation, in the little you can see how much and we prefer not to eat than that they continued to take care of us so badly.

We came with a party of 10, waited about 90 minutes to get seated which was terrible. But it was a birthday so we had our mind set on being there, multiple people got seated before us, i think they just forgot about us honestly. Regardless good was alright nothing special. Cool place to try for the first time but i don't think I'd come back.

The closest thing to El Portón Colombiano in HB, really miss that place. The food here is amazing. Great sazón. Good ingredient quality. We started off with the 3 empanadas, the consomé, café con leche, mango juice, and coffee. We also ordered the bandeja paisa let me tell you the sausage was delicious, really crusty on the outside, soft and juicy inside, so savory. Their white rice is great, so simple and perfectly cooked. The sobrebarriga was good too. The only thing that needs improvement is organization regarding customer service. This restaurant is a little understaffed for the amount of demand it has. We waited a large amount of time for them to take our order, which was a little uncomfortable because it's a small place you don't go unnoticed. Some people who arrived after us got their orders taken- May be they were regulars? It was our first time, we had plenty of time, so we just waited. However, I must say it was clear that they were very busy, and they were trying to accommodate everyone. Delicious food. Rushed service. Arrive hungry because the portions are huge. Be patient.

Bomb Colombian food! Their customer service is very good. Their food is consistent and always delicious. Highly recommend!!

Service was horrible, waitress was very rude, I couldn't understand what was her problem, she was making ugly faces anytime my table asked for something (is her job as a service worker). It's a shame restaurant owners hire this type of people who don't have empathy with customers, the food was good but unfortunately my review is based on the service and the bad experience I had. I won't go back to this restaurant unless they make a change and train their waiters.

Yummy empanadas! Arepas were decent! The Ajiaco is fabulous! Recommend trying. I didn't much care for the ceviche.

According to my husband, this takes him back to his home country. The front of the menu touts the best Colombian flavors you will find here and they live up to that statement! We were seated fairly quickly and had a hard time selecting what we wanted since they had a lot of great options. To start, we had an order of empanadas (3 pieces), one arepa, and then for entrees, we got the carne asada plate and the grilled tilapia fillet with coconutmilk shrimp sauce. The wait for the food after ordering was a bit lengthy, but we enjoyed our guanabana juice and Colombian beer, Aguila during that time. The empanadas came first and it was perfection! The cornbread layer was just thin and crunchy enough and the interior with the meat and potatoes were piping hot and so good with the salsa verde which had a mild heat. The arepa was also super tasty and I loved seeing the stringy cheese as we cut into it. I loved the grilled fillet and the sauce! It was coconutmilk based and also slight sweetness from the shrimp. Super good soaking my rice into it. Lots of food and really great flavors!

This place is pretty good and underrated. The size of the restaurant is small but the overall quality of the food is good. I ordered a bandeja paisa and empanadas and I was pleasantly suprised.

Si te gusta la sal te recomiendo que vengas aqui a doña saleda , Dios mío vine con un tio que se le pasa la sal I asta el le espanto, los frijoles sabías tanto a sal , todo estaba muy salada I yo amo mi comida con sal pero no así. Deverian bajarla la sal para que los platos mejoren su sabor.

Best Colombian food in SoCal!! For Christmas we ordered Lechona for 25 people. It's the first time I've had Lechona outside of Colombia. It was amazing!! Adela and her team are amazing!

Service its ok, could be better They got busy then they got loss orders star taking longer Food its pretty good, amazing empanadas. Need more people to help

Service this time has been amazing. Food still amazing... Thank you for the prompt and kind service!

Food was amazing. Love this place. Not only is the food great but the staff is pretty amazing. Love eating the videos on the TV screen top of Colombia. Reminds me of when I've visited. Anytime in the OC/Santa Ana area my wife and come here to eat.

We love this place! Food and service is always good. Our favorite is cazuela de frijoles 100% recommend this restaurant.

The food at Donde Adela is very good, as well as the ambiance. I like this restaurant because it serves Colombian food, which I love for being Colombian It is pretty authentic. Although the service is usually good and the food, as said, is high quality, today I did not have a good experience. Donde Adela did a disservice to their reputation today. What happened today was an unacceptable customer service. We brought to the attention to our waitress that the "sobrebarriga" (brisket) was so hard that we couldn't t eat it. She took the plate to the kitchen. When she came back, she again placed the plate on our table and said that Ms. Adela had said that the meat was not hard at all while sticking the meat with the fork in an atrempt to show us we were wrong. That was it. Not an apology, no nothing. Then, she abruptly left our table to assist other customers. In another words, they considered we were lying. I am not sure why they decided to put into question our honesty. No person should be subjected to this type of treatment. Being Colombian I know by a fact that Colombian restaurants at times do not take well complaints by customers. But here in the USA, restaurants make a good effort to provide excellent customer service. Here I never been told that my complaint was baseless in any restaurant before, as happened at Donde Adela. They did not charge for the dish but did nothing to compensate for the ill treatment received. My companions, who were not Colombians, couldn't believe their ears as to what was happening. I suggest Ms. Adela do not question customers when they place a complaint. In USA, this is considered bad service. But most of all, do no treat customers like you treated us today.

Los jugos están ricos, El ambiente es agradable y la atención de los meseros también

The Yuka here was phenomenal! We took our time and although the service was a bit slow, we enjoyed it greatly. The staff was kind!