Ponce's El Rastro Restaurant Combines More Than a Trace of International Fare With Local Roots
The story of Lucecita Mendez and Maria Rivera’s El Rastro restaurant at the intersection of Calle Victoria and Simon de la Torre streets in Ponce is very much a neighborhood tale, but it also has international flair.
The restaurant, which opened in January 2019 and features an eclectic and wide-ranging international menu, emerged in a way out of the ruins of Hurricane Maria, which slammed Ponce hard two years earlier.
The two ran a bakery supply store in the neighborhood, and Mendez told Real Puerto Rico how after Maria there was no electricity or fresh water, and people had to share food. Mendez’s dad likewise ran a party supply business next door for around three decades.
The women decided on a project, and planted flowers and other greenery to spruce up the neighborhood, which is gritty and would can never be confused with a hip or gentrified restaurant row.
Rivera remembers that skeptics warned them that “the neighborhood people would rip it up,” referring to the greenery, or perhaps others from outside the neighborhood would come in and destroy it.
But instead the project became a point of pride and united the community, Rivera said.
Mendez and Rivera opened El Rastro in a former pharmacy at the beginning of 2019. El Rastro in Spanish translates to “the trail” in English, and the menu reflects the international travels of this foodie couple. Another meaning for “rastro” is trace, and likewise you can trace some of the menu’s ingredients to the trajectory of their cross-border wanderings.
From smokey pumpkin soup with whiskey-flamed pancetta to pork belly with Asian-fried risotto, smoked octopus leg, and lamb chops with Greek Indian truffle sauce with pecans and herbs, the menu has a global bent with local accents.
We found many of the menu choices compelling, although a few fell short, which was potentially a casualty of such a far-flung array of choices. (Stay tuned for our more detailed review of the cuisine.]
The restaurant is open for brunch on weekends, and dinner Thursdays to Sundays. It has a comfortable outdoor space for dining and indoor seating, as well.
Speaking of interiors and exteriors, Mendez takes pride in the restaurant staff, which hail from the neighborhood as well as surrounding communities. Some didn’t have previous restaurant experience, and she claimed they feel as though they are an essential element of the restaurant’s growth.
“So they build their strengths,” Mendez says, referring to her workers’ skills, “and we saw employees that were very introverted and now they’re extroverts.”
So if you believe that then it seems as though that it’s not just the neighborhood that El Rastro is helping to transform.