Puerto Rican Restaurant Owners Have a Certain Solidarity
Hey, the restaurant industry is highly competitive, and I’m sure I can do a Google search and find tales of Puerto Rican restaurant owners going after each other and doing plenty of things to sabotage their rivals’ businesses.
But one thing that has struck me as I newly had conversations with a few restaurants owners here is their reluctance to put down their rivals for competitive advantage. In some ways, it is shocking to me to see restaurant competitors refusing to diss the woman or man operating a restaurant or food truck competing for reservations or patrons across town.
For example, I was talking with Luis Lugo, the co-owner with his son of the new Chicken Shack BBQ in Rincon a couple of days before it opened early this month, and I asked him whether his food truck would be a better quality and tastier than the popular Rancho Carbon Express down the road in nearby Aguada.
“No, the guy is good,” Lugo said, referring to the Rancho Carbon Express owner. “He's my friend. I respect him a lot. And you know what, no one is better than anyone. In food, everyone has his taste. What is good for one is not good for the other.”
A couple of weeks later, when trying out El Rastro restaurant in Ponce, I mentioned to co-owner Lucecita Mendez that the two best restaurants I’ve tried so far in the city are her El Rastro and rival Mesa — Cocina & Vinatería.
But much to my dismay, Mendez wouldn’t seize the opportunity to say her restaurant is better than Mesa — Concina & Vinatería.
“They're really good friends of ours,” Mendez said, referring to the people who run Mesa — Concina & Vinatería. “So yeah. They're really good people.”
Likewise, I randomly ran into the owners of a breakfast and brunch restaurant in Rincon at a local bar one night, and one of them previously was a partner with the current owner of The English Rose. But they are partners no longer, and you know there always has to be a back story or dispute of some type involved.
But the owners of the breakfast and brunch place declined to utter an ill word about the owner of The English Rose.
So much solidarity and camaraderie among what you might otherwise expect to be bitter rivals. Go figure.
This is Puerto Rico! People support each other by default, anything else is against the culture.
Don’t know your background but many of us were raised, catechized, admonished to not speak ill of others. Pointing out bad behavior is not speaking ill (as long as no judgement follows) but disparaging others or their efforts to build ones self up is a sin that we end up having to confess. Furthermore, even in secular world, when we had actual professional education in this country (mainland USA) one was taught to not disparage colleagues as it is unprofessional and corrosive. PR still has correct view of professional education.
Speaking ill of politicians, commies etc. doesn’t count because they aren’t people. Restaurant owners? Definitely people. 😁.
Can’t wait to be back in PR, I am on the road. Your substack gave me a few pointers, thanks