WYOMING, Mich. — At Caribbean Sunrise, Gadiel Colón and his wife, AnaSue Jaramillo-Colón, serve dishes including pernil, or roasted pork, sweet plantains and arroz con gandules.
For Colón, the path to owning a restaurant began as a teenager in Puerto Rico.
“I started this when I was 16 years old,” he said. “I used to sell shish kebabs, meat on a stick on the side of the road in Puerto Rico.”
He later began selling skewers and Puerto Rican rice in Holland before moving into a restaurant of his own.
The couple initially wondered how their food would be received. Jaramillo-Colón said Puerto Rican cuisine was less familiar to some customers than other Latin American food available locally.
“They cannot get over the different flavors that they are experiencing with this type of cuisine,” she said.
The menu also includes empanadillas, mofongo and a jibarito sandwich. Colón said he takes pride in introducing customers to Puerto Rican cooking and seeing his longtime business goal become a reality.
Watching that happen alongside his wife has been overwhelming, he said.
“Oh, we're grateful.”
In Wyoming, José Bobadilla said Supermercado La Victoria grew out of a desire to help the Hispanic community find products for familiar meals.
Bobadilla is from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and his wife is from Durango. Their business offers groceries along with freshly prepared food, including burritos, gorditas and carne asada quesadillas.
While serving Hispanic customers was a priority, Bobadilla said people from many backgrounds visit the store.
“We try to we try to like you say to share part of our culture with everybody here,” he said.
The grocery aisles give customers ingredients to cook at home. The prepared food offers another way to experience Mexican flavors — whether they’re familiar or something a customer is trying for the first time.
For Bobadilla, the response goes beyond enjoying a meal. Seeing people embrace traditions from his country helps him feel accepted in the United States.
“We can we we can bring our traditions from from our country to to here to United States and and people love it people like it,” he said.
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