Sofrito Rico Authentic Puerto Rican Cuisine
Address: 5201 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite 110, Las Vegas
Phone: 702-822-6220
Email: [email protected]
Website: sofritorico.com
Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
Owned/operated by: Susanette and Jason Sandoval
In business since: 2015
Tell us about your roots and what prompted you to open Sofrito Rico?
I was born and raised in Carolina, Puerto Rico. I moved to Las Vegas when I was 16 and have been living here for the past 12 years. When I was a young girl, I always helped my grandmother cook. The recipes and methods I use today are the ones I learned from her. I give her all the credit for inspiring me and teaching me how to cook the food of my native island.
Opening a Puerto Rican restaurant was always a dream of mine, because I love cooking. When I met my husband, I would cook for him and he loved my food. He said we should open a restaurant. This was a dream of mine, but I didn’t see it happening so soon.
We came up with a plan to start off small by doing outside events to build a customer base and get our name out there. Quickly, after doing events, the demand was there to open a restaurant.
Who are your customers?
Our customers vary from different ethnic backgrounds and age groups, but we are thankful to have a lot of support from the Puerto Rican community. Our customers travel from all over the valley and the surrounding areas. We also get a lot of customers who have never experienced Puerto Rican cuisine and are curious to try it.
What is your most popular dish?
We have many popular dishes, but I’d say the most popular main dishes are the pernil roasted pork and churrasco skirt steak that comes with our signature chimichurri sauce.
What is the best part about doing business here?
People love to dine out here. The other benefits are the many big events, conventions and attractions that draw visitors from around the world. This has been a huge benefit for Sofrito Rico, and has also helped with marketing outside of Las Vegas. We get many requests from customers to expand to other cities.
Would you consider expanding to other cities?
We definitely want to, but we want to take our time and not rush into anything, because we are still learning the restaurant business. Our main priority is focusing on our current location, and we are looking to open a larger location on the south end of the valley. Our next location will have a full bar and live entertainment on weekends.
When we do expand outside of Las Vegas, we would like to open a restaurant in San Diego first. We visit there frequently and love the city. My husband was stationed there when he was in the Marines and is familiar with the city. We think it’s important to know the city we are expanding to.
What obstacles has your business overcome?
The biggest obstacle we have had to overcome is the growth of our business in such a short time.
The main obstacles with growing too fast are keeping up with the food demand and putting together a strong team to handle the demand. Overcoming these obstacles was never easy, but we adapted and overcame everything along the way.