With a busy line just after opening at 11 a.m. on Sept. 15, the third location of MofonGo began business on Sept. 15, at 144B Broad St. in Windsor.
Vincent Placeres is the owner of the restaurant, which has had success at its locations in New Britain and, earlier this year, on Park Street in Hartford.
Placeres said his plan was simple, to use recipes he’s known his whole life, and provide excellent customer service. Opening his third store, he said, is “amazing.”
“I’m so excited,” he said, as a line grew rapidly after the doors opened. “Usually, when we open a location, we get slammed the first week, because people want to try it – everyone wants to taste it.”
MofonGo’s Director of Operations Drew Angelo said the location was picked partially because of its proximity to Massachusetts and desired growth of the company.
“We want to expand past the borders of Connecticut,” Angelo said. “Windsor allows us to start tapping into that. This allows us to expand into other markets. We do a lot of research and there were a lot of requests and need for this location.”
MofonGo is named for the popular Puerto Rican dish, the base of which is mashed, fried sweet plantains, combined with butter, oil, and a variety of spices, then topped with meat, vegetables, and condiments – including MofonGo’s homemage ketchup mayo.
Some of the ingredients, Placeres said, are known only to him and a few trusted chefs he employs.
“The recipes are all in my head, and I put them all in a book. But, I lock the seasonings down, so nobody really knows it, except for me and four other people, like the seasonings in the meats,” Placeres said, adding that he’s glad to have a great team of managers and employees, enabling him to run three busy restaurants.
“It’s a really good crew, and all of my chefs are from Puerto Rico. They understand all the flavors of the island, and the product, and being authentic,” he said.
Besides mofongo, the restaurant also serves rice bowls, empanadas, salads, appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, and desserts.
Puerto Rican cuisine, Placeres said, is a “mouth-watering plate of flavors,” and includes fresh peppers and produce, as well as many island spices, but the food is generally not high on the Scoville scale.
“It’s not spicy. It’s really sweet, delicious, and aromatic,” Placeres said, suggesting that a Spanish rice bowl would be a good dish for first-time tasters of the cuisine.
Placeres’ long-term goal for MofonGo is no small ambition.
“The goal is to be the first Puerto Rican chain out there, from west coast to east coast,” he said. “It’s really just to establish a corporate chain.”
That desired corporate growth is coupled with a connection to the community. MofonGo has already been benefiting local organizations, including a partnership with Windsor schools and a local outreach organization which helps people find employment, and donated meals to first-responders. Placeres said plans are to continue to help.
“It’s also to raise funds, to help take care of orphans, the homeless,” he said, “and take care of anyone in need.”
Looking just a couple months ahead, MofonGo will be preparing Thanksgiving meals for families in need. Placeres said all three restaurants will be making a total of 100 complete meals – turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce (with a Spanish twist) – to local families.
For more information, visit www.mofongorestaurant.com.