Chad Franzen 16:25
Very nice. Hey, I saw that you guys are kind of Cuban Guys. Is known for its Cuban frita. Can you tell me about this dish and kind of what makes it so special?
Jorge Llapur 16:34
All right. The Cuban frita is the Cuban version of the great All-American hamburger. And it started in the streets of Havana back in the 1930s, prior to the communist Cuba, where the frita vendors were called fritters. And the fritters would have hot dog cart kind of styles in the corners of Havana. They would typically park outside of a movie theater outside of a great event, and as people walked out, they would kind of buy from this cart vendor. And the way the fritters are special and every Frito has their own recipe. If you go online and look at Cuban street recipes, you’ll find many of them, the core idea of that frita is it’s a mixture of the ground beef. Some put pork and ground beef together and spice it up with garlic, onion, pepper, paprika and all those spices that the meat itself has a flavor that it’s not the regular meat flavor. It’s got a smoky chorizo kind of flavor that makes it special. And then we top it with julienne cut fries. We get the string fries and we shred it, and we deep fry the fries itself. And you get this shoe strings, kind of shredded potatoes that we put in the sandwich. And when you bite into it, the flavor of the meat, the crunchiness of the potato sticks gives it a peculiar, beautiful flavor that I love. And that’s what kind of generated our love for the Frita. It’s a different version of a hamburger with a flavor kick to it. It is so flavorful that we don’t put lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles and, and all those ingredients on a Frita Cubana. you’ll find the beef, the onions, the potato strings and the Cuban roll. That’s it.
Chad Franzen 18:28
Wow. Sounds fantastic. I’m starving now. And it’s only 7:15 in the morning here. Hey, is music a big part of your kind of vibe at your restaurant?
Jorge Llapur 18:38
Absolutely. We play Latin big beats all the time. As a matter of fact, we have Cuban Guys Radio. As you said, the architect exact Sklar on our team is the one that designs the restaurants. I am the operator. So I operate the restaurant. And then the third Cuban guy is Enrique Santos, which is a radio host and has a radio show that plays Latin music and is very involved with the music industry. So we came up with Cuban Guys Radio. We have a cloud that we have our playlist of our radio songs that the most popular Hispanic radio tunes that are playing today, plus the traditional Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, the traditional classic of the Cuban Miami field. Music plays on the background at every single one of our locations through the Cuban Guys radio. And if you want to, for those of you listening today, if you go to Cuban Guys restaurants.com and click on the Cuban Guys radio link, you can listen to our Cuban music live from anywhere in the world.
Chad Franzen 19:42
Nice. That’s great. Why is that important? Why do you feel like that’s an important part of the restaurant? To have music there like that?
Jorge Llapur 19:48
Well, the restaurant, aside from having great food, the experience, it’s a very important key factor for any restaurant. So we want to create the experience of a Cuban, flavorful atmosphere. So if you go to our restaurants, the music gives it that Hispanic Latino feel. The flavor of the food complements that. The design of our restaurants. You know, we have we are Cuban Americans that came to this country when I was 12. So I hold the Cuban flag and the American flag really dear and near to me, and they were both red, white and blue. So the restaurant colors and the decorations got the red, the white and the blue, and it’s kind of a very vibrant vibe that makes part of the Cuban Guys experience authentic and makes it unique.
Chad Franzen 20:40
You talked about having to adjust to the post-COVID world of being a restaurant owner. What are some of the primary adjustments you’ve had to make as a result of, you know, the dining room being, you know, more empty than it used to be and more deliveries now or more takeaway orders.
Jorge Llapur 20:57
Yeah, it’s a learning process as any restaurant owner or operator will let you know. I remember that before Covid, a lot of customers asked for delivery. And I always told them, you know what? Our food is really good when it’s fresh out of our restaurant, a pizza delivery, you get a pizza and 30 minutes later that pizza is as good Chinese food delivery. That Chinese food. You know that fried rice. You have it now. And two hours from now, that rice is still good. The Cuban fritter does potato strings that are within the sandwich. The heat from the beef patty makes it kind of soggy after after 15, 20 minutes. So prior to COVID, when customers says, oh, you guys don’t deliver. I said, yeah, we really really don’t like — our food doesn’t travel well. And, you know, we were okay not delivering because our dining was packed. And, you know, we were very successful without delivery. COVID hit. And you know what? If you don’t deliver, you got to shut down. And we had to learn how to make our we had to redesign our packaging because our packaging wasn’t delivery friendly. We had to redesign some of our recipes. We had to redefine the way we process our processes that would allow us to have that great quality food. But now it’s traveling 20-30 minutes before it gets to the customer’s mouth. So we had to adjust to that. And you know, like in any, any business, you are successful as your ability to adjust to what’s ahead.
Chad Franzen 22:35
Yeah, very very nice. Those are some great adjustments. You’re the first one that’s told me about those kind of kind of in depth the way you have. What are some of your plans for the future then for Cuban Guys.
Jorge Llapur 22:47
Well, we are thinking that, you know, we’re still open here in the local community looking for spaces. You know, if we find a good space that would help us geographically match what we need, we would open more restaurants here locally. And then long term plans would try to open up for franchising and come up with a franchising program that we can grow outside of South Florida through franchising.
Chad Franzen 23:14
Okay. Sounds good. Hey, I have one more question for you, but first, just tell me how people can find out more about Cuban Guys restaurants.
Jorge Llapur 23:22
We have our website at www.Cubanguysrestaurants.com, and you can find us on Instagram at Cuban Guys, Facebook, Twitter or X also TikTok. So we have a social presence also on our YouTube channel. And if you’re ever in the South Florida area, we would love to have you and try our steak sandwich or Cuban burger or our Cuban bowls, which are very, very tasty.
Chad Franzen 23:54
Sounds fantastic. Hey, last question for you. So when you go to Cuban Guys, maybe as just a customer, what’s kind of your if you have like a go to combination of items what would those be.
Jorge Llapur 24:05
You know what, I am biased. I came up with the menu and I love them all. If I don’t love it, it’s not in the menu. So to me, after ten years, I eat Cuban Guys every day. But I will kind of tell you what the most popular items are when I go through my transaction log. My heavy hitters are the Cuban burger, La Frita Cubana, the steak sandwich, which is a thinly sliced palomilla steak with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions and Cuban bread, which is very popular, and also our Cuban balls, which is a bed of white rice covered with homestyle black beans. By the way,… is my wife’s recipe because I’m not much of a good cook. But you know, when we were coming up with this, she was able to give me an exact recipe that would make it in bulk for the restaurant. Then we have the sweet plantains, and you top it with a protein of your choice. Vaca frita, which is shredded flank steak, is the top seller. And those are the three top sellers on the menu. So if you’re ever at South Florida, come check it out. I’m pretty sure you’re going to love it.
Chad Franzen 25:09
Okay. Absolutely. Hey, Jorge, it’s been great to talk to you today. Thank you so much for sharing your time and all of your stories and your insights with us. Really appreciate it.
Jorge Llapur 25:17
Thank you so much. I’ve enjoyed it and looking forward to hosting you when you’re here in South Florida.
Chad Franzen 25:22
Thank you. So long everybody.
Outro 25:23
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