Fans of the popular Cuban food truck Little Havana Express will now always know where they can find its food. The owner opened Havana Cafe, which features the same cuisine, in Franklin earlier this month.
Owner and chef Angelina Maholias said she is known for her Cuban sandwich, and has been since she opened her first Cuban restaurant in the late '90s.
"Whether you're in Havana or down in Miami, the pork is usually sliced like how you slice turkey," said Maholias, a West Allis resident. "I marinate my pork and cook it for 12 hours, so it falls apart."
On a typical day, she said she goes through 80 to 100 pounds of pork.
"It's very tender and it's very juicy," she said.
While Cuban sandwiches traditionally have mustard, Maholias uses a homemade Cuban lime sauce instead.
"Hardly anyone ever uses mustard because they love my sauce," she said.
In addition to the el Cubano sandwich, Havana Cafe's menu includes house special plates of roasted pork, ground beef or roasted chicken that come with white rice and black beans, a pollo tropical (tropical chicken) sandwich, pork, ground beef or chicken empanadas, yuca fries, sweet plantains, desserts, and specials. In the future, Maholias plans to add coffee and other items.
"Cuban food is not spicy," she said. "It's just full of flavor."
Instead of having ingredients delivered, Maholias prefers to pick out all of the cafe's meats, vegetables and produce herself.
"It's different when they (customers) know you're making the homemade food," she said.
The restaurant, 7119 S. 76th St. Franklin, offers carryout, and counter service with limited dine-in seating. It's open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Road to the restaurant
In the late 1990s, Maholias opened a Cuban restaurant called Tropical Pollo at 7th Street and National Avenue in Milwaukee, then moved it to 6th and Rogers streets in the early 2000s.
In 2005, she left the restaurant business to become a private personal chef and did meal prepping for families until 2011.
At that time, Maholias began working for a Mexican restaurant in Sussex and became manager there.
About six years later, she decided on her next venture: A food truck serving Cuban cuisine.
By the fall of 2014, her Little Havana Express food truck was ready to go. After a few private events during the fall and winter months, it launched to the public in March of 2015.
"We got invited to so many events," she said.
In 2018, she upgraded from a 22-foot to a 28-foot trailer. But still, she said, her food truck didn't have enough space for the amount of food and staff needed to keep up with demand.
To give her additional space and for customers to always know where to find her, Maholias opened Havana Cafe in the former home of Rounding Third Pizzeria.
She said almost the entire restaurant was renovated. It now has an open kitchen, bakery case, and about six tables for customers.
The cafe was supposed to be ready by March or April, but the coronavirus pandemic caused delays, she said. It ended up opening Sept. 14.
Maholias decided on Franklin since it's "kind of in the middle" of where she usually takes her food truck.
The food truck's schedule was also altered by COVID-19.
By February 2020, Little Havana Express was "completely booked" from March through November with festivals, farmers markets, food truck tours, weddings, company luncheons, and fundraisers, she said. She was supposed to have only seven Sundays off during that time, but 98% of her gigs got canceled.
"It was definitely a hardship," she said.
But, looking ahead, the food truck is already 20% booked for 2021.
'I love what I do'
Maholias usually works from about 5 a.m. to midnight.
"I love what I do," she said.
The restaurant business is in her blood. Her father owned restaurants and nightclubs, and her grandfather owned restaurants and bakeries, she said.
"It's all I saw as a kid," she said.
Her parents and grandparents all taught her how to cook.
"It's not like things get written down," she said. "That's not how you learn in Greek families or Cuban families. It's hands on. You know how to make everything, but it's not written in a book."
She plans to offer her own cooking classes at the cafe in the future.
"All the love" she puts into her food, and her staff, many of which are family and friends, make her businesses special, Maholias said.
Havana Cafe
ADDRESS: 7119 S. 76th St. Franklin
PHONE: 414-888-2145
WEBSITE: facebook.com/HAVANACAFEANDCATERING or facebook.com/LittleHavanaExpressFoodTruck
PRICE RANGE: From $4 for an empanada to $12 for a house special plate
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.
"cafe" - Google News
September 23, 2020 at 11:02PM
https://ift.tt/3kFvnO7
The owner of the popular Little Havana Express food truck just opened a Cuban cafe in Franklin - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"cafe" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FkbMR3
https://ift.tt/3c4yPxW
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25244079/4.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment