Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Rodriguez.
Danny, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Pablito’s kitchen was born as an idea that came when I saw a need and a demand for a fast casual Peruvian restaurant in LA. Most of the restaurants in LA are moms and pops and they lack many of the Elements that makes a strong brand. Elements like a theme, decor, customer service, consistency in the plates and most of all the fast casual experience. I approached renowned chef Charles Thomson who at that time was based in NYC and asked him if he would like to be part of this journey with me and jump on board and the rest is history. We started with a food truck may 2016 and from day 1 it was an instant hit not just with Peruvians but with foodies. In October we launched our first brick and mortar in Burbank, Ca. We chose Burbank because we felt it was a great midpoint for our first store. Close to all the Peruvians that had supported the truck in the San Fernando Valley but still close to Glendale, Sun Valley, Pasadena and LA. Opening day we had lines around the corner, most of the city knew about our grand opening since we had parked our truck for 2 months in front of where the store would be in order for the neighbors to get a taste of what was to come.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As the first Peruvian truck with an Asian flare in LA, there were always some challenges as in most food truck events patrons are more geared towards more traditional food trucks that most of the time already have a following. Most of these trucks serve Mexican with some type of twist, burgers or Asian. We knew we had to compete with these guys but we knew our food’s quality was most of the time superb. It would take just one bite of our food for the new customer to be hooked, whether it was one of our ceviches, pan con chicharron(pork sandwich) or arroz con pollo. If you try any of our dishes, we had you! So little by little, we started to create a buzz and a following.
For our restaurant we also had Our challenges, we are not in downtown Burbank nor magnolia park area, both of these areas have foot and car traffic but the good thing about food is that word of mouth spreads fast. In close to 4 months of our opening, we are at 4.5 stars and over 200 reviews on Yelp.
Pablito’s kitchen – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We specialize in Peruvian cuisine with an Asian twist. We are known for our variety of ceviches from traditional to a ceviche nikkei which is more of a Peruvian/Japanese Ceviche made with yellowfin tuna, shoyu, sesame oil, aji Amarillo and leche de Tigre. Also, our lomo saltado has our own special touch which you won’t find at other Peruvian restaurants along with our Peruvian paella. As a company, we are very proud that we have been able to make this vision and reality in such a short time period. We feel honor when customers tell us this is the best Peruvian food they’ve had and also feel a sense of accomplishment when someone walks in that has NEVER tried a PERUVIAN food and they are amazed and grateful as they walk out, thanking us for opening and wishing us the best.
Our decor is very modern with artwork all over the restaurant which include murals, paintings, nostalgic photographs, black wall with chalk artwork and a digital menu board tags also resembles a blackboard.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The day we opened our brick and mortar, seeing hundreds in line while our truck is also parked in the front. And everyone leaving happy and excited about our food
Pricing:
- Lomo saltado $14.99
- Ceviche Clasico $14.99
- Pan con chicharron $7.99
Contact Info:
- Address: 3803 west Burbank Blvd
Burbank ca 91505 - Website: www.pablitoskitchen.com
- Phone: 8188597755
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Jetsel HD and Pierre Lepine
