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If you like tequila, the Porto Roc Sundowner is for you. This is a drink that Ricardo Nieves has been making at home for years, shaking mango juice with tequila before adding a splash of guava juice to the foam on top, making it resemble the setting sun.
It is also the signature drink of the Porto Roc Soxial Lounge, a sports bar that recently opened on Lake Avenue in the heart of Charlotte, mixing Puerto Rican and American cuisine.
When Nieves set out to open a sports bar, he wanted to bring a Puerto Rican twist.
“It’s Puerto Rican cuisine, but it’s different from the other Puerto Rican restaurants. That’s not an accident; I wanted to do something different,” Nieves says. “If I want people to come here for the food, I want it to be serious. It’s more of a fusion. And we make it our own. We add our own spice to it.”
Like most restaurants in the area, Porto Roc offers its version of the garbage plate, a Rochester staple. The Porto Roc Plate wrap is a take on the garbage plate using ingredients of classic Puerto Rican cuisine, including yuca fries and pulled pork instead of the classic home fries and cheeseburger.
“I’ve always wanted to own a bar. I’m a people-person. I’m a social butterfly,” explains Nieves.
Born and raised in Rochester, Nieves touts the city’s emblem tattooed on his chest with the word “inspired.” To him, the Charlotte area is overlooked, so when a lease became available a little over a year ago, he jumped at the opportunity to make his dream a reality.
“If people put more focus on Charlotte, it could be a big staple of the city. We just need more support for the city, to get that going,” says Nieves, dubbing it the “Hamptons of Rochester.”
He wants to be part of its rejuvenation with his Porto Roc, which was made possible (in part) after Nieves applied to the nonprofit Rochester Economic Development Corp. Revolving Loan Fund, a program aimed at empowering small businesses, specifically minority-owned businesses.
“We Hispanics usually have these little restaurants. They have little restaurants you can go to and grab food to go and not really sit down and have that atmosphere,” notes Maria Oliver, CFO of the ROCEDC and a close friend of Nieves. “We don’t have what he created here, especially in the Charlotte area.”
Porto Roc’s menu offers rellenos de papa, alcapurrias, and paninis with plantain buns, as an alternative to traditional buns, all complemented by homemade tostones, crunchier and reminiscent of crinkle fries, a testament to the mission of providing an American fusion anyone can enjoy.
“I’ve never been in the bar or restaurant business. I don’t feel like I am now. I feel like I’m in the hospitality business,” says Nieves, who’s worked in real estate and housing for over 25 years.
After he clocks out from his day job as a code enforcement supervisor for the city of Rochester at 5 p.m., he heads to the lounge. Often, he’ll run around checking on the food, waiting tables, and bartending until close. Porto Roc is open from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. weekdays and 2 a.m. on the weekend.
“I always go to someone to make sure that they’re happy,” Nieves says. “Whether it’s a complaint about the pork being too salty or a request for more toilet paper.”
Porto Roc plans to open earlier for the football season.
“It’s a sports bar, first and foremost,” says Nieves, gesturing to the TVs lining the wall, “I don’t want to miss a game. I don’t want anyone to miss a game.
“At the end of the day, even though this is all (on) me, I didn’t get this far alone. I have a lot of support,” says Nieves, crediting Oliver and Jada Vargas, his chef, for their support in his vision.
His goal is to eventually expand to different locations and open a restaurant with solely Puerto Rican cuisine. He currently has roughly a dozen employees.
“I just want to make sure that everyone who’s taking a chance on me, I don’t fail them,” he says.
Emmely Eli Texcucano, a University of Rochester student, is a member of the Oasis Project’s second cohort.
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