A new dining establishment has opened in the Bronx, bring back the old tradition of family meals in a serene environment.
On Saturday, October 4, Colonial Restaurant, located at 2072 White Plains Road, opened its doors to the public after four months of renovations. Prior to Colonial the space was occupied by Caridad Restaurant, but has since been transformed into something new under the ownership of Sandra Pena and Rafael Espinal.
“We redid the whole thing from top to bottom,” said Manny Medina, manager of Colonial. “We gutted everything out and started from scratch, and it has a beautiful décor now.”
This trendy dining facility offers Latin-American Cuisine, serving meals a la carte.
Amongst their more popular dishes are churrasco (Romanian Steak), house-style mofongo, a special grilled chicken dinner, the Colonial combination, a mixture of filet of sole, mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp, and Caribbean sautéed chicken.
Though the restaurant is developing a reputation for their dinner selection, they also offer breakfast and lunch, with the restaurant operating from 7 a.m. to midnight.
“We would like to see more of our community coming out in the morning for breakfast,” said Medina, “but overall its been pretty good and we seem to have been well received by the community.”
Pena moved to the Bronx over 20 years ago from the Dominican Republic, hoping to share his gastronomic creations.
“I used to work as a waitress in other restaurants and I was inspired to open my own business when I saw the need for Latin American Cuisine in this area,” said Pena.
The restaurant consists of 10 tables that can accommodate a party and 12 booths.
Children’s menus are offered and parking is conveniently located across the street.
In the near future, the location hopes to begin holding specialty event nights on Friday or Saturday evenings.
“It’s a great asset to the community and a very nice restaurant,” said Larry Prospect, president of the White Plains Road Business Improvement District. “We are very pleased they are investing this kind of money and effort into our community.”
