El Casal de Pepa has become a landmark spot for Puerto Ricans in Madrid.
When Eladio Carrión, Myke Towers, Tito Nieves or Luis Fonsi pass through Madrid, El Casal de Pepa is a required stop for a fix of Puerto Rican food. While you can find mofongo and tostones at Dominican and Cuban restaurants in the Spanish capital, El Casal de Pepa is the only 100% Puerto Rican restaurant in Madrid.
That has made it a pilgrimage destination for all Puerto Ricans in the diaspora living in Spain, whether they are studying, passing through, or, in the case of artists, on tour and hit by a craving.
The entrepreneur behind this restaurant, located on Plaza del Conde de Casal, is Joselyn "Pepa" Robert Baerga, originally from Utuado. Pepa crossed the Atlantic to Madrid 20 years ago to study and fell in love with the city.
So much so that in 2016 she took the leap and opened this restaurant, which originally served only Spanish food. The Puerto Rican menu came later, after Hurricane María, when monthly Puerto Rican nights began bringing the community together in solidarity, with plena music and traditional food.
Word spread: if you want to feel at home, stop by El Casal de Pepa.
Adding our dishes has not been easy, given the preparation and ingredients they require. Pepa personally trains and supervises every cook to learn each Puerto Rican recipe so that it tastes the way it would on the Island.
Starting with white rice, which is prepared completely differently in Puerto Rico than in Spain or other Latin American countries. The iconic chuletas kan kan presented their own odyssey: finding a butcher who understood the Puerto Rican cut was only the first step.
Beyond the kitchen: a cultural bridge
But El Casal de Pepa is much more than rice and beans, bacalaítos and chuletas. Throughout the year, Pepa transforms El Casal with special menus and catering for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, "boricua style," featuring arroz con gandules.
Her dedication to preserving Puerto Rican traditions has made the restaurant a draw not only for the diaspora and tourists, but also for Madrileños curious to discover the flavors of Puerto Rican cuisine.
In recent years, Pepa has handled the catering for the Puerto Rico pavilion at Fitur, the international tourism fair held every January in Madrid.
Pepa's empire continues to grow with two more locations near the original: La Bodega de Pepa, an authentic Spanish tapas bar that opened last September for more traditional palates, and her newest project: the recently opened El Mediterráneo de Pepa, a fusion restaurant featuring artisanal pizzas and a broader tapas menu.
From her corner on Plaza del Conde de Casal, Pepa has not only created a home for Puerto Rican flavors in Madrid but has built a gastronomic empire that shows Puerto Rican roots can take hold anywhere in the world.
The author is a Puerto Rican creative and podcaster who has lived in Madrid since 2023.
This post is part of a collaboration between Platea and Las Cosmos, a platform for Latinos in Spain.
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
