The path of global reach that Puerto Rican music has carved is one the island's food scene now wants to follow.
The Caguas restaurant La Mancha de Plátano, which started as a food truck 18 years ago and became a restaurant three years ago, is now setting its sights on Madrid with plans to open its first location in Spain in 2027.
After two pop-ups in June at two Madrid restaurants, held around Bad Bunny's concerts in the Spanish capital, chef Emanuel Ocasio, founder and executive chef of La Mancha de Plátano, wants to bring purely Puerto Rican flavors to Europe, starting with his signature dish "la mamposturria," along with mofongo and his grandmother's sofrito.
"We're going to bring the most authentic Puerto Rico", Ocasio said in an interview with Platea. "We're going to have to make adjustments in terms of ingredients and things that can appeal to the Spanish palate, but I also think we should try to keep it as original and as cultural as possible so we can bring a piece of our land to Spain," he added.
Music opened the door for us. Now it's our job to bring our culture, our flavors, our palate. To show that we also have great food, not just great music.
What will La Mancha de Plátano look like in Madrid?
"We've been working on this since October of last year," Ocasio said of the idea of bringing Puerto Rican flavors to Spain, one of his biggest dreams, given that it is a place he admires both culturally and gastronomically. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for that culture," he noted.
Precedente Group, the group that includes La Mancha de Plátano and six other restaurants from Ocasio such as Nacho Libre and La Malcriada, has already registered the brand in Spain and is in the process of obtaining permits to operate in the European country, but does not yet have a location or an opening date.
The sofrito: "It can't be missing from our kitchens," Ocasio said. "We use a very grandma-style sofrito: recao, cilantro, onion, garlic, cubanelle pepper, salt, ají dulce. It's my grandmother's recipe."
The mofongo: "I think mofongo represents us."
Arroz con gandules and pernil: "Arroz con gandules represents us; pernil represents us."
The fritters: "Alcapurrias represent us, empanadillas represent us."
📍 Where they'll be in Madrid. The plan is for La Mancha de Plátano to operate in central Madrid, an area with a wide and varied dining scene and millions of visitors.
The bet is to stand out with distinctly Puerto Rican flavors, which in the Spanish capital can only be found at the Puerto Rican bar El Antillano or at El Casal de Pepa, a restaurant that blends Spanish and Puerto Rican cooking and has become a gathering place for Puerto Ricans in Madrid.
The menu. "Whatever you see at La Mancha de Plátano in Puerto Rico is what you'll see on the menu in Spain," Ocasio said. That menu includes sorullitos, plantain soup, plantain sandwiches, stuffed mofongos and his signature dish: the mamposturria, a "cousin" of the alcapurria that uses a dough of green banana mixed with arroz mamposteao and is filled with ground beef and mozzarella cheese.
From pop-ups in Madrid to Fitur 2027
For Ocasio, proof that Puerto Rican cuisine has potential in Madrid came from the two events where he participated with La Mancha de Plátano on June 4 and 7 at Inclán Brutal Bar and the nightclub Calle 365, which in 2026 will feature a small piece of Puerto Rico in its décor, cocktails and food.
At Inclán Brutal Bar and with its chef Jessica Fernández, Ocasio presented, alongside chef Carlos Santana, corporate chef of La Mancha de Plátano, dishes such as a montadito of alcapurria with salmorejo de jueyes, a mofonguito of green plantain with shrimp al ajillo and his mamposturria.
"The mamposturria has already crossed the Atlantic… Many Spaniards were surprised by the mofonguito, the alcapurria, the mamposturria. Our fourth course was bringing the Christmas tradition to a plate: we made a creamy arroz con gandules, pernil, it had cilantro aioli and we topped it with a chustrín de guineo verde," the chef said. "It was absolutely incredible."
At Calle 360, they made tripletas, their nachos criollos, made with malanga chips, pico de gallo, mayoketchup, avocado cream and Swiss and Parmesan cheeses with your choice of protein, and octopus salad.
They also brought two of their house cocktails: the Old Fashioned Manchao, with plantain oil and chocolate angostura, and the Mojito de Papaya con Queso, which includes papaya jam, a garnish of fresh local white cheese and a guava skewer.
For the remainder of 2026, Ocasio said they will hold two more events at restaurants in Madrid. They were also part of El Mercado at the closing of Bad Bunny's Debí Tirar Más Fotos tour at Estadio Hiram Bithorn.
Looking ahead to 2027, when Puerto Rico will be the principal partner country of the Feria Internacional de Turismo (FITUR), running Jan. 20-24 at IFEMA Madrid, Ocasio wants to participate within the Puerto Rican pavilion or as part of the Caguas booth, since many municipalities will also have individual presences.
"We're going to be looking at being the face of Turismo Puerto Rico or, maybe, if they give us the opportunity, Caguas. El Municipio de Caguas is going to have its booth. We've already submitted proposals for us as a brand to be there, to keep standing firm to open in 2027," Ocasio said.
The story of La Mancha de Plátano and its expansion
Ocasio opened La Mancha de Plátano in 2007 as a family food truck serving creative criolla food in the barrio Bairoa of Caguas. In 2020, he opened a second food truck at Contenedores Food Truck Park in Humacao, and in 2023 they opened their brick-and-mortar location in Caguas, which is now the brand's main hub.
"We never imagined we'd get this far. Madrid is a very deliberate decision: it's the first time we've set foot in Europe, and we wanted to do it in a city that understands the table and knows how to sit down and eat seriously," the chef said.
Other brands led by Ocasio. Together, they add up to nine points of sale across four municipalities and more than 350 direct employees, with restaurants including:
Nacho Libre El Restaurante
Nacho Libre La Cantina
La Malcriada
Hacha y Machete (Humacao)
Rellena'o (Old San Juan)
Señoritas Street Food
Opening in the Dominican Republic. In 2023, they expanded their portfolio by opening Nacho Libre Cantina Mexicana in the colonial zone of Santo Domingo.
New destinations. In addition to Madrid, Ocasio has his sights set on areas of the United States with a large Puerto Rican presence, such as New York, Chicago and Florida, as well as Colombia.
If I had to name countries to watch going forward, Colombia should be one and the United States should be another. We're at a good moment for our gastronomy to expand
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
