A Salvadoran story, by Brian Abate

There is a tiny restaurant called Los Hermanos Cafe at 142 West 9th Street. It’s in the middle of the busy intersection at Hamilton and Clinton St. right in-between Red Hook and Carroll Gardens. Though the space is small, the empanadas are excellent.

I spoke to Jonathan Flores, who works as a cashier at Los Hermanos. He told me about the restaurant and the special significance of its location. His uncle, Manuel Flores opened the restaurant recently.

“My uncle opened the place up in March and I started working here right from the start,” Flores said. “At first it was just a few orders like tacos and quesadillas that were really selling. We’re just starting to get the word out about some of the other dishes since we’re still pretty new.”

The restaurant has breakfast options like omelettes, as well as burgers, nachos, flautas, shakes, and some more creative options as well. It is open seven days a week, from 11 am-5 pm on Sundays and 9 am-9 pm on Mondays-Saturdays.

“Every now and then my uncle likes to experiment with dishes,” Flores said. Every food that you see here, and you’ve never seen before is his creation. He’s been a cook for as long as I can remember since I was a little kid.”

Flores mentioned his favorite food, saying “The bandeja paisa, which is steak, eggs, beans, chorizo, pork, rice, sweet plantains, and arepas, is amazing. You’ve got to be really hungry though because it’s really a lot of food.”

Finding the right location for the restaurant was very important for the Flores family.

“Red Hook holds a special place for us,” Flores said. “We’re Salvadoran and when my family first arrived in the country, they landed here in Red Hook, originally on West 9th St. We love Red Hook and we wanted a place as close as possible to it. Once we realized this place was available, we knew we wanted it.”

One of the challenges so far for Flores is handling both the flow of  business.

“It feels like we’re either really busy, or it’s kind of dead,” Flores said. “There’s no in-between. One thing is we have going for us is that we’ve developed some regular customers we can rely on, and then they tell other people about it, and word gets around.”

“One guy in particular, Ray, always comes in, and I remember him because I really like his energy. He always gets the empanadas and compliments them, and asks me about the business. I really appreciate that.”

Flores also spoke about some of his favorite parts of the job, saying “I know this might sound boring to a lot of people, but when we have rushes and a lot of people are coming in and trying the food, it makes me really happy. That and just hearing people praise the cooking makes me really happy.”

Los Hermanos Cafe
142 W 9th Street (347) 599-0428