Island vibes in Avondale

Since Isabel Marrero moved to Birmingham from Puerto Rico in April 2015, she has tried nearly every restaurant in the city and its surrounding suburbs. The 26-year-old marketing consultant and her environmental engineer-husband, Gabriel Marrero, said they love everything about Birmingham’s vibrant culinary scene — save one thing. 

“When we moved here we saw the scene growing, and we thought it’s nice, but they don’t have what we can bring,” Gabriel Marrero said. 

What they decided to bring was a bit of their history, a hint of their heritage and a piece of who they are. The two self-described “foodies” are bringing Puerto Rican and Caribbean food to Birmingham with their new business, Tropicaleo.

The fast casual restaurant will be on the 4400 block of Fourth Avenue South at the end of the strip mall that houses Family Dollar. The restaurant will seat about 76 people in its indoor dining room and outdoor terrace. The couple also plans to take advantage of the building’s existing takeout window to fill pickup orders. They expect a good number of them, considering the restaurant is next to Cahaba Brewing. 

Décor will reflect Puerto Rico’s capital of San Juan, America’s oldest port city, with pastel colors and tropical accents. The Marreros said they plan to make their restaurant dog and family friendly. In fact, the Marreros’ 8-year-old daughter, Sophia, already is hard at work with plans to ensure the latter. “Sophia is all over it,” Gabriel Marrero said. “She’s the part owner of the restaurant, and she knows it’s her restaurant. She’ll have a ‘Sophia’s Corner,’ which will be a kids corner in the restaurant with toys for kids.”

Tropicaleo will serve lunch and dinner plus brunch on the weekends in what Isabel Marrero describes as a “very laid back ambiance” that reflects “Tropicaleo,” which is Puerto Rican slang to describe the island vibe. 

“It’s sort of like on your day off you just want to drive around the beach, have a few beers, eat some food from food trucks — that’s Tropicaleo,” Isabel Marrero said. “We’re serious about our food — all Puerto Ricans are — but we aren’t serious about anything else.”

Before their expected opening date in late October, the Marreros will be serving up their Puerto Rican dishes at their permanent pop-up at Crestwood Tavern. They serve lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and brunch and lunch on the weekend from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  

“We’re using it as a way to find out what people prefer because Puerto Rican food is very diverse, and the Southern palate is very tricky,” Isabel Marrero said. “We wanted to get to know people and let people get to know us before we start officially at Avondale.”

So far, the Marreros have found success with their signature sandwiches, especially jibaritos, which are made using twice-fried plantains called tostones instead of bread. They are served in two varieties: stuffed with skirt steak and provolone or a vegan option filled with eggplant and hummus. In addition to sandwiches, Tropicaleo offers rotating lunch specials including canoitas, whole, sweet plantains baked and filled with beef or eggplant. 

Recently, the couple have responded to the requests of their loyal following by offering mofongo, an Afro-Puerto Rican dish made from fried-then-mashed plantains mixed with meat. Like their other menu items, the mofongo can also be ordered vegan. 

“Vegan is crucial to us,” Gabriel Marrero said. “Having vegan and gluten-free items on our menu has been part of the design since the beginning.”

In fact, other than the Morovis bread the couple has made at Continental Bakery, everything on their menu is gluten free. Isabel Marrero, herself, is gluten-sensitive, and she said many of the people who visited their Woodlawn Street Market pop-up had celiac disease. 

In addition to their head chef, Orlando Vega, who they brought in from Puerto Rico, the Marreros have enlisted the help of local community partners. Instead of selling commercial drinks, they sell Wabi Tea and Wholesome Soda, which are both made in Homewood. They get their sausage from Kyle D’Agostino of D’Agostino Sausage Emporium, who also happens to be their head architect. 

The Marreros said though they aren’t Birmingham natives, they felt a huge sense of community in the area, which inspired them to push forward in starting a business. “We moved here with no expectations of this happening,” Gabriel Marrero said. “The real thing is that Birmingham is just a prime place to do this kind of thing, to grow it, and make it something special.” 

Of course, he said he already knew Birmingham was something special. “This whole area was almost abandoned still,” he said. “But I fell in love with the place, and I told [Isabel] we had to come here. I said, ‘This place is amazing; it’s going to be crazy in a few years.’”

Now that they’ve made Birmingham their home, the Marreros said they’re excited to contribute to the craziness with Tropicaleo. For more information, go to tropicaleo.com.