In the middle of the day on Third Avenue between 104th and 105th Street, Geraldine Mariano walks slowly to the corner where La Isla, a Spanish restaurant is displaying a couple of roasted chickens spinning slowly above a warm fire for all pedestrians to see. She stops and looks across the street where another Spanish restaurant is displaying its own assortment of roasted chickens on a rotisserie surrounded by pork, fried chicken and a couple of yellow rolls full of cheese known as Bollitos. After a moment of indecision, Geraldine turns around and enters La Isla.
“This is a constant struggle for me to decide where to eat everyday. Once it was a good struggle, now it is simply annoying,” Geraldine says. Geraldine is a Filipino professional chef born and raised in the United States who loves food and has lived in Spanish Harlem for a couple of years. Despite being a professional chef, she loves to just buy Spanish food because she isn’t Spanish herself. Talking about the restaurants, she said that, “These restaurants have been in constant war with each other for quite some time, and everyday there’s a new twist that sort of makes this a soap opera.”
In a radius of two streets there are three Spanish restaurants. Each restaurant has a similar menu, which usually consist of lunch specials and combos tailored made for whatever they are serving that day. The first is La Isla on the corner of 104th Street and Third Avenue; it is a small cozy place that is known for its commitment to the customer by offering delivery service and great store hours of operations. They have four small tables, and 5 high chairs to eat over the counter. El Caribe is on 105th Street and Lexington Avenue and is known for the number of locations it has in the upper west and east side of Manhattan. It is a bit darker and unlike La Isla, you cannot see what is going on unless you are inside. The third and final one is La Lechonera located on 103rd Street and Third Avenue. La Lechonera has a little bigger menu that includes pasta and seafood and benefit from being the first restaurant viewed for commuters coming from the 6-train line. It has a lot more tables, and a bathroom for the customers. However, they do not offer delivery like the first two restaurants.
The Hispanic restaurants in Spanish Harlem have escalated what was a friendly competition, into one that is becoming an issue in the neighborhood. Escalating pressure between trying to dominate the area, has led the restaurants into a war among themselves. There is a divide among those in the area on whether the competition is good or bad for the neighborhood. The conflict among these Spanish restaurants is significant because the area is predominantly Spanish. According to the Community District Needs report for the 2012 fiscal year, Spanish Harlem houses over 18,000 residents of Hispanic origin. The issue lies on whether the restaurants should come to an end on their war, or whether letting it run its course is what’s best for the neighborhood.
All three restaurants have a nice share of clientele. The idea however, that one is a hindrance to the other is a sentiment shared by both employees and customers alike. Catherine Johnson, a part time worker at La Isla believes that, “It’s a pick your poison with these restaurants. Obviously there are positives of having so many of us so clustered up together, because the area has become popular for Spanish food. So that attracts more customers constantly.”
On the flip side though she said, “there is a constant battle over who is better that affects everybody, if one of the restaurants brings down their lunch menu to $6.50 instead of $7.00 then that forces the other to adjust in ways that may or may not be negative.”
Geraldine said that, “there are clearly strategies that come into play between these restaurants, La Caridad began bringing down the prices on the price of their chicken for example. This in turn made La Isla expand its hours of operations to 24 hours a day.” The consensus among all these restaurants is that there will always be a target audience, not because of what they sell but because of whom they sell it to. Spanish Harlem’s population is 48 percent Hispanic.
Another worker at one of the restaurants, who declined to give her name because of her employment, said that, “no matter, what big food chains move in here, the competition will never be MacDonald’s or Burger King. It will always be the restaurant across the street because this area is predominantly Hispanic, and Hispanics want Hispanic food, not a cheeseburger.”
Many Hispanics are aware of the competition, and there is fear that it will bring down the quality of the overall food and service. Geraldine who lives off cooking explained that, “If these restaurants are bringing down the price of these lunch menus, how are they compensating for the loss in revenue? By bringing down the quality of the food, which is really sad for all of us.”
La Lechonera is the first restaurant seen by commuters coming from the 6 train line
Another surfacing issue is that of commercial food chains. They have slowly integrated themselves into the neighborhood. The MacDonald’s was remodeled a couple of weeks ago, and a Taco Bell was placed right across from La Isla. The conflict between the Spanish restaurants has a direct effect on this trend. When speaking to Hector Guzman, manager at the local pharmacy and resident of Spanish Harlem for over 10 years, he explained that, “the friendly competition kept these large food chains from interfering with the local businesses. Because they had no real incentive to come in and try to make money in an area that favorites Spanish food heavily.” The problem he said, “is that now that this competition has led to negative effects such as the decline of the quality of food that its not worth its price, people are turning towards these food chains because they are just as bad as the Spanish restaurants and the same or even cheaper price. I personally think this war needs to come to an end.”
La Isla has been around for over 10 years, and while it has its fair share of loyal customers, the constant war with La Caridad and the other Spanish restaurant Lechonero has prevented it from expanding. The location is about half the size of a classroom, and between 1 pm and 2 pm it is impossible to manage to sit and eat because of the high volume of customers.
Another interesting effect of their conflict is the effect it has on the small local businesses that aren’t food related. “All of these small businesses benefit from the restaurants because people from all over Harlem and even the upper east side, come to this area looking for Spanish food. This brings footsteps to the area which in turn brings customers into our stores,” Hector said.
However, he continued, “If they continue to bicker and find ways to outdo each other, the traffic will diminish and businesses will do bad. The overall economy of the area will suffer.”
As Geraldine sits in La Isla, the waitress who serves her food smiles at her and asks: “Where were you yesterday? I was expecting you.” She merely smiles and says, “I was undecided on where to eat, I wasn’t sure which roasted chicken I wanted today.”
Very interesting topic coverage. If you ever expand on this story for another class or publication in the future, a good angle would be to cover the other businesses in the area, and their reliance on the restaurants who draw foot traffic to the neighborhood.
After hearing your presentation, I’m curious about what those other businesses are doing to make their shop worthy of visits from the customers the restaurants attracted, and how they would plan to fix the issue of decreased customers if the restaurants they rely on were to eventually close or move.
Great article, I think the use of quotes from varying people in the neighborhood helps establish credibility. Perhaps as a way of expanding upon the article, along with talking to people from other restaurants, you could try to see if you can get a quote from the employees of the fast food places.