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Santa Isabel.- Walking through the town’s downtown area without stopping at La Fonda de Angelo means missing out on a rich culinary experience in a welcoming atmosphere.

Every day, a peculiar chalkboard inside the restaurant announces the dishes that will be served at the table. The owner of the concept —inaugurated in 1992— Ángel Luis “Angelo” Ortiz Vázquez varies the restaurant’s offerings, although he also has certain fixed recipes for specific days.

For example, on Tuesdays, you will find guanimes, stewed codfish, and codfish salad; on Wednesdays, chicken salad; on Thursdays, a variety of pastas; on Fridays, rice with jueyes (land crabs), salmorejo de jueyes (land crab soup), and lobster asopao; and on Saturdays, pig trotters with chickpeas.

In addition to those options, you can also add ribs, steak, smoked chops, onion chicken breast, veal fricassee, white rice and pigeon peas, stewed beef, corned beef, and lasagna, among many other traditional Puerto Rican dishes, all prepared with love and care. The establishment also offers a variety of wines, as well as local beers and sangrías.

“I started out poor. I didn’t have money, but I had good friends,” said Angelo, who ventured into the culinary industry when, at the age of 13, he began working at a neighbor’s fonda in Coamo.

The owner shared that at the age of 19 he completed a course to become a waiter, but his curiosity led him to work in various positions in restaurants of international haute cuisine.

He learned mixology, wine tastings, and cooking European dishes.

But one day, after more than 15 years working in restaurants, he made the decision to leave haute cuisine behind and dedicate himself to what he truly enjoyed: traditional Puerto Rican cuisine.

“I’m going to leave behind the elegance. ‘How can that be, Angelo?’ ‘Angelo, but how are you going to open a fonda?’ (his acquaintances asked him). ‘I want a fonda,’” the chef recalled about the moment he decided to take the plunge.

Convinced of his decision, Angelo embraced the challenge of starting from scratch, banking on his desire to keep the Puerto Rican culinary tradition alive.

“They didn’t want to grant me the diner permit because that didn’t even exist anymore,” highlighted Angelo, who has prepared meals for famous individuals such as Benicio del Toro and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

And more than 30 years after that decision, Angelo asserts that his biggest challenge was acquiring the property. “I did it, I paid for it, and it was my joy,” the 69-year-old owner proudly stated.

He does not plan to retire. Angelo assured that he will continue cooking and serving the public just as he has done all these years.

La Fonda de Angelo, located at Betances Street #6 in Santa Isabel, is open Tuesday to Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. You can contact them through Facebook and Instagram at La Fonda de Angelo or by calling 787-845-2886.