HOLYOKE — When Juan and Gilberto Uribe were growing up in Holyoke, their friends would always ask them: “Whenever your father or mother cooks, please call me.”
Now, the whole region can come to the Paper City and enjoy the family’s traditional Colombian cooking.
In April, the Uribes opened El Paraiso Colombiano at 351 High St. The restaurant’s menu is full of traditional dishes like bandeja paisa — a plate filled with rice, beans, fried plantains, fried pork belly, steak, chorizo, egg and an arepa. Everything is made from scratch, Juan Uribe said, from his father’s well-known hot sauce to the restaurant’s natural herb seasonings.
“Everything is fresh,” Uribe said. “Everything we make at the moment.”
Uribe said that El Paraiso Colombiano is the only Colombian restaurant “from here all the way to Hartford.” And already, he said people from across the area have come to eat empanadas, watch sports or listen to a DJ play music later in the evenings.
Now, last month, the Holyoke Redevelopment Authority announced that it had helped the restaurant secure a Center City Liquor License — a program approved by the state Legislature that allows downtown restaurants to apply for liquor licenses at a lower cost that, unlike open market liquor licenses, stay with the business and can’t be transferred or sold.
Uribe said that the ability to have a bar is very helpful, but that it’s the restaurant’s food that draws the most people in.
Starting a restaurant was always a thought in Uribe’s mind, he said. But for a long time, it seemed like just that, he added.
“It all started as just a dream,” he said. “It was something that we spoke about in our family forever.”
Those conversations began with the empanadas Uribe’s grandma used to make, which the family would order — as many as a hundred at a time — for big events. At first, they thought about creating a small business, selling empanadas to go. But Uribe said his parents were always terrific chefs, so they ultimately decided to open a restaurant.
Opening a restaurant is already a challenging endeavor under normal circumstances. Now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more difficult.
“It’s definitely not easy, but we’ve been making it happen,” Uribe said.
Uribe said it helped that he had owned a business before — a tattoo parlor — but that the work of running a restaurant is completely different.
But as native Holyokers, Uribe said the city has been incredibly generous in supporting the family’s business.
“It’s something that’s a dream come true,” he said. “To see all the support we’ve gotten since we opened is amazing.”
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.