{"id":13572,"date":"2015-11-01T19:59:37","date_gmt":"2015-11-01T19:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/?p=13572"},"modified":"2015-11-01T19:59:37","modified_gmt":"2015-11-01T19:59:37","slug":"shop-detroit-rincon-tropical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/shop-detroit-rincon-tropical\/","title":{"rendered":"Shop Detroit: Rincon Tropical"},"content":{"rendered":"

Riqueli \u201cRick\u201d Moreno moved to Detroit from the Dominican Republic in 2003. It was in Detroit that he met his wife, Liz, who had moved from Puerto Rico in 1996 at the age of 13. Together, they decided to turn their love for Caribbean cuisine into a business venture in Detroit\u2019s ethnically diverse District 6.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rick<\/a>

Rick and Liz behind the bar at Rincon Tropical.<\/p><\/div>\n

Rincon Tropical opened in 2013 in a modest location with enough space for two tables. The vision was for\u00a0a smaller enterprise with a business plan focused on carry-out orders. Rick and Liz started out with a simple goal of $100 per day.<\/span><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for the couple to realize they may have set the bar too low. Dine-in customers frequented the restaurant just as often as carry-out forcing Rincon Tropical to seek out a larger location on Michigan Avenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

The move had all the feelings of the American Dream come true….until a safety inspector dropped in and determined that the\u00a0new building was not up to code. He said they wouldn’t be allowed to open until all of the issues were taken care of. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With no income and the previous location already closed, Rick and Liz made the decision to <\/span>pay their employees with the little money they did have in order to stick around and help get the building ready.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three months later, the new and improved Rincon Tropical re-opened.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0188\"<\/a>

If you’re not looking for it, Rincon Tropical can be easy to miss on Michigan Avenue.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nearly a year later, Rick and Liz say their customer base has expanded well beyond the local scene. Even people from the Muslim community, which\u00a0traditionally does not eat pork (a Puerto Rican staple), are regular customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rick and Liz recently opened a second floor, which features a second bar, a dance floor, and a balcony. They have started to advertise as a Caribbean nightclub in addition to the restaurant. It is an endeavor that has come a long way from $100 per day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, we want to have a home back in Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic for vacation,\u201d said Rick. \u201cBut we won\u2019t be leaving Detroit anytime soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Riqueli \u201cRick\u201d Moreno moved to Detroit from the Dominican Republic in 2003. It was in Detroit that he met his wife, Liz, who had moved from Puerto Rico in 1996 at the age of 13. Together, they decided to turn their love for Caribbean cuisine into a business venture in Detroit\u2019s ethnically diverse District 6. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13572\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.challengedetroit.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}