El Abuelito Brings Authentic Spanish Food To Lacey

LACEY, NJ — The Flores family's recipes go back generations. So does the family's restaurant experience, but they didn't have opportunities to serve their family's delicacies to the public until now.

The family finally has a restaurant to showcase their authentic cuisine. El Abuelito Family Restaurant opened last week at 44 G Manchester Ave., Forked River.

Emily Flores told Patch that her father worked in pizzerias for more than 20 years. Her mother was a manager at McDonald's. A couple years ago, her parents bought Papouli's, a pizzeria in the same shopping center.

"Me and my family are Hispanic, so we didn’t really eat much Hispanic food during this time period because we had an Italian restaurant," said Flores, who works at El Abuelito with her family. "So when the opportunity came that we could open a Spanish restaurant, we decided, 'why not?'"

The restaurant opened Nov. 27. The grand opening featured a mariachi band and ribbon-cutting ceremony. El Abuelito takes the place of Portuguese Grill, which occupied El Abuelito's current space for 12 years before closing. The Flores family redecorated the space and promoted their family-friendly atmosphere.

El Abuelito promotes itself as authentic Spanish food. Flores said the cuisine is more Central American than Mexican.

But there's also a specific reason they don't label themselves a "Mexican" restaurant. El Abuelito shares the strip mall with Surf Taco. So the landlord told them not to brand themselves as Mexican, Flores says.

El Abuelito, however, has plenty of Spanish dishes that aren't specifically Mexican, such as empanadas and paella, Flores says. The menu is the product of family recipes that go back generations.

"It’s just passed down by family from time to time," Flores said. "My grandma passed it down, my mom will pass these recipes down to me, my grandma’s mom passed them down to her. It goes back kind of far."

El Abuelito is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Click here for their Facebook page.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Follow Lacey Patch on Facebook. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com.