Today’s Special: Mambo Arroz con Gandules

Inside a new fast-food Puerto Rican restaurant on Whalley, Chef Raul Santiago combines richly seasoned pork fried rice, pinto beans, and oven-marinated pork onto a plate. He then tops the entire dish off with a large serving of sweet plantains.

“That’s it!” said Santiago, holding out a plate of Arroz con Gandules.

The entire process takes less than a minute, because all the components are pre-prepared by Santiago in the morning.

Arroz con Gandules is the signature dish at Mambo, which opened two weeks ago at 161 Whalley Ave.

“You can get Arroz con Gandules at any place in Puerto Rico,” said restaurant owner Josue Santana. ​“Ours has a lot of flavor and pork. It’s part of our culture.”

Santana said Mambo is the only Puerto Rican restaurant on Whalley Avenue, and one of the few in New Haven run by Puerto Ricans. The restaurant’s blue and red storefront is located right next to Burger King.

That doesn’t intimidate Santana.

“Burger King can’t compete with us!” he said. ​“No one does Puerto Rican food like us.”

Mambo’s name comes from a popular Latin ballroom dance that originated in Cuba. Santana chose the name because he loves dancing. Indeed, at Mambo’s planned grand opening ceremony next month, he is working to bring a Spanish salsa group to perform.

Santana came to New Haven from Puerto Rico in 1970 and has been dreaming of opening his own restaurant for 15 years. That dream was put on hold when Santana opened up ​“5 Star Laundromat Center” on Washington Avenue instead.

“I saw a restaurant like this one 15 years ago in Manhattan,” said Santana. ​“I always wanted a place which looked that nice because I fell in love with the set-up and the way they cooked food.”

He got slightly closer to his dream when he started serving Puerto Rican food two years ago at his ​“El Conquistador” food truck.

Head chef Raul Santiago used to help run the food truck. His favorite dish to cook, both in the food truck and now in the restaurant, is Mofongo, a Puerto Rican dish made of fried plantains. He often stuffs the dish with meat, potatoes, shrimp, or fresh snapper.

“Mambo is a great place for families,” said Santiago, who added that the menu has something for everyone during every meal of the day.

For breakfast, Santiago often serves up eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. Some of the signature dishes on the lunch menu include tacos, steak with cheese, and Tripletas sandwiches — a Puerto Rican dish that combines pork, ham, and cheese in a loaf of fresh bread. And for dinner, it’s always fried pork, beans, rice, and plantains.

Santana said he is still working on the outer design of the restaurant. He plans to decorate the blue and red storefront with a large mural of Puerto Rico, featuring surfers riding across the Island’s flag and the coqui frog which is native to Puerto Rico.

“Once we have the mural,” he said, ​“everyone will know who we are!”