Red Rican gets “enormous amount of support” at third location in northeast Ohio
The brothers behind a local Puerto Rican restaurant opened their third location in the Mahoning Valley and received a supersized amount of support so far.
Carmelo Morales co-owns and operates Red Rican with his brothers Jonathan and Jeremy Morales.
Red Rican specializes in Puerto Rican cuisine with a modern twist, serving pastelillos, loaded rice bowls and tres leches cakes.
There are three Red Rican locations in Youngstown, Niles and now Boardman, plus three food trucks for catering and festivals.
“All three of us were living in Boardman at some point in our time here in Ohio including my brothers Jonathan and Jeremy graduating from Boardman High School,” Carmelo said. “We have received an enormous amount of support and kind words from everyone who has been able to stop in. We are very appreciative of all the support that’s we’ve gotten and aim to continue to get better as we go.”
The brothers are originally from New York, according to Carmelo.
“Growing up in such a diverse crowd exposed us to so many other foods and cultures that we draw inspiration from, so it’s great to see not only Red Rican but other places opening and bringing some of those delicious ethnic plates to the valley,” he said. “Lately the saying has been ‘stressed but blessed’ because we understand this is a good problem to have.”
For Red Rican, customers made Super Bowl Sunday a day to remember.
“Super Bowl Sunday brought some old faces in but also some new curious ones to all of our locations,” Carmelo said. “The Pastelillo packs we offered were a hit and sold the most, followed by our loaded rice bowls. We were all scrambling and working hard but doing it with a smile on our faces knowing we were representing a new wave coming to this area.”
