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A bandeja paisa, the Colombian platter of beans, rice, fried egg, chicharrón, sausage and arepas

Tropical Star at 40: The Clairemont Family Market Serving Latin American and Caribbean Food

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A bandeja paisa in Bogotá, Colombia. Photo: Edgar Zuniga Jr. via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

In a strip of shops off Balboa Avenue in Clairemont, Tropical Star has spent four decades serving Puerto Rican mofongo, Cuban sandwiches and Colombian platters, and selling the groceries that go with them. The family-owned restaurant and specialty market turned 40 this month and marked it with a parking-lot party on Oct. 18.

The business does two things in one small space: cooking food from across Latin America and the Caribbean, and stocking shelves with products that are hard to find in a standard American grocery store.

A Puerto Rican chef and a Colombian partner

Tropical Star was founded in 1986 by Eric and Amanda Beniquez, CBS 8 reported. Their son described the family background to KGTV: “My dad is Puerto Rican, my mom’s Colombian, and my dad was a chef.”

“In 1986, they opened up the first Tropical Star restaurant. The idea was to just expand beyond just Puerto Rican food and have a variety of Latin American foods,” Beniquez told the station.

Before moving west, Eric Beniquez worked at a hospital in New York, according to a 2020 Remezcla profile. Remezcla noted that the shop is close to Sharp and Rady Children’s hospitals, and Eilene Beniquez, the founders’ daughter, told the outlet, “A lot of our customers are nurses and doctors.”

A menu built from many countries

The menu reflects the founders’ mix of backgrounds and the customers who followed. Today the kitchen serves dishes from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Peru, Brazil and Cuba, including mofongo, ropa vieja and a classic Cubano sandwich, KGTV reported. A 2008 review in The Daily Aztec, San Diego State’s student newspaper, singled out the bandeja paisa, the Colombian platter of thin flank steak, rice, beans, fried egg, plantains and chicharrón, along with milanesa and lomo saltado.

“Everybody likes to come for the Bandeja,” Eric Beniquez told the paper at the time. “All kinds of people enjoy the restaurant.”

The market side carries a large selection of products not typically found in American grocery stores, KGTV reported. The Daily Aztec’s 2008 review noted yerba mate, candy and sodas from South America on the shelves. For many customers, the shop is as much of a draw as the food. “We hear it all. I feel like I’m in Colombia. I feel like I’m in Peru. I feel like I’m on the islands,” Beniquez told KGTV.

Keeping it in the family

The business has stayed in the family through hard stretches. In spring 2020, with both parents in their 70s, Eilene Beniquez stepped in to run the business during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. “They should be isolated. They cannot be present during all of this. I’m handling things right now,” she told Remezcla. She said the shop was sold out of rice for almost 20 days because of supply problems, and that new faces were coming in for canned beans, corn and rice.

Eric and Amanda Beniquez have since retired. Their son Jasha Beniquez and his wife, Jane, now run Tropical Star, according to CBS 8. “I am incredibly proud to be part of San Diego for 40 years,” he told the station.

Jane Beniquez told CBS 8 that the restaurant’s welcoming culture is part of how the couple met, and that marrying into a Latin American family was a change. “They are outgoing and friendly, you know like everyone says hi,” she said. “It’s usually a lot different from a Chinese family, we are a little shy.”

A gathering place

Longtime customers describe Tropical Star as more than a place to eat. Natalya Michelle, whose Colombian mother found the restaurant before Michelle was born, according to KGTV, told CBS 8 that San Diego does not have many community spaces where “you can meet other Colombians. You can meet other Puerto Ricans and you can just drink a beer and hang out with the people like they do in the countryside.” Dilma Byrd, a customer from Brazil who has been coming for about 30 years, told the station the staff “know how to receive the client. Very important for business.”

The family says it has now served several generations. “We’ve seen first dates turn into marriages, turn into children and then grandchildren,” Beniquez told KGTV.

What the anniversary says about San Diego

In a region best known for Mexican food, Tropical Star has built its following on Colombian, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Cuban and Brazilian cooking. Tropical Star’s anniversary party, promoted as “One Place. Many Cultures. One Family.,” invited guests to wear their country’s colors and featured live music, dancing, games and giveaways.

For an independent restaurant and grocer, reaching a fifth decade with the business passed to a second generation is a rare run.

If you go

Tropical Star Restaurant & Specialty Market is at 6163 Balboa Ave. in Clairemont. The phone number is 858-874-7827, and more information is at tropicalstar.com.

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