La Caribena Launches New All-Day, All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Why settle for one Caribbean dish when you can try several?
Buffet Caribena, 1704-1710 S. Pearl St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
For nearly 15 years, restaurant owner Edwin Ordonez and his team have brought the flavors of the Caribbean to Milwaukee through La Caribena, a colorfully painted restaurant along W. Mitchell Street. Now, Ordonez is asking diners, “Why settle for one Caribbean dish when you can try several?”
On Nov. 7 and 8, Ordonez soft-launched a new name and concept for the restaurant: Buffet Caribena. Trading a traditional sit-down ordering format for an all-you-can-eat buffet, he aims to give customers the chance to sample a wider variety of the restaurant’s authentic Caribbean cuisine.
In a conversation with Urban Milwaukee, Ordonez said the success of the soft-launch exceeded his expectations.
“It was really amazing. Great people, a lot of support from the community. I was surprised by how many people from different backgrounds and different communities came and participated,” he said. “We had a line of people outside the door. It was a little bit crazy, but a really great day.”
At the soft-launch, Buffet Caribena served seafood rice, sancocho, Dominican chofan, pepper steak, plantains and oxtail. Ordonez said he aims to pair oxtail and goat on future premium weekend menus and was grateful his team got practice serving the meats that “nobody else serves.”
The daily spread at the buffet will include more than 60 items, from customer favorites and Caribbean staples to chef-selected specials that can change daily.
One fixture, however, is the buffet’s soft-serve ice cream options, which are meant to establish a family-friendly atmosphere.
“The kids most of all loved the ice cream, so we’re glad that families brought their kids,” Ordonez said. “We will have these beautiful ice cream machines here for them.”
The buffet costs $16.99 for adults on weekdays and $24.99 on weekends. The price for children is $11.99 every day.
For the first time, the restaurant will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We never open Mondays, so today is the first time we are ever doing that,” Ordonez said on Nov. 8. “We are wondering how it’s going to be today, but we’ve been getting texts and calls this morning asking if we are open, so I hope it is going to be a busy day.”
Alongside Caribbean main courses, the buffet offers a salad station, breads, desserts and 12 flavors of natural juice drinks that are made fresh daily.
Ordonez and his friends and family spent more than a month and a half redecorating the restaurant to reflect the transition. Decidedly tropical, the space features verdant flora and fauna, pink neon flamingos and moving images of waterfalls and jungle scenes.
Buffet Caribena is located at 1704 S. Pearl St. just off Mitchell St. in the Muskego Way neighborhood.
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