Boricua #2 in Port Richmond glows with Puerto Rican flavors and culture

Some places just radiate joy, and the tiny, original space for Boricua Restaurant in Northern Liberties was always just that, pulsing with the beat of salsa music and fragrant with the flavorful persuasion of home-style Puerto Rican cooking until its takeout counter temporarily closed in March.

Now that siblings Hector and Jazmin Serrano have opened Boricua #2, a larger strip mall location at 3843 Aramingo Ave. across from the Lowe’s in Port Richmond, that festive energy has doubled. There’s a green selfie wall with the words “Yo Soy Boricua” (”It means ‘I’m a proud Puerto Rican,’” says Hector.) A merchandise wall sells Puerto Rican flag lawn chairs and board games. And with a soundtrack by salsero Tito Rojas, I was already in an island mood by the time I bit into some hot pasteles and took a deep, cool sip of creamy coquito, a traditional holiday season drink Boricua serves sells year-round.

The rest of our lunch started arriving, each dish waving a toothpick-size flag of Puerto Rican pride. Shiny black links of assertively spiced morcilla sausage stuffed with blood and rice. Silky stewed habichuela beans and picnic-ready sides of macaroni and potato salad.

As always, Boricua’s pernil was my hands-down favorite, its pulled strands of tender roasted pork shoulder rich with the deep savor of the family’s sofrito, a secret recipe of peppers, onions, garlic, and herbs that Jazmin and their mother, Inez Serrano, prepare regularly and Hector refuses to share even a hint of its secret: “No way! If only people knew the amount of work that goes into that.”

The family got their start in catering running the Pearl Ballroom in North Philadelphia, which they no longer operate. But their specialties have continued to resonate with restaurant audiences. Boricua’s tres leches, which actually has four kinds of dairy soaking half-way up its vanilla sponge cake, is surely among the best in Philly.

Boricua sells that tres leches and bottles of cinnamon-scented coquito to-go from a little takeout fridge near the entrance. And it used to sell its coveted sofrito to go until the cost of garlic cloves quadrupled this spring, said Hector, making it unaffordable to sell retail. A case of chicken for their tasty guisado rose from $60 to $185 in that same period, he said. Boricua has done its best to keep its prices affordable nonetheless, with complete meals for $17 or less.

The labor shortage forced the family to temporarily close their original eight-seat takeout location at 1149 N. 3rd St. in Northern Liberties while they got this second location open this spring. They now have plans to reopen 3rd Street after Labor Day. But what comes next, at the end of September, will be an even bigger deal. Boricua #3 is in the works, and it’s going to be enormous, a 300-seat space at 5th and Luzerne.

“This is not your normal mom-and-pop shop,” says Hector. “We’re trying to elevate our Puerto Rican cuisine and heritage ... and we’re going to do it in the heart of North Philadelphia.”

Boricua #2, 3843 Aramingo Ave., Phila., 215-944-4646; on Facebook and Instagram.