Restaurateur Luis Roman comes up with ideas for his food business, Hola Island Co., and his son, who has the same name, helps him bring these visions to fruition.
“He’s a big ideas man, so it’s good to be able to get his ideas on paper and track everything out,” said the younger Roman, who serves as Hola Island’s chief operating officer. “We’re a really good team together.”
Caribbean food business Hola Island Co. is turning its former sandwich shop at the Vocational Guidance Services building on E. 55th St. into a full-time production facility for the company’s Caribbean marinades. The business is also joining two upcoming markets on the west side of Cleveland, opening a specialty food store and empanadilla (empanada) factory at the CentroVilla25 market in Clark-Fulton and a food spot at a small business marketplace in Gordon Square.
Spice production facility on E. 55th, new Gordon Square space
In 2022, the Romans opened a sandwich shop at the Vocational Guidance Services (VGS) building at 2235 E. 55th St. The store reopened in summer 2023 after a rebrand, Cleveland Scene reported.
Hola Island also sells Caribbean marinades at farmers markets, using the space at the VGS building to produce the marinades. The business didn’t have the capacity to fulfill large orders with the VGS space running as a production facility part-time, so it’s bringing on more staff and converting the VGS space into a full-time production facility, the owner said.
The business is hiring assistant production managers and a fourth production assistant and expects to have 10 total staff members, the COO said.
The owner hopes that having more staff and more space dedicated to spice production will allow Hola Island to produce marinades for large retailers like supermarkets and mom-and-pop shops alike.
“There is a process, a multi-step process that goes into making this, so it’s not that easy. So I decided to do it myself and take on the burden of buying the equipment … and staffing it,” the owner said.
The business is working to have the new facility ready by the end of the month, the COO said. It also plans to launch a new website for online sales, he added.
Dec. 22 was the last day to order food from the restaurant on E. 55th before the transition to a full-time spice production facility.
Hola Island plans to open a new location in Gordon Square in late 2024, joining several other vendors at Yellowcake Shop’s upcoming “El Corazon” marketplace of small businesses owned by women and people of color.
The Yellowcake Shop boutique opened its permanent location at 5218 Detroit Ave. in September and expects tenants to move in at the end of the summer, pending zoning permits, Yellowcake Shop owner Valerie Mayén said.
The market will have 8–10 food and retail vendors with 300–500 square feet of space each, Mayén said. Vendors will include a sushi bar and a sustainability-focused business that offers refills on household products. A staff member at JumpStart, an entrepreneurship support nonprofit, recommended the Hola Island owner as a potential tenant, Mayén said.
“Some people, they think of Latin cuisine as tacos and salsa and guac, right? But there’s so much more to it. It’s also in the flavors and textures and the spices,” Mayén said. “So I think that’s something unique that he (the elder Roman) does that’s not typically done. Whether it’s through empanadas or plantains or his sandwiches, he has a lot of range.”
The Romans are still working out the details for that location, but the COO envisions it as a quick-service food spot.
Specialty food store, empanadilla factory coming to CentroVilla25 market
As Hola Island grows its marinade sales and makes plans for a new location, it’s also taking on new ventures.
The business is bringing a specialty grocery store and an empanadilla factory to CentroVilla25, a development project underway in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood.
The Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development (NEOHCED) spent years planning and raising funds for the project, which will turn a vacant warehouse at 3140 W. 25th St. into a Latino market with 20 kiosk spaces, a commercial kitchen, and an outdoor plaza.
CentroVilla held a groundbreaking ceremony in July 2023, and NEOHCED hopes to hold a soft opening this fall, said Jenice Contreras, president and CEO of NEOHCED.
Contreras initially thought the elder Roman would bring a sit-down restaurant to CentroVilla, but he suggested a specialty food store, or mercado, to serve as an anchor store for CentroVilla instead.
Neighbors will be able to rely on the market for staples like milk, and for culturally significant foods that many other stores don’t sell, Contreras said.
With about 2,000 square feet of space, Hola Island’s store won’t be a “full-fledged grocery store,” Contreras said, but it can help meet a neighborhood need by improving access to healthy food.
“We hope to bring that idea of that Latin grocery store with specialty items, having kind of grocery staples even, just to create that sense of, ‘Hey, we need to go to the market, It’s a local place; we can walk to the market,’” the COO said.
Contreras has known the elder Roman since they were teenagers attending Lincoln West High School in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood.
“We were two kids that grew up in this neighborhood, that have grown up and have a heart for the neighborhood,” Contreras said.
She has supported his business journey through his years running The Campus Grille in Berea and Hola Island.
Hola Island will use part of its space at CentroVilla25 as the production site for its new line of empanadillas. The “empanada factory,” as Contreras calls it, will make ready-to-eat empanadillas and discs of empanadilla dough to customize and prepare at home.
“The beauty of empanadillas is you can stuff them with anything,” the COO said. “You can make dessert empanadillas; you can make savory empanadillas, vegetarian, vegan.”
The mercado will have 5–6 employees, and the empanada production facility will have 8–10 employees, the COO said in an email.
“I close my eyes, and I think about standing in Luis’ space,” Contreras said, picturing the Hola Island owner teaching and cooking at the empanada factory. “I cannot wait to see him in his space doing what he does and at the same time supporting his family and generating wealth.”
Follow Hola Island on Instagram and Facebook for more information on products and farmers market visits, or email information@holaisland.com. Apply for Hola Island job opportunities here. CentroVilla25 will be located in Clark-Fulton at 3140 W. 25th St., and the El Corazon marketplace will be located at 5218 Detroit Ave. in Gordon Square.
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