City and state officials helped cut the ribbon at La Rumba, a Hispanic restaurant located in Foundry Alley in Jamestown, which opened on Thursday. P-J photo by Cameron Hurst

Those in search of authentic Caribbean cuisine will have a new spot in downtown Jamestown to try.

Local city and state officials helped cut the ribbon at La Rumba, a Hispanic restaurant that serves authentic Puerto Rican cuisine which opened on Thursday at 104 W. Second St. in Foundry Alley.

Owners Jomar Gomez and Lee Perez, natives of Puerto Rico, decided to open the business, located in the Pearl City Arts Center, after the two started a small-scale catering operation from their house.

“As soon as we did that, we started to see that everyone enjoyed our food,” Gomez said. “We started catering here and there on a small scale, but we were bringing lunch to my mom’s work and to a couple of different factories so a lot of people know us already.”

Their menu features a variety of offerings for customers.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist, left, and city development director Crystal Surdyk present La Rumba co-owner Jomar Gomez, right, with a certificate congratulating he and his girlfriend Lee Perez on the opening of their new business at 104 W. Second St. in Jamestown. P-J photo by Cameron Hurst

“We bring a bunch of different things that aren’t from around here,” Gomez explained, pointing out one entree that includes fried plantains. “It’s something different, but we have a lot of different stuff for others.”

Gomez said that he and his girlfriend are hoping their business will not only represent the local Hispanic community but downtown at-large.

“We want the whole downtown to be what it was back in the day,” he said.

“When you go to New York City, you don’t leave downtown. You go and have fun all throughout downtown. That’s what we want to make it again.”

Gomez and Perez have been working since August to prepare the restaurant for an Oct. 1 opening.

“It’s been a really long road,” he said. “Every day has gone so fast. The last two weeks alone have been insane. We’ve barely had any sleep because we’ve been hustling and trying to get everything we need because we don’t want to do anything halfway.”

Thursday’s grand opening was a dream come true for Gomez, who has always strived to own his own restaurant after graduating from Jamestown Business College with a business degree. A city resident since the age of 13, while at JBC, he attended the Hispanic Leadership Conference in Albany, which takes place in the New York State Assembly chambers.

Each year, he sat at the desk of Chautauqua County Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, who was in attendance for the ribbon-cutting.

“I couldn’t be more proud of (Gomez),” Goodell said. “In another 10 years, I look forward to having him sit at the same desk with his own name on the front.”

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist was pleased to see another restaurant with diverse offerings open up in the city.

“It’s a really incredible thing,” he said emphasizing the struggles of opening a business amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s also wonderful to have more diversity in our establishments here in the city and to see a Hispanic restaurant open up is wonderful. It shows how much-increased diversity we are starting to see in this city. That’s something we’ve been looking for and wanting to have all along. We’re very excited about them. It’ll be a wonderful addition to the city.”

Added Goodell, “We’ve been talking a lot about empowering minority and women-owned businesses and we’re seeing this in action because both he and his girlfriend are in partnership and moving this project forward. It’s a great addition to downtown Jamestown.”

La Rumba is open on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant also features a dance floor and lights will go down at 7 p.m. to allow patrons to dance.

“You can bring the whole family and we just want you to have a good time,” Gomez said. “We left the dance floor open because as a heritage, we like to dance. The music will always be on, the lights will be down and the dance floor will always be open.”

He added, “We want downtown to be downtown again.”