Claudy’s Kitchen celebrates five years of Peruvian flavor and resilience in Riverdale

Claudy’s Kitchen, a family-owned Peruvian restaurant, celebrated its five-year anniversary last June 12. 

But getting there meant overcoming a series of setbacks familiar to small businesses — maintaining staff, fluctuating food prices and physically opening a space. 

And for Claudia and Richard Berroa, this all came amidst a global pandemic. 

“This place was a mess when we first came in,” Richard Berroa said. “The ceiling tiles had years of grease, and I was up there for hours just scraping everything off.” 

From painting and spackling to hunting down furniture at auctions, the couple poured blood, sweat and tears into the restaurant.

“My DNA is all over here,” Richard said.

For well over a decade prior to opening Claudy’s, the couple didn’t consider owning a physical restaurant. Claudia began baking and selling flan out of the Berroa house in 2007 to help with financial struggles, as The Press reported in 2020. 

“I used my grandmother’s recipe,” Claudia told The Press at the time. “And all my friends were like, ‘This is amazing. You should sell this.’ So I did, and then we thought we should be expanding.”

The Berroas started selling to local supermarkets, such as Zabar’s, eventually distributing to chain locations like Gourmet Garage. At one point, the couple was baking 900 flans per hour out of a rented kitchen space in the South Bronx.

It wasn’t enough.

“The margins were so small,” Richard said. “We weren’t making money.” 

The Berroas turned to selling at street fairs, where they noticed customers gravitating toward savory foods. Claudia started making empanadas — a dish that would later become one of Claudy’s Kitchens’ most loved. 

At this point, business seemed dependent on the weather. One weekend stuck out to Richard, who said he and Claudia planned to sell at a volleyball tournament. Despite their prep, a huge rainstorm cancelled the event. 

“We were stuck eating empanadas for months,” Richard said. “So we’re like, alright, we have to open up our own brick-and-mortar shop.” 

As long-time Riverdale residents, Claudia and Richard knew the neighborhood needed a restaurant that offered a quick, quality, affordable meal. 

The Berroas landed a prime location steps from the last stop on the 1 train, poured countless hours of manual labor into fixing it up, and stuck out a lengthy 2020 pipe replacement. 

Claudy’s Kitchen was finally ready to open.

But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, setting the restaurant back anew. 

When the Berroas finally opened their doors June 2020, members of the community who waited for Claudy’s Kitchen to open got their chance, and the restaurant’s dishes were well-received. So much so, in 2021 Claudy’s was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand — a rating that “recognizes friendly establishments that serve good food at moderate prices,” according to the Michelin Guide. 

“We’re always a mom and pop,” Richard said, “But now we’re a Michelin-award-winning mom and pop.”

After the Bib Gourmand, Claudy’s started gaining media attention. The New York Times, Latina Magazine, Bronx Times, and Eater New York all featured the restaurant during its first 18 months in business. 

For the Berroas, the recognition was validating, and it motivated them to keep cooking and serving at a high level. But, even more rewarding, Richard said, was the connections being made within the community. 

“It’s nice to get the accolades, but it’s even nicer to have regulars that weren’t familiar with Peruvian foods but now order like Peruvians,” he said 

Though it was tough getting Claudy’s doors open, the business hasn’t been without struggles in the years since. Though the current crew has been on board for years, Claudia and Richard initially struggled to find long-term employees. 

Other issues, such as the rise of staple-food prices, continue to be a problem for small businesses like Claudy’s, but the Berroas remain determined. 

“The thing that I’m most proud of,” Richard said, “is going from having something written to making it a reality and sustaining it.”

He said he and Claudia are grateful for the support they’ve received, and they are looking to open another location, perhaps in Manhattan.

Until then, Claudy’s remains at 5981 Broadway, five years later.