“We don’t want to be in your face,” says Benjamin Padilla, who co-owns Neighbors Sports Bar & Grill with his wife, Nicollemarie Perez Zapata. “But then you see the menu and you realize, ‘Oh wow!’”
The couple, both natives of Puerto Rico, admit that their fantasies of owning a restaurant originally came with “an oceanfront view,” as Padilla puts it. But his work in the Air Force, followed by gigs behind a desk at the departments of Defense and Interior, brought their family to NoVA. Driven by a passion for food and serving his community, Padilla left his stable career to open Neighbors in his own stomping grounds, the Broadlands community in Ashburn.
The goal? “It is our dream for people to walk out of their homes saying, ‘I feel like eating Puerto Rican food.’” They started out slowly with a menu of mostly American pub favorites, like wings and burgers, but empanadas proved to be popular, too. Eventually, Padilla plans to fuse the two menus — American and Puerto Rican — into one.
Padilla says he’s been pleasantly surprised to discover a larger Puerto Rican community than he was aware of in Loudoun County, but most of his customers are new to the cuisine. He entices some first-timers with free samples. “A lot of people say this should be a destination place to eat,” he says.
And customers are slowly finding their way to the Broadlands neighborhood for mofongo, or garlicky mashed plantains, served with a roster of proteins including shrimp, fried chicken, and tender churrasco steak with onions and peppers. Other dishes include the Puerto Rican classic pernil, or tender pork shoulder, served with yellow rice and pasta salad. Diners can pair their dishes with Kola Champagne or Malta India for a true Caribbean experience.
Ultimately, Neighbors is as much about community as it is cuisine, says Padilla. As a veteran, he says it’s important to him to pay tribute to his comrades with a wall of military patches that regulars contribute. And when they do it, they’ll likely grab a cerveza and some mofongo, along with a seat at the bar. 42882 Truro Parish Dr., Ste. 105, Broadlands
Feature image courtesy Neighbors Sports Bar
This story originally ran in our March issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
