Mambas Shack, a burger and chicken sandwich concept that started as a food truck, is preparing to open its second location in Hato Rey, near Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, this time with a sit-down dining room. Founder Mario Alberto Abigail Fonseca, a cook who began as a dishwasher and later worked in fine dining kitchens, including a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York, told Sabrosia.PR he always wanted his own business but lacked capital for a traditional restaurant.
He instead spent nearly seven years working as a cook to save enough to buy his first food truck. The new, larger Hato Rey location will include a production kitchen that Fonseca says will be key to expanding into other areas of Puerto Rico, such as Bayamón, Santurce, or San Juan. His stated goal is to build "a hamburger chain in Puerto Rico," while keeping the concept’s original essence, including its signature burgers, chicken sandwiches, house-cut fries, and shakes.
The new location will also introduce alcohol sales for the first time, including beer from a local brewery, adding another Puerto Rican element to the concept.