Benny’s Panini Sandwiches has moved to 262 W. Eighth St.
After five months at Sacred Heart Ushers Club, they now have a traditional restaurant set-up where they can sell Puerto Rican beverages and snacks.
- Benny and Iuette De Jesus relocated their Puerto Rican restaurant from the Sacred Heart Ushers Club to 262 W. Eighth St.
- The new location allows them to serve a wider variety of food and drinks, including Spanish groceries and products.
- The restaurant offers dine-in and takeout options, with a focus on Puerto Rican cuisine and cultural fusion dishes.
For five months, Benny and Iuette DeJesus cooked their traditional and fusion Puerto Rican menu for a restaurant named Benny’s Panini Sandwiches inside the Sacred Heart Ushers Club. Though they were grateful for the opportunity, this past December, they were starting to feel a little penned in.
“We couldn’t sell our beverages from the island and families couldn’t come in with their little kids,” Iuette said, referring to the bar atmosphere.
Benny said they were ready to start out on their own. In December, they closed and for three months, found and fixed up a more traditional restaurant space at 262 W. Eighth St. They re-opened in March.
“I think our customers are more comfortable here,” Benny DeJesus said. “We’re doing better here than in the other spot. We have the freedom to serve what we want, such as Spanish drinks, crackers, groceries and other products from the island.”
He proudly says if you like to eat early, he and his wife invite you to stop by starting at 10:30 a.m. every day except Mondays, when they are closed. Also, coffee is always free for customers — mostly because Benny likes it but can’t drink a whole pot. He hates to waste it, so he just serves it for free.
The restaurant is open until 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, Benny said. He said they are attracting new customers from the nearby county courthouse, Gannon students, and folks from around the largely residential neighborhood.
Most of their sales are for takeout, Benny said, as they only have seating for about 16. They work with Door Dash and offer pickup.
What’s on the menu?
While the restaurant sign says “Panini Sandwiches,” the DeJesus menu reaches deeply into their Latin American culture, serving what they call “Cultural Fusion.”
Dishes from that page of the menu include roast chicken, fried pork chops, barbecue chicken, ribs, pulled pork, shrimp, steak, Chicken Guisado, Churrasco Chicken and Carne Guisada. Bacala (salted cod fish) might make the specials menu, as has fried red snapper and more.
They serve nine sides, from both the mainland U.S. and the island. They’re also proud of their wings in 12 flavors, fried corn in seven flavors, pasta, burritos as well as the 10 different paninis. They have an $8 lunch special which includes a meat and side.
“People love the lunch specials,” he said, adding that they’re working on menu changes in the near future, including handmade beverages with fresh fruit.
He offers the Wi-Fi password to students who want to stay and do homework and said he loves the students.
“They’re mostly good kids,” he said, adding that the people in Erie are what convinced him to move here from New York City, where he lived in the Bronx.
“My uncle lived at 16th and Cherry” streets, he said. “I asked where I could buy a soda and he sent me to the Country Fair. The first thing I heard was ‘Good morning.’ In New York City, you don’t get that.”
He’s been here 30 years now. He and Iuette married five years ago and they started the restaurant together.
“She’s nice, too,” Benny DeJesus said. “She’s got a good heart.”
Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com. Find her weekly newsletter at https://profile.goerie.com/newsletters/erielicious/.
