The Nuyorican Poets Café started as “a small living room in the East Village apartment of Miguel Algarin” in the 1970s.[i]
Nuyorican Poets Café
While the dishes previously mentioned can easily be found at the Poets Café, the café is best known for its Friday-night poetry slam: “Names are dropped into a hat at the beginning of the night, and judges are chosen from the crowd…when your name is called, you step up to the mic, pour your heart into your words, and wait for your scores.”[i]
A poetry reading at the famous Nuyorican Poets Cafe
The establishment has won numerous awards for its dedication to maintaining Puerto Rican culture in the forty years it has been on the Lower East Side.
Casa Adela, a Puerto Rican staple on the Lower East Side that Mr. Medina frequents.
Mr. Garcia mentioned, in his interview with us, that another indispensible Lower East Side institution that stays true to its Puerto Rican roots, called Casa Adela. Located in the heart of Avenue C, the restaurant’s motto is: “serving rice and beans even your Puerto Rican mother will approve.”[ii]
