Albany restaurateur Manny Reyes’ persistence pays off 

ALBANY – Manny Reyes could have given up. Most of us would have, and none of us would have blamed the restaurateur if he had.

But Reyes, the owner of El Caribe restaurant at 425 W. Oglethorpe Blvd. in downtown Albany and Manny’s Dominican Food at 2319 Gillionville Road on the city’s northside, went through the hell of commuting several times back-and-forth to New York City to earn enough money to pay his bills in Albany and then coming back south to search for an elusive job that would allow him to take care of his young family.

The wait for that one break that would allow him to put his exuberance and his knowledge of business to work was an agonizing one. Time after time, Reyes loaded up his family and drove to New York, where he’d work for a couple of weeks at a time to make the money that would allow him to return to Albany.

“Most people from the Dominican Republic who come to New York City usually don’t leave,” Reyes, whose handsome, boyish face and easy smile allow him to win friends easily, said. “But from a financial and practical standpoint, it was an easy choice for me to want to settle in Albany.

“I had a sister who lived here, and when I came to visit, I fell in love with the community. And I knew the cost of living would make it easier for my family. Things are cheaper here, it is very peaceful here, and the weather is very much like weather in the Dominican Republic. When I started working with my brother-in-law at his McDonald’s restaurant, I was determined to make Albany my home.”

Unfortunately for Reyes, there were other factors that hindered his plans to move to Georgia. While rent in NYC was double his rent in Albany, his weekly paycheck here was generally around $550, compared to the $2,000 a week he could make in the Big Apple.

Reyes quickly learned his way around New York City after arriving at age 17 to live with his father. Although he spoke no English when he arrived, Reyes worked a full shift at a McDonald’s each day while taking English classes at a community college. At one point, his seven-day-a-week schedule included an eight-hour shift at a supermarket from 6 a.m.-2 p.m.; college classes from 2-4 p.m., and a shift at McDonald’s from 5 p.m.-1 a.m.

“I’m thankful for that time,” Reyes, who quickly learned English and moved up to assistant manager of the restaurant, said. “I learned how to run a business at McDonald’s.”

After four trips from Albany to New York, that elusive job remaining out of reach, Reyes got a break when he was hired to work at Brothers New York Style Pizza in downtown Albany.

“That job changed my life,” he said. “I was making $400 a week just in tips, plus $7.25 an hour for around 60 hours a week. I’d always been interested in cooking; our mom taught us when we were young, and I met a lot of people at Brothers. That would turn out to be important.”

Reyes tried other jobs in Albany before his life took a dramatic turn to the food industry. He tried selling cars (“A disaster; I sold a car the first day and made around $900, but that was the only sale I made.”) and he worked for Fed-Ex. At the latter business, he broke his femur and was out of work for seven months.

But Reyes had started saving every penny he could, and he had $10,000 saved when the itch to start his own business became too much. The owner of a former restaurant at the Oglethorpe location went out of business, and Reyes bought all the equipment in the building. Soon after, a For Rent sign went up at the location.

“I went to the owner and said I wanted a five-year lease,” Reyes said. “He refused, said he only worked with a one-year lease because no one lasted at the location for a year.”

Reyes opened El Caribe on July 24, 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic.

“People told me I was crazy, that everyone was shutting down,” he said. “I just told them I knew it was going to work out.”

And, boy did it.

After one year in business, Reyes bought the El Caribe property. After two years, he bought his own home. After three years, the restaurateur bought a food truck, and now, just short of his sixth year in business, Reyes has opened a second location across from Albany State University’s West Campus.

“The first week at El Caribe, we had about 150 customers,” he said. “The first week at Manny’s (which is a drive-thru only), we had thousands of customers. I use that McDonald’s concept of keeping traffic moving. No one has to wait more than 5 minutes in line.”

So that tireless young man who made the drive back and forth from Albany, Georgia, to New York City in an effort to keep his bills paid, now enjoys life with his wife, Indiana Peralta, and their two daughters, Diamelice, 13, and Dylan, 7.

“I’m very happy now, but I have no plans to stop,” Reyes said. “I plan to keep growing, to make Albany a better community. We’ve been in circumstances where we couldn’t afford to buy diapers, had an eviction notice posted on our door and had to apply for SNAP benefits. 

“But look at us now!”

Indeed. Reyes and his family are proof that faith and a willingness to work can turn their struggles and labors into successes.