By Chris Martin
One of Charlottesville’s most buzzed-about restaurants in recent years, Guajiros Miami Eatery, arrived on West Main Street through a leap of faith, a series of coincidences, and, most importantly, a love of a mother’s recipes.
“We have been dreaming of hospitality,” says the family-run business’ patriarch Harvey Mayorga Sr. “I have always wanted to be a hospitality guy after working in finance. In Nicaragua I had a bar, a club, a band, a disco in the Cayman Islands, and my kids worked in hotels and high-end restaurants.”
The Mayorgas are Nicaraguan in nationality and Miami-an by American dream. Three brothers run the restaurant day-to-day: Danilo Mayorga takes care of the front of the house, Harvey Mayorga Jr. curates cocktails, and Sebastian Mayorga runs the kitchen. Their father, Harvey Sr., keeps the books while mother, Jacqueline Roque, contributes family recipes—dishes she served to her children for years are now on the restaurant’s menu. Sometimes, you’ll see sisters Bessie and Dora, as well as Harvey Jr.’s wife Carla Chavez-Mayorga with their children, littlest Harvey and Eva. (C-VILLE knows this big, friendly family well: This writer is a cousin of the Mayorgas, too.)
Guajiros has been a family thing every step of the way. Harvey Jr. immigrated to America with $300 in his pocket, staying with an aunt and uncle in Florida, and learning to speak English. His first bartending shift was thrust upon him after two years in the U.S., while he was taking shelter from a storm at a hotel. “A hurricane came through Miami, and the hotel was full,” says Harvey Jr. “I had no clue how to make a single drink.”
His parents were visiting at the time, and got to witness his initial restaurant gig. “It was so overwhelming I couldn’t remember who ordered what,” he says. “I would make the drinks and blank. My dad, who was always paying attention to everything, was like, ‘he wants the beer, he wants the margarita, he wants the bloody mary.’”
When Harvey Sr.’s leukemia recurred after a four-year remission and he couldn’t find treatment, he and Jacqueline left Nicaragua to join Harvey Jr. in the U.S.—with Dora, Danilo, and Sebastian in tow. The children spoke no English when they arrived in Miami, and Sebastian says that at 12 years old, “Out of my crew of 10 friends, every single one of them was a different nationality.”
For the Mayorgas, food was a way of celebrating that diversity.
The brothers speak fondly of fritangas, Nicaraguan-style buffets that serve heaps of classics like gallo pinto and queso frito alongside carne asada, pork, and chicken. “Seeing all that culture being shared in one spot in fritangas—not only Cuban cuisine, not only Nicaraguan cuisine—was mind-blowing for me,” says Harvey Jr. “I don’t want to be labeled as a Nicaraguan restaurant because we want to have the melting pot of cultures.”
The family’s restaurant operation in Charlottesville began at a spot off Route 29, when Carla pushed Harvey Jr. to open the first Guajiros. “I called Danilo, I told him we found a place to open a restaurant,” Harvey Jr. says. “Danilo said, ‘I’ll quit my job the day you sign the lease.’” Two weeks and a day later, Danilo was in Charlottesville.
Once they had their initial location, the Mayorga brothers selected dishes they knew best—the ones cooked for them over the years by their mother. “All [recipes] are mine, and Harvey has improved a few,” says Jacqueline. “This is what we used to eat; we had five kids and had 11 people in our house. I had to make food that could feed all of them.”
Harvey Sr. fills with pride as he watches customers eat the same dishes his family lived on. “We are so thankful for the people and the community,” he says. “I see that young people, families, locals, students, and people visiting Charlottesville come to Guajiros. Their support has been amazing through these hard times in COVID.”
In working together, the brothers have discovered the collaboration that defines a successful kitchen, as they push and hustle in tandem. “Within these walls, it’s our way of talking to each other and showing our feelings,” says Harvey Jr.
For Sebastian, it’s also a way to define yourself within a large family. “Guajiros is my brother’s dream, and I found a facet of myself as I am finding out that I can cook and lead a kitchen,” he says. “We know that this place is a way to express ourselves to one another without even talking.”