Ernesto Volmar rolls dough for an arepa de coco Sept. 23 at Sajorí Puerto Rican Cuisine. The fried dough was adorned with crab meat in Creole sauce and cilantro.
Ernesto Volmar begins his days at 7 a.m. prepping food for customers. As the owner of Sajorí Puerto Rican Cuisine, he dedicates everything to his clients, but his generosity doesn’t end there.
Sajorí works with the Maverick Pantry, located on 520 S. Center Street, to provide free hot meals for UTA students, faculty and staff every Wednesday. Volmar always dreamed of giving back to the community and the partnership is just one of the ways he does so.
One of Sajorí’s priorities is making customers feel like they’re back in Puerto Rico or providing an authentic experience for those who’ve never been. Volmar said the restaurant is filled with various trinkets that remind him of his culture back home — customers see those items and often have “flashbacks” of home.
“I want everyone who comes, whether they’re Puerto Rican or not, to taste the dishes we eat on a daily basis in Puerto Rico,” he said.
The menu features traditional Puerto Rican home-cooked dishes, staying true to the island’s culinary roots. Volmar uses passed-down recipes, focusing on authenticity rather than innovation.
He said he values customer feedback and constantly strives to improve his dishes. The response to his food has been positive overall. The best-selling dish is arroz con gandules, or Puerto Rican rice with pigeon peas, a traditional meal usually made for gatherings. Since it’s tedious to prepare, many families prefer to order it at the restaurant.
Volmar has been in Texas for over two years. He said he knew there were many Puerto Ricans in the state, but opening the restaurant showed him how large the community is. He enjoys meeting fellow Puerto Ricans and asking where they’re from on the island.
Volmar works with his assistant during the week, and his wife steps in to help, adding to the family atmosphere of the restaurant. This teamwork and attention to detail ensure that every customer enjoys a true taste of Puerto Rico.
Ernesto Volmar and his wife Gloria Claudio donate 25 meals to the Maverick Pantry every Wednesday. The couple opened Sajorí Puerto Rican Cuisine nine months ago.
His assistant joins him to help with chopping and prepping, ensuring they can focus on making dishes fresh to order throughout the day. Saturdays are especially busy, he said, and this advance prep keeps the kitchen running smoothly.
Volmar said he focuses on freshness and creating dishes catered for his customers, so the prep is done to ensure quality and keep the flow of the kitchen going.
Volmar told his wife that if God gave them the opportunity to open a restaurant, Volmar would want it to be “100% Puerto Rican.”
Volmar and his wife, Gloria Claudio, opened their restaurant nine months ago. Originally from San Juan, Volmar said his dreams of becoming a culinary chef were put on hold after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. As his family relocated to the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic further delayed his plans for a restaurant.
Volmar’s family first moved to Georgia for five years after the hurricane, eventually coming to Texas, where they’ve been for the past two years.
With the Maverick Pantry, Sajorí currently serves 25 meals a week at UTA, but Volmar hopes to one day serve 50.
Crab meat gets put on an arepa de coco on Sept. 23 at Sajorí Puerto Rican Cuisine. Arepa de coco con salmorejo is one of the starter items on the Sajorí menu.
Claudio said the couple provided meals to the homeless every Saturday in Puerto Rico, so it’s no surprise they continue to serve their community in Texas.
“The thing that really touched us was that when [customers] try for the first time the food, they say, ‘This reminds me of my mom’s food or my grandmother’s food,’” Claudio said.
Claudio said she went back to college at the age of 40 for a bachelor’s degree in social work. In school, she met a student who told her he would look in the trash for food. Claudio said she would never forget the moment he told her that.
“I was a mother. My daughters were in college, too, by that time, and that broke my heart,” she said.
Claudio said when she had the opportunity to feed UTA students, she took it.
“It’s an investment because they are working so hard, trying to make their future,” she said. “This is just a way to help them. Invest in them.”
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