|
Only have a minute? Listen instead |
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — After being the first food truck at the Island eight years ago, Pineapple Ninjaz — owned by Penitas’ Jerry Leal — celebrates its homecoming with a full restaurant and bar right on the bay.
With about a month and a half of summer remaining, I finally made my way to the Island for a beach weekend and after seeing that the famous SPI food truck opened up a permanent restaurant, I headed to 2301 Laguna Blvd. to check it out.
I couldn’t have picked a better Saturday to eat some pineapple with great weather and lots of sun.
I sat down with THE Pineapple Ninja himself, Mr. Leal, who welcomed me with high energy and that friendly SPI hospitality to talk about the restaurant’s journey and his own history in the food business.
“We promote our pineapples as a canvas and anything we put on it is art,” he said. “You have no idea how far these people drove to come and try this, so we do our best.”
Of course, coming to a restaurant that is themed around pineapples, you don’t go for a Michelin star meal but for the fun, colorful and sweet pineapple drinks and food that are offered. Leal said the restaurant goes through about 200-300 pineapples a day.
From the second floor of the restaurant — with the SPI breeze in my hair and drinking a cold beer — Leal started his story by looking out at the bay, taking it all in and describing his business’s journey like it was a Disney movie.
After graduating from La Joya High School, Leal started a small meal prep business in McAllen. Those days of healthy living is apparent in the Pineapple Ninjaz menu, with almost everything grilled and nothing fried.
He played around with food ideas from the internet, and then took a leap into a small restaurant on SPI that didn’t work out. The same concept was then transitioned into a food truck idea.
The current restaurant sits at the end of the busy SPI entertainment district, but in 2018 it was the first and lone food truck at the island.
“I was like, ‘I have no idea what (a food truck) is but I’m on my last dime,’ and a lot of things just lined up.” he said.
Pineapple Ninjaz was a success on the Island and has carried a strong brand name since. The brand was so strong, that even though the food truck was gone from the Island for more than 400 days, I thought they never left. He said a lot of people say the same thing and frequently asked him when the food truck would come back to the Island.
Leal’s business would soon move to Austin where Pineapple Ninjaz could be seen at the University of Texas Austin football games, Formula 1 races and concerts of all kinds.
How did he land all these amazing gigs? Leal said it was simply working hard with a little bit of luck.
“UT Austin is a place that kind of prioritizes alumni, locals, and veterans and I fit none of those three, but we just were working really hard at the right time, and the right person saw us,” he said.
When a brick and mortar location at the Island was presented, he jumped at the opportunity.
Pineapple Ninjaz has been operational just more than a month. Leal’s favorite moments have been the days when his mom, dad, grandma and daughter came to visit and see his sweet dreams become a reality.
The short time in operation also established a culture of good times at the restaurant.
Following a chat with Pineapple Ninjaz employee Jay, who has been with the business six years, and recent hire Steve, I recognized both carried that same high energy, friendly attitude and passion exhibited by Leal.
“Even if it’s water, you’ll get a buzz from it because we just make you feel so good,” Leal said. “So, that’s kind of what we keep coaching our group here. That’s going to separate us more and more from anybody else, and why we see different results than anybody else.”
That high energy and SPI hospitality goes great with piña colada in a pineapple and a nice view of the bay. I mean, who can’t have a nice time with that combination? You’d have to be the Grinch of SPI or something.
My Caribbean queen (she’s from Florida) and I enjoyed our sweet piña coladas in a pineapple. An average cup is also available, but who would want that? The fact that it comes in a pineapple, with some slices to snack on, is probably the best Island drink you could order — but just remember to tell the staff to add alcohol.
“People want to come to the Island for vacation, and we’re very excited to be able to offer that now versus when the food truck where we didn’t have that,” he said. “So we’ve seen our retention grow. We’re opening up ourselves to a whole different clientele that sees our capacity for cocktails as well as food, and it’s been good.”
The view is also a big part of the experience and Leal doesn’t take it for granted.
“People are making life memories so from being in this (food truck) box to now being outside of it and seeing what goes on outside is a great feeling,” Leal said while staring at families having fun on jet skis. “It feels great and more than anything, emotionally just seeing people really make the most of their time here, being present, dancing, singing … things that make up a good part of people’s South Padre Island experience and that they’ll take with them for many years, that’s what makes me feel good.”
My food orders all contained pineapple. I tried the Island Mix Bowl, the signature dish, which is a pineapple filled with orange marinated grilled chicken, jumbo seasoned grilled shrimp, Cajun jasmine rice and grilled seasoned zucchini fries, topped with pineapple pico de gallo and sesame seeds.
This dish is what he described as “pineapple art” with how elaborate the dish looks with all the different types of food packed into a fruit.
With all the options, just start picking at it. I started with the jumbo shrimp and went through each of the different foods in the bowl and one thing that stood out was the seasoning. Each item is grilled and seasoned to perfection.
To my surprise, my favorite thing in the bowl was grilled zucchini fries. Cooked al dente with lots of seasoning, I ate all the fries and will for sure be ordering them by themselves next time.
I also ordered Ninja Cheese fries topped with nacho cheese, Ninja Cholula Mayo and pico de gallo with steak.
I’m a sucker for cheese fries but this one had a unique taste to it which I really enjoyed. Little pieces of pineapple are thrown in with the fries. The added sweetness stands out, and are a must try for potato lovers.
Both dishes are great to snack on, share with someone or a group, and fits the fun energy of the restaurant.
After a good and sweet afternoon, I will say the one downside is the parking situation, which is limited to direct in front of the property or down a block or two in the grass. The large lot nearby is owned by Louie’s Backyard and patrolled by a guard.
Mr. Louie, would it be fine if I drank and ate some pineapple delicacies for my first part of the night and then danced the night away over there in your backyard? Or will I get towed for having fun?
Pineapple Ninjaz is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday, from 11 a.m. to midnight Friday, and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday.