El Caporal opens in Sisters

Sisters worst kept secret was exposed last Friday with the opening of the new El Caporal restaurant. Without fanfare and purposely avoiding an announcement of the opening date, Sisters newest restaurant still opened to a capacity crowd with waits of as long as 25 minutes to get a table.

"We didn't want anyone to know when we were going to open, so we didn't tell anyone. We are surprised so many came. We wanted to have a chance to open with fewer people so that we could have an easier time finding out if there were things that we need to change," said Roberto Galvan, co-owner of El Caporal, located at the corner of East Hood Avenue and Cedar Street.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Jimmy Hernandez and Galvan who are fast friends. They have been planning the eatery for about a year-and-a-half and were initially unsure of where they were going to open. Salem was one choice, but after a false start they decided on Sisters.

Their landlord at the pair's Bend restaurant was so happy with them as tenants that he offered to purchase a building for them. When the building became available in Sisters, an agreement was struck, and Hernandez and Galvan had another location for their growing chain of restaurants.

On opening night a warm sense of camaraderie was shared with the waiting crowds as conversations were exchanged in the packed waiting area and at the bar that still had not received its chairs.

There were other little glitches. The main one was a problem in the kitchen.

"The convection oven doesn't work, and so we were really worried that with as many people as showed up that the kitchen would have a hard time keeping up. But everything seems to be going okay, but I don't know how they are doing it without the convection oven," Galvan said.

Both Hernandez and Galvan are spending a lot of time at the restaurant so to make sure that all the problems that are sure to crop up can be handled immediately. They are very concerned that they provide a quality dining experience and want to become a gathering place for the community.

"Once the restaurant is running normally, we will be changing our schedule so that Jimmy will be here most days of the week and I will be here on his days off. We decided that we would like to always have an owner here at the restaurant, so that we make sure that things run perfectly," Galvan said.

El Caporal had hired two local high school students to serve as hostesses for the opening night. June Klass and Phyllisha Page both are juniors in the Sisters school system. Although they are from different schools, they work well as a team keeping the flow of hungry guests moving to tables as soon openings occur.

"I thought it would be a little scary, but it all worked out just fine," said Klass.

She attends the Flex alternative school in Sisters and is working at El Caporal for elective credit in the "School to Work" program. Klass intends to go on to school in Portland after she graduates to become a photographer.

Page, who attends Sisters High School, said, "This is a great opportunity." She intends to continue her education at the university level and pursue a profession in the medical field. This opportunity provides "...some valuable experience and some spending money," said Page.

Ed King, who works for the Forest Service, was back in town after working on a project in the Ochocos during the week. He had happened by and noticed that El Caporal was open, so stopped in to give it a try and said, "It looks like this will be worth the wait."

The waiting area was filled to overflowing so he became a part of the growing crowd who were filling the bar area. He is a member of the Air National Guard and has had one tour in Iraq where his unit provided weather service coverage for the Army.

Peter Storton, co-owner of RE/MAX Town & Country Realty, was one of the few who came to the restaurant early enough to avoid the crowd. He was looking about and seemed pleasantly surprised that the restaurant was so filled. As he wandered out after his meal, he paused and commented about missing the crowd that was waiting.

"The girls found out that this was open now and said, 'Take us for a margarita,' so I did. I had been to their place in Bend and really liked it. This is great. It is going to be a fun place to hang out," Storton said.