It’s only open on Saturdays, from 11am to 6pm.
Reservations (required) sell out weeks in advance and there’s a protocol when people arrive. Drive into the parking area, check-in with the attendant, park where instructed and do not get out of the car until they say your table is ready.
Once inside the space, customers have 1 hour and 15 minutes to order and eat. Try to get there as hungry as possible.
Their specialty is Puerto Rican barbecue, what they call barbicu’ criollo.
Most of the menu items are cooked the day before because it takes time to make them delicious. The crew starts prepping the meat on Thursdays, seasoning all the pieces with their own adobo mix. The smoker is turned on Fridays at 6am and it’s filled until they have at least 1,200 pounds to sell.
Using coal and recycled wood from rum barrels, they skillfully smoke the best costillas, brisket and pulled pork on the island’s Southwest area.
Before opening La Manada Ribs in 2015, José Edgardo Lucca Pérez spent years working as an orthopedic technician helping surgeons with patients that needed prosthetic devices.
Like many people, he loved grilling at home on his days off. To learn more, he started watching videos about smoked meat and began experimenting with the process.
One day, he found out there were BBQ competitions in PR, tried to sign up on his own and was told he had to do it with a team. And the team needed a name. He enlisted a group of family members and Team La Manada was born.
After participating in more than 20 competitions, Pitmaster Lucca and his wife Amelia started looking for a piece of land where they could build a restaurant, which they found at Barrio Barrero in Guayanilla. Considering how popular the place is now, it’s hard to believe they were originally searching for a smaller space.
It’s a great spot for family gatherings, an open space with long tables to enjoy comida en el campo. It’s also an educational center for BBQ fans attending La Universidad de la Barbacoa, a project that started online in 2020 and now happens one Sunday a month. During this full-day workshop, Pitmaster Lucca shares his passion for the traditional Puerto Rican barbacoa and his extensive knowledge of how to cook better with fire.
Worth the road trip. Hasta la próxima.
Yanira
