Ricky's Cafe | Our Story

The Corner of 75th and 37th: For 39 years, there has been a light on at the corner of 75th Street and 37th Avenue. Before it was Ricky’s, it was a small breakfast spot run by a Korean family — open early, closed early, a quiet neighborhood fixture. Everything changed when two immigrants, my Aunt and Uncle, decided to make it their own. Two Journeys, One Counter: My Aunt came from Bolivia. My Uncle came from Argentina. Like so many who come to this country, they worked hard at whatever jobs they could find — my Uncle spent years in restaurant kitchens, and somewhere in all that work, he fell in love with cooking. So when the little breakfast spot on 75th and 37th came up for sale, they took the leap and bought it. I was five years old. Growing Up Above the Diner: We didn’t just work at the restaurant — we lived above it, on the 6th floor. My cousin and I were raised together like brother and sister, and it’s his name that still hangs above the door today. He was a teenager who was always finding a little trouble, and more often than not, you could find him downstairs eating all the donuts. I still remember sitting on the red barstools at the counter, spinning myself dizzy while the whole family worked around me. My grandfather, then 85 years old, stood at a three-compartment sink washing every dish by hand. My Uncle cooked. My Aunt ran the register. It was a full family operation, and it worked — the little coffee shop became a real neighborhood success. Passing the Torch: After ten years, my Aunt and Uncle sold the restaurant to my mother. Under her, it truly became a family institution — cousins, siblings, and I all worked behind that counter at one point or another, many of us putting ourselves through college on Ricky’s paychecks before moving on to build our own lives. Watching the Neighborhood Grow: For 39 years, Ricky’s has stood on that same corner and watched Jackson Heights become the beautifully diverse neighborhood it is today. We’ve seen businesses open and close, local politicians come through for coffee, new babies join families who’ve been coming in for decades, and the steady rhythm of people from all over the world stopping in for a quick meal on their way to the train or out to LaGuardia. Our regulars aren’t just customers — they’re family. We celebrate their birthdays. We watch their kids grow up. To this day, grown adults walk through the door just to say hi to our beloved waitress Barbara, the same woman who once served them pancakes — and played with them — when they were small children. Ricky's Today: Two years ago, I took over Ricky’s myself — the next chapter in a story that started with two immigrants and a dream, and has been carried forward by nearly every generation of our family since. I can’t wait to keep building on everything they created, and to keep Ricky’s exactly what it has always been: a place in Jackson Heights where memories are made and bonds are formed, one cup of coffee at a time.