Meet Carolina Salinas and Carolina Garcia

Co-founders and owners of Carolicious

Carolina Garcia, left, and Carolina Salinas

Together, these “two enterprising friends, godmothers (comadres) and partners,” commonly referred to as “The Carolinas,” co-own Carolicious. Described as the result of perseverance, discipline, study, and the deep respect for the country in which The Carolinas were born, Carolicious is dedicated to serving authentic Venezuelan food (specifically traditional Venezuelan arepas with the addition of local flavors). It currently has two locations – Aeronaut Somerville and Nibble Kitchen at Bow Market. They’re about to open their third one inside the Aeronaut Cannery in Everett.

Q: What was your first job in the restaurant industry?

A: Carolicious is our first try in the restaurant industry! We started by enrolling in the Nibble Kitchen program from the Somerville Arts Council. It has been, and continues to be, an honor to work with them and be involved with this amazing community.

Q: What made you want to open your own restaurant? Does that still drive you?

A: We wanted to bring a piece of Venezuela with us and share our culture! Food brings people together and we love being embassadors of Venezuela through our food.

Q: What is it like having one another to experience running your restaurant and catering business with?

A: It is awesome. Knowing that we have each other at all times while migrating to a foreign country and starting this business has been a dream.

Q: How have you been keeping your team motivated through this difficult, unprecedented time?

A: We stayed calm and planned for the future. We took some time off because we wanted to be as safe as possible without risking our teams health.

Q: What does it mean to you to be women in this industry?

A: As women and mothers, might sound cliché, but we care deeply for our customers. We take care of Carolicious as our child and look to transmit it to everyone that comes our way.

Q: In terms of female representation, what changes, if any, would you like to see in the industry in the next ten years?

A: Each day we have more women entrepreneurs and we think that this is key. More and more companies should continue to trust and bring women on board because each day we are more prepared.

Q: Do you cook at home often? If so, what’s been your favorite meal to cook during quarantine?

A: Every day! We mostly eat food prepared by us at home. Our favorite dish at home has been pasta all’amatriciana but we try all kinds of foods from around the world with a Venezuelan twist. AREPAS, every day we have arepas for breakfast with different fillings.

Q: How do you envision the last year might shift how restaurants are operated, or the industry as a whole, going forward?

A: The rotation of people that we experienced due to reservations being limited to an hour and a half has been a positive for us. Before, people could stay for hours and they eat once. Now, every hour and a half we have new customers!

Q: What does your restaurant model look like these days in terms of what you’re offering, how you’ve shifted, and how patrons can support you?

A: We are more involved in takeout and also in social media! We took on social media and we post constantly. Supporting our social media by following us would be a huge help and also our catering services for your office!