Luis Alonso Reyes (born September 6, 1959) is a Salvadoran-American restaurateur, chef, businessman and political activist based in Washington, D.C.. He is best known as the co-owner of Lauriol Plaza and Cactus Cantina.
Reyes immigrated to the United States from El Salvador as a teenager and began his restaurant career washing dishes at The Prime Rib in Washington. He later became a chef and longtime business partner of Cuban immigrant Raúl Sánchez. Together, Reyes and Sánchez developed several Washington restaurant ventures, including La Plaza, Lauriol Plaza and Cactus Cantina.
Reyes has also been involved in Salvadoran politics and political organizing within the Salvadoran-American diaspora. He later became an early organizer of Nuevas Ideas in the United States and supported Nayib Bukele before Bukele's election as president of El Salvador. In 2018, Reyes declined an offer to become the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front's vice-presidential candidate.
Early life and immigration Reyes grew up in San Miguel, El Salvador, in poverty. His childhood home lacked indoor plumbing and running water, and he later recalled not owning his first pair of shoes until he was seven.
Reyes left El Salvador as a teenager. According to Inc., he carried $150 sewn into his jeans and paid a smuggler $450 to help him reach the United States. Reyes and 54 other migrants were abandoned near Piedras Negras, Mexico. After going without food for five days, Reyes and four others continued the journey on their own.
After entering the United States, Reyes spent time working in agricultural fields in California, including picking tomatoes, before traveling east to Washington, D.C.
In Washington, Reyes shared a studio apartment with several other immigrants and found work washing dishes at The Prime Rib, a steakhouse on K Street. He also cleaned offices and sent much of his earnings to his family in El Salvador.
While working at The Prime Rib, Reyes developed an interest in cooking. Without formal culinary training, he learned by observing cooks and studying cookbooks. There he met Cuban immigrant Raúl Sánchez, then working as a waiter, who would become his longtime business partner.
Restaurant career In 1979, Reyes and Raúl Sánchez established La Plaza in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., with Reyes serving as chef. AARP later described La Plaza as their first business venture together.
In 1983, Reyes and Sánchez opened Lauriol Plaza near Dupont Circle. Reyes was closely involved in the restaurant's culinary and kitchen operations, while the two men continued developing the business as partners.
In 1990, Reyes and Sánchez opened Cactus Cantina on Wisconsin Avenue NW. Before opening the restaurant, Reyes spent approximately three months working at a popular Tex-Mex restaurant in Houston, Texas, studying its food and restaurant operations.
Both restaurants developed reputations for attracting large crowds. By the late 1990s, Lauriol Plaza had become so busy that customers sometimes waited approximately two hours for tables.
Reyes and Sánchez subsequently invested approximately $4 million in a new purpose-built Lauriol Plaza at 18th and T streets NW. The 330-seat restaurant opened in 1999. The Washington Post described it at the time as one of the largest Mexican restaurants in the Washington region and reported that it was the first full-service restaurant in years to be constructed from the ground up in the District.
Reyes remained closely involved with the restaurant's kitchen and employees. The Washington Post reported that he regularly worked 16-hour days while developing the business and personally trained many of Lauriol Plaza's Salvadoran kitchen employees, including workers who had remained with him for more than a decade.
Lauriol Plaza and Cactus Cantina continued to attract large crowds. Washingtonian reported in 2006 that weekend lines outside Lauriol Plaza remained common and similarly noted frequent waits at Cactus Cantina.
In 2023, Reyes and Sánchez expanded their restaurant ventures with Alfresco Tap & Grill in Adams Morgan. The restaurant opened at 2009 18th Street NW.
Political involvement Alongside his restaurant career, Reyes became active in Salvadoran politics and political organizing within the Salvadoran-American community.
His political involvement dates to the period of the Salvadoran Civil War. In the early 1980s, Reyes considered returning to El Salvador to join the guerrilla movement fighting the Salvadoran government but ultimately remained in the United States and continued developing his restaurant career.
Reyes later became associated with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), which transitioned from a guerrilla organization into a political party following the civil war. From the United States, Reyes became involved in political organizing among the Salvadoran diaspora.
Reyes also helped establish an organization of Salvadoran businesspeople in the United States intended to give Salvadorans living abroad greater participation in the political and social affairs of El Salvador.
During the 2009 Salvadoran presidential election, Reyes participated in efforts among Salvadorans in the United States supporting FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes.
Nuevas Ideas and support for Nayib Bukele Reyes later became an early supporter of Nayib Bukele as Bukele's relationship with the FMLN deteriorated.
On September 9, 2017, Bukele met with Reyes and members of the Salvadoran diaspora at Lauriol Plaza in Washington. The meeting formed part of discussions among diaspora organizers about developing a political organization that could support Bukele and increase political participation by Salvadorans living abroad.
Following Bukele's expulsion from the FMLN in October 2017, Reyes traveled to El Salvador to meet with him. Reyes presented Bukele with a proposal developed by diaspora organizers for the creation of a new political organization.
Reyes subsequently became coordinator of Nuevas Ideas USA and helped organize support for the emerging Nuevas Ideas movement among Salvadorans in the United States.
He also participated in fundraising for the organization. According to La Prensa Gráfica, organizers initially estimated that approximately $250,000 would be needed to establish a political party, and Reyes returned to Washington to help organize fundraising efforts.
Between late 2017 and early 2018, Reyes appeared alongside Bukele at political events in the United States and El Salvador. During events in San Francisco Gotera, San Miguel and Chalatenango, Reyes was introduced as the coordinator of Nuevas Ideas USA.
Reyes was subsequently among the founders listed when Nuevas Ideas was formally constituted as a political party.
Vice-presidential offer Ahead of the 2019 Salvadoran presidential election, the FMLN considered Reyes for its presidential ticket.
In July 2018, FMLN leaders invited Reyes to San Salvador, where he met presidential candidate Hugo Martínez and members of the party leadership. Reyes was offered the opportunity to join Martínez's ticket as the party's vice-presidential candidate.
Reyes declined the offer, citing his business obligations and saying that he preferred to help El Salvador without being formally tied to a political party. He instead continued supporting Bukele.
2019 election and later political involvement Because Nuevas Ideas was not registered in time to participate in the 2019 presidential election, Bukele ultimately ran as the candidate of the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA). He won the presidential election in February 2019.
Reyes's relationship with Nuevas Ideas later deteriorated. In 2020, he publicly criticized the party, arguing that Salvadorans living in the United States had helped organize, finance and promote the movement but had subsequently been excluded from meaningful representation within it.
A 2022 investigation by La Prensa Gráfica and Redacción Regional documented the involvement of Salvadoran diaspora organizers in the creation of Nuevas Ideas and identified Reyes as one of the movement's early organizers and founders.
Reyes later participated in meetings between Salvadoran diaspora leaders and United States officials concerning political developments in El Salvador.
Awards and recognition Reyes has received recognition for his business career, immigrant experience and involvement in the Salvadoran-American community.
In 1997, Reyes received an Immigrant Achievement Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In 2011, the government of El Salvador recognized him as a Salvadoreño Destacado en el Exterior ("Outstanding Salvadoran Abroad").
In 2016, Lauriol Plaza received a "Business of the Year" recognition from the Salvadoran-American Chamber of Commerce.
In February 2019, Reyes received a Frederick Douglass recognition honoring community leadership.
Lauriol Plaza and Cactus Cantina have also received longstanding recognition in Washington-area dining publications, including repeated coverage by Washingtonian.
Personal life Reyes became a naturalized United States citizen in 1986.
Reyes married Lorena Ruano in 1992. They have two daughters, Claudia-Isabella Reyes and Daniella-Fernanda Reyes.
Family has remained an important part of Reyes's life. In a 2014 interview with AARP, when asked about the loves of his life, Reyes identified his two daughters and his restaurant.
Reyes's family has also participated in his restaurant business. The Washington Post reported in 1999 that his wife was among the managers working at Lauriol Plaza when its larger 18th Street location opened.
Reyes and his family have lived in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Washington. A 2012 profile in Inc. described Reyes as a millionaire and contrasted his circumstances in the United States with the poverty of his childhood in El Salvador.
The magazine described his residence as an elegant brick mansion and discussed an expansive basement entertaining area containing a bar and photographs of Reyes with Salvadoran political figures. Inc. also reported that Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes had visited Reyes at the residence along with other Salvadoran political figures.
Despite spending most of his adult life in the United States, Reyes has maintained close ties to El Salvador. His immigrant experience and relationship with the Salvadoran diaspora have remained recurring themes in his business, civic and political activities.
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