Food truck with Nicaraguan flair shifts to Commercial Street restaurant

Tres Bro’s, a food truck known for serving wraps, bowls, tacos and ceviche with Nicaraguan flair, has moved into a restaurant space on Commercial Street near Ninth Street downtown.

Owners Yadira Lopez and Joshua Colby, during their search for a restaurant location, were met with an opportunity while dining at Drina Daisy. The long-standing Bosnian restaurant was operated by Ken Bendickson and his wife, Fordinka Kanlic.

Tres Bro's

Yadira Lopez and Joshua Colby of Tres Bro’s.

“We had dinner and I just got to talking with the owners there at the time … and they were looking to retire,” Colby said.

Lopez and Colby will be serving Nicaraguan cuisine alongside their three teenage sons — who were the inspiration behind the restaurant’s name.

“They’ll be helping in this restaurant. They have different ages and different restrictions of what they’re able to help with … but it’s a family-run restaurant,” Colby said.

The couple first met while working at a restaurant in the Bay Area of California and moved to the North Coast from Medford in 2018. Before their shift to Commercial Street, the couple served food from their bright red food truck on Marine Drive near Astoria Mini Mart East .

“It’s a way to build a legacy for the boys, but we’ve been discovering over the last few years that the food truck itself is not the way to do that,” Colby said.

Lopez, who’s originally from Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, is the heart behind the dishes. She has always enjoyed cooking and continues to connect with her culture through food.

The couple hopes the new restaurant location will allow them to grow and share their love of Nicaraguan cuisine with more people.

“We’re carrying all of the menu from the truck, and we’re expanding. We had one ceviche before, now we’ve got three ceviches,” Colby said.

According to the restaurant’s website, customers can also look forward to the new “La Parrilla” menu. The menu features various grilled items such as mahi-mahi, ling cod, rib-eye steak and pork chops.

Going forward, the couple plan to use the food truck for events. For Colby, who is the lead pastor of the Hilltop Church of the Nazarene in Astoria, the transition from serving food from the truck to the restaurant is a way to continue his mission in the community.

“It’s all about serving people, trying to provide something that they need, or for their needs. The restaurant also serves as a way just to be in the community and get to know more of the community here,” he said.