Apple country, farm stands, small businesses, the lake off to the north. It moves slower than the Thruway and I don’t mind that. In the winter when the Thruway turns into a whiteout and the wind gusts are pushing trucks sideways, Route 104 is the only reasonable option anyway.
But I don’t take it as often as I’d like. It adds 20 to 25 minutes each way, and when I’m trying to film at two or three restaurants and be back home by 5 PM, that extra hour round-trip just doesn’t fit the schedule most days.
I’ve driven past this one restaurant more times than I can count. Blue building. Sign out front that says Authentic Puerto Rican Food. Every single time I passed it I thought the same two things: this doesn’t belong out here, and this has real potential. I kept telling myself I’d stop. I kept not stopping.
Last month I finally did. That restaurant is Mamia’s Island, and I should have stopped a long time ago.
Walking In
I went on a weekday around lunchtime. Quiet inside — not many customers at that hour, but plenty of activity coming from the kitchen. The menu is substantial. More options than you’d expect walking into a small restaurant on Route 104 in Ontario, New York. I ordered one of the combo plates — one meat, two sides — and sat down to figure out what I wanted.
Before I could finish deciding, the owner came running out of the kitchen.
I’ll be honest with you: I love attention. I’m the youngest of four kids and I’ve spent my whole life wanting it. At 39 years old I’m not even slightly embarrassed to admit that. Being recognized — having someone come up and say they watch your videos and genuinely mean it — that doesn’t get old. It probably never will.
But I will say it’s sort of a weird thing. I love being noticed, but I also try not to seek out the attention grabbing things. If that makes any sense at all. Having said all of that, it does make you feel really good about yourself when a stranger walks up to you and says “I love your videos and watch them all the time. Can I have a picture?”
But beyond the personal flattery of it, what that kind of reception does is set the tone for the meal. When an owner is that genuinely excited to have you in their restaurant, you pay attention differently and naturally the content tends to reflect that.
She took a selfie, went back to the kitchen, and later came back out with extra dishes for me to try on the house. That kind of generosity is not something I take for granted.
The Roast Pork
I ordered the roast pork as my main, and it delivered exactly what you want from a slow-cooked pork dish done right. Well-seasoned all the way through, tender without falling apart into mush, with enough char on the outside to give it some texture. The kind of roast pork that tastes like it’s been marinated and cooked with real intention rather than just thrown in an oven and pulled out when the timer goes off.
Roast pork is one of those dishes that’s almost impossible to make interesting when it’s done carelessly and nearly impossible to stop eating when it’s done well. This was the latter.
Papas Rellenas
The owner brought out a few things for me to try after my main, and the papas rellenas were the thing I keep coming back to when I think about this meal.
Here’s what they are: seasoned ground beef, surrounded by a baseball-sized portion of mashed potato, rolled and deep fried. What you get is a crispy exterior shell — genuinely crispy, not just golden — with dense, smooth mashed potato inside, and then the seasoned ground beef at the center. One of these is a complete meal by itself. The contrast between the crispy outside and the smooth inside and then the savory beef in the middle is exactly right, and on a cold day in particular this is the kind of food that makes complete sense in a way that’s hard to articulate.
They also brought out their house hot sauce. I would drink this out of a water bottle if that were socially acceptable. It’s that good. Pour it over the papas rellenas and you have one of the better bites I’ve had this year — the heat cutting through the richness of the potato and the fat in exactly the right way.
The Flan
I need to talk about the house made flan separately because it deserves its own section.
This is not the flan you’re thinking of. It’s not just the silky, smooth custard you expect when someone puts flan in front of you. This is dense — almost like a thick cheesecake. All the flavors you want from traditional flan — condensed milk, that deep caramel — combined with the richness and texture of cheesecake. It shouldn’t work as well as it does. It absolutely works.
I haven’t had a large number of flans in my life, but I would put this one up against anything I’ve tried. It is rich, creamy, and deeply satisfying in a way that makes you slow down and finish every bite rather than eating it absentmindedly. I would genuinely get in my car right now — at eight in the morning — and drive an hour and a half out to Ontario just for the papas rellenas and this flan. That is not an exaggeration.
Why It Matters That This Place Exists Out Here
Ontario, New York. That’s where Mamia’s Island is. A small town along Route 104, the kind of place you pass through without necessarily stopping. Not exactly where you’d expect to find a Puerto Rican restaurant run by an owner who comes running out of the kitchen when she recognizes someone who might be able to help tell her story.
But that’s exactly the point. In a community that might otherwise have limited access to food from outside their immediate experience, Mamai’s Island is showing up and doing something different. The food is authentic, the owner cares deeply about what she’s serving, and the whole operation has an energy to it that you feel from the moment you walk in.
After my visit, friends were sending me screenshots of the owner posting about it on Facebook. Her excitement about the whole thing was completely genuine and completely contagious. That matters to me more than almost anything else when I’m deciding whether a place is worth recommending.
If you’re heading out along Route 104 — whether you’re going to Rochester or just out for a drive — stop at the blue building in Ontario. Order the roast pork. Get the papas rellenas. And do not leave without trying the flan.
Mamia’s Island
1808 NY-104
Ontario, NY
Follow her on social media here
