Pabellón Restaurant: A Family Business with Venezuela at Its Heart

Eight years have passed since Carolina Serrano opened Pabellón Restaurant in Pittsburgh. What began as a project involving four people is now a family-owned business that keeps Venezuelan food and traditions alive.

Behind that journey is also the story of a woman who came to the United States believing she would eventually return to her home country, but instead began a new life here. Serrano has a degree in business administration and, in Venezuela, worked as head of Analysis and Procurement Processing at the Universidad Nacional Abierta.

Carolina shares that she experienced political persecution because of her beliefs and because she prevented fraud in the department where she worked. The situation became so frightening that she requested unpaid leave to avoid encountering the people who were intimidating her.

She traveled to Pittsburgh to visit her sister, intending to get away for a while and then return to Venezuela. But the harassment continued while she was out of the country.

“When the time came for me to leave, I was terrified. I was truly very afraid, and I told her, ‘No, I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to leave,’” she recalls.

Carolina Serrano y su sobrino / Carolina Serrano and her nephew

Former colleagues warned her that people were still asking about her. They also received messages and phone calls, adding to her concern for her son, who was four years old at the time.

 “The main reason was that I feared for my life and for the lives of my son and my husband as well. I experienced the persecution, the intimidation, the constant threats,” she explains.

Serrano decided to stay, and years later that decision led to Pabellón, located on Banksville Road (15216). The restaurant opened in August 2018 with four people. She and her husband later continued the project together. Today, her sisters and nieces and nephews work there, along with two employees from Honduras and Venezuela.

A Place to Spend Time Together and Help

Growing the business took time and meant introducing Venezuelan cuisine to customers who had never tasted an arepa. Little by little, Americans began coming in, along with Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and Costa Ricans.

“People come here and are fascinated by the food. It’s food that tastes homemade, without additives,” Serrano says. Pabellón has also allowed her to maintain a strong connection with the community. The restaurant has organized collections and made donations to support those in need.

Here Carolina shares with other immigrants the information she needed when she first arrived. She guides them toward health care resources, educational opportunities, and organizations such as Casa San José. She also helps people who want to start businesses and need to better understand the process.

“For all Latinos who are here and those of us who are away from our
countries, I believe the important thing is to help one another. To lend
each other a hand,” she says.

The next step is already taking shape. Serrano wants to develop Pabellón Express, a faster service focused on takeout. She does not intend to turn her concept into fast food, but rather to bring the same restaurant experience to a new format.

Venezuela remains present in her roots and in part of her family who still lives there. However, Serrano does not plan to return. Her life and her project are now here, and her intention is clear:

“To keep moving forward, to keep growing in every way we can.”