Barra Junior Payán, Popular Food in Santo Domingo
Barra Junior Payán: Popular Budget Friendly, Tasty Fast Food Restaurant in Santo Domingo Open 24/7
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – With nine locations all over Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and 39 thousand followers on Instagram, Barra Junior Payán is the only one of its kind. It is a budget friendly, quality restaurant that is open 24 hours, seven days a week and has your meal out in under 10 minutes.
Their specialty is sandwiches, but you can enjoy a traditional Dominican breakfast, Mangù con los tres golpes, from 7am to 11am. After breakfast, you can choose from over 50 kinds of sandwiches on the menu. The sandwiches range from 150 to 390 DOP (3 to 7 USD), making this an affordable spot for the average Dominican citizen.
From a cheddar cheese to a huevoburger (egg burger), Barra Junior Payán has a sandwich for any customer and at great prices. One can choose to dine in, order to go, sit at the bar or get their order delivered to their home or to their vehicle. In addition to the sandwiches, they serve a variety of natural juices and traditional fruit smoothies made right behind the bar.
There is a Junior Barra Payan located only a few blocks away from Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo. Jennifer Guerrero is a flight attendant who takes advantage of this convenient location.
“I go to Barra Payan when I forget to pack my lunch for work,” she said, “Sometimes I walk there with my co-workers after our flights, and we sit down to destress from our job.” This is exactly the kind of client that the founder was focused on catering to, once upon a time.
Barra Junior Payán was founded in 1956 by Juan Payán. Historically, the restaurant catered to the farmers, working class and military men of the city. As the country’s economy started to rely less on agriculture and more on tourism, the restaurant expanded its reach to a wider audience. Today, all social classes enjoy Payán sandwiches and even notable political figures, like former Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, have visited the popular sandwicherie.
The restaurant started off serving food in the daytime but decided to expand their business hours to 24 hours a day due to the high demand of young people looking for a place to eat after enjoying the nightlife of Santo Domingo. After making this change, sales skyrocketed and Barra Junior Payan became what we know it as today: The go-to-after-hours spot for the Dominican youth.
The family operated business, Barra Junior Payán, is known to be one of the most popular restaurants in the city. Their value of efficiency, quality and good prices have attracted loyal clients that continue to contribute to the business’s success, today. At 67 years of being open, what started off as a small business has become a staple in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and is now a piece of the city’s rich history.
Rachell Soler | Latin American Correspondent
Rachell Soler is a Dominican journalist and creative who is passionate about culture, music, art and food-tasting. She enjoys learning people’s stories and encouraging those in her community to embrace their upbringings. Soler is a Southwest Houston, Texas product and hopes to enlighten the world with her writing. Her stories are meant to reveal what is often lost in the background and tell inspiring stories that are usually left untold. She is a singer-songwriter in her free time, as she maintains a multifaceted lifestyle while she finishes her studies at University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
