New Restaurant Brings Island Flavors To Copperas Cove

COPPERAS COVE — Bringing the flavors of the island of Guam to Copperas Cove, a new family-owned restaurant has opened recently in the Cove Terrace Shopping Center.

The Island Stop is owned and operated by native Guamanian Candelaria Mendiola and her brother.

Mendiola said she and her family moved to Copperas Cove from Guam in 2020 when her brother — who had already been living in Copperas Cove — told her it was a good place to move to and open a business.

The restaurant opened March 11 and celebrated with a ribbon cutting Monday morning.

Since opening, Mendiola that the restaurant has drawn crowds of Chamorro people and islanders wanting to get a taste of “Chamorro delicacy.”

“We’ve been meeting a lot of Chamorros that stayed home and … I never knew that there was that many people of our Chamorro culture,” Mendiola said. “Our islanders are here also in Killeen and Harker Heights, and they would come back on a daily basis.”

Chamorro people come from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

One Killeen resident and Guam native who stopped by to try the food Monday was Audrey Limtiaco.

“(There is) a lot of our food from Guam that we haven’t tried since we’ve been out here, so having this out here really makes us happy,” Limtiaco said as she paid for her food.

One of the signature dishes is a fiesta plate that has red rice and a choice of meats. The meat choices change on a daily basis, but the restaurant serves pork, chicken and beef.

Mendiola said The Island Stop has also drawn people of other island cultures.

“Not only our island that comes here, but also the other outer islands — Pacific Islanders, Hawaiians come her,” she said.

The Island Stop, 126 Cove Terrace Shopping Center, is open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. The restaurant can be followed on social media on Instagram at @islandstop_ or on Facebook at The Island Stop.

Mendiola and her family also operate a website called Tropical Island Mall, www.tropicalislandmall.com, where people can purchase food, clothes and accessories from Guam or other Chamorro islands.

Author: KDHDigital