La Cocina de la Isla

La Cocina de la Isla is the Cuban restaurant in Canal Grove that is owned and operated by the Zamora family. Crucially, the restaurant is always closed on Sundays, which the large family preserves in order to have a private dinner together. The restaurant is always full of people, many of whom have established a personal relationship with Arturo's Abuela, who founded the restaurant. In the main conflict in the novel, the Zamoras fight against Wilfrido Pipo, who attempts to bulldoze the restaurant in order to establish a new real estate development.

Pipo Place

Pipo Place is a large new real estate development, proposed by the smooth-operating real estate developer Wilfrido Pipo. Pipo Place is proposed to be a large building, with Pipo insisting that La Cocina de la Isla be destroyed in order for it to be established. During the summer, Pipo opens...