Novo Mundo finds a new home in Dartmouth

Greeting every customer that walks through her restaurant’s door, Carla Amaral of Westport is already making Novo Mundo’s new residency in Dartmouth feel like home.

Bouquets of flowers and plants sit in vases and pots around the restaurant — all gifts from customers — against a mural stretching across one of the restaurant’s walls that depicts all aspects of Portuguese culture.

Amaral’s son Jonathon came up with the artwork, which includes a map of Portugal, the Gates of the City, an homage to Amaral’s father, wine and animals, such as a Barcelos rooster, pig and bull.

“Everything that you see here teaches the people that are not familiar with Portugal,” Amaral said.

Novo Mundo got its start in New Bedford over three decades ago, and for 32 years Amaral has worked at the restaurant, starting as a waitress at 18-years-old before becoming the owner.

Moving to Dartmouth hadn’t been an easy decision for Amaral, who said that her dream had always been to own Churrascaria Novo Mundo in New Bedford, not expand or move to a new area.

She explained that a few years ago, the New Bedford neighborhood started becoming a "rough, very troubled neighborhood" that started affecting Novo Mundo's business and raised some safety concerns.

“Unfortunately there’s a lot of issues that intimidated a lot of customers, especially the ones that would want to go in with their families,” Amaral said.

For a time Amaral was able to keep the perimeter around Novo Mundo clear, but despite efforts with local police and getting in contact with the mayor, conditions weren’t improving.

“My dream became a nightmare because there was just so many issues,” she said.

Amaral spoke with her son Jonathon about the business’ future and told him that once the lease ended in two years, she would close the restaurant.

She recalled what Jonathon told her: “He goes, ‘At the end of the day, Ma, you got to think about these people that have been so loyal to you and they [the workers] are the ones that make this business. They’re the ones that make it happen, so therefore we have to be faithful to them.’”

Jonathan convinced Amaral to look for a new home for Novo Mundo, considering other locations in New Bedford or along Route 6 near Westport before settling on Dartmouth.

Today, Novo Mundo has a new home at 24 Cove Road.

Novo Mundo had its grand opening on Friday, Oct. 10, just a week and a half after officially closing the New Bedford location.

“We rushed into opening as soon as we could because some people … depend on our food at least six days a week,” Amaral said. “That’s what they eat, and I hate to have them wait even longer.”

She explained that they have some customers who aren’t able to make their own meals, don’t know how to cook and don’t have an interest in learning, and some who lead hectic lives who depend on Novo Mundo for food.

“That’s why we’re here — for our customers, the ones that make this happen at the end of the day,” Amaral said.

The move involved transporting the restaurant's signature charcoal grill and installing state of the art kitchen equipment to accommodate for the larger space and 27 additional guests.

Amaral said that while the business has been operating for over 30 years and workers know what they’re doing, the new location poses new adjustments and challenges, noting that there is also a different clientele.

She estimated that in the first two days they served close to 600 plates of food, noting that “the past couple of days have been amazing.”

“I am very grateful to everyone that’s been coming through these doors. They’ve been absolutely amazing,” Amaral said. “They had the patience of waiting an hour, an hour and a half, even two hours.”

She said they ended up bringing a bench from outside inside so people could have a place to sit and wait.

Amaral called the feeling of having so many returning customers and regulars “overwhelming,” especially when customers return because “they feel part of the family.”

Throughout the grand opening and following days, Amaral went from table to table to meet new customers and hear their feedback.

She explained that she wants to be able to know customers by their first names so that after a couple visits she knows how they like their food prepared and if they have any allergies.

“I want you to feel at home,” she said. “That’s the feeling that we had at the other place.”