Family restaurant serves up birria, a traditional Mexican dish, to Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – For nearly two decades, a family-owned Chicago business has served up both flavor and tradition by building an entire menu around one item: birria, a popular Mexican stew.
The dish not only attracts foodies, but also a recent A-lister from the hit show, "The Bear."
If you ask Juan Zaragoza, you can never go wrong with birria, the traditional Mexican goat-based stew that is a mainstay for natives. His passion for the dish sparked what has been a 17-year journey that started in the basement of his Southwest Side home.
They first hosted friends and family, then sold it by the pound to complete strangers.
"It was always in the back of my mind if I were ever to put up a business, it was probably gonna be something tied into magnifying the wonderful flavor of birria coming from La Barca, Jalisco," Zaragoza said.
When he took the plunge in 2007 after leaving his corporate job, it became a family affair. He recruited help from his wife, Norma, and his four children, mainly his son Jonathan, a professional chef.
"I just remember him being obsessed with this dish for the longest time, and being the oldest, I had to help him with anything," said Jonathan Zaragoza.
That obsession, which involves 17 ingredients and three days of preparation, was driven by his need to preserve and share tradition. It led to Birrieria Zaragoza in Archer Heights. The family would later open another location in Uptown.
"I always say we caught lightning in a bottle, but we've been so fortunate to be able to share my father's obsession, and now family history, with everyone," Jonathan said.
The restaurant, which is popular in its own right, recently got a little bump in publicity when Jeremy Allen White, the star of the popular series "The Bear," stopped by.
"I mean, the picture went viral pretty much, but year, it brought people saying 'Hey, we saw Jeremy came in' and they came in," Jonathan said.
Juan added people said online "Hey we gotta check this out!" and that "They thought I was a big deal now."
A new flock of customers seemed eager to embrace an old tradition.
The family hopes to expand to another city in the next couple of years, but said for now, they're going to focus on growing and building at their two Chicago locations.
