North Park taqueria owner left to pick up pieces after fire tore through her business
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Northwest Side business owner is taking stock after a fire tore through her restaurant.
CBS 2's Noel Brennan reports the owner is now trying to navigate what's next.
Jazmin Flores peered through shattered glass, and her heart broke.
"Yeah, my entire life under burnt rubble," she said.
She was referring to what used to be Taqueria las Flores, her restaurant in North Park.
"It was a piece of me," Flores said.
That was until Saturday morning.
"Something exploded in there," she said. "Like small little pops."
Flores said an electrical fire started in the office and tore through the restaurant she worked hard to open in 2019.
"There's something about working with somebody for so many hours and making something awesome and beautiful for your neighbors and your community and your friends and family to enjoy, and then you know, just goes up in flames," she said. "It's gone."
It was a place that welcomed and celebrated the community.
Flores told CBS 2 about "Hora de Cuentos," or what she called "Spanish story time with Ms. Ana."
"Ana" is Ana Gramajo.
"She would come to the restaurant, invite families with their children and read stories in Spanish, sing songs, bubbles," Flores explained.
Brennan: "What does this restaurant mean to you?"
Gramajo: "Gosh, I'm going to cry."
Gramajo said she'd miss reading to children each month at Las Flores.
"It just felt like such a safe space, you know, and to lose that, I can only imagine like the heartbreak and the pain and like, the whys, you know?" said Gramajo.
Flores added, "It's the memories that are gone now."
But the fire did offer some mercy. It spared some sentimental art pieces and photos on the wall.
It was enough to help a broken heart begin to heal.
"I wanted something of my own," Flores said. "I wanted people to be like, 'That's Jazmin and her team's place.'"
Flores said she expected COVID-19 to be her biggest hurdle when opening her restaurant.
She doesn't know yet what's next for her and her five employees.
