Guatemalan and Salvadoran cuisine @ Latin Patio

*The $2 charge is not refundable or applicable towards the meal.
The money is used for fees charged by Meetup.com.
If you do not have PayPal, let me know via PM so I can add you. Just bring $2 cash to the dinner.*

*Latin Patio is a BYOB restaurant*

Menu: https://latinpatio.com/#menu

Table for 12 at Latin Patio, a Guatemalan/Salvadoran restaurant in Belmont Cragin. The restaurant was featured on ABC Chicago in 2021.

From ABC Chicago:

"When Pablo Pineda immigrated from Guatemala to the United States with his family, he said his mother told him he had to come to the country offering something.

Pineda has done that by serving up dishes from Guatemala and Central America at his restaurant Latin Patio, located in Chicago's Belmont-Cragin neighborhood.

"I love when people try the food and they say 'Oh my God. I remember my country Guatemala,'" Pineda said.

Some of the recipes comes from his mother.

"I feel very proud giving to the people the heritage that I have from my mother," he said."

"Pineda said traditional Guatemalan food is a mixture of Spanish and Mayan cuisines.

"This is why it is so interesting, the taste is so beautiful," he said.
Pineda said unlike Mexican food, Guatemalan cuisine isn't spicy.

"Guatemalans don't like too spicy," he said.

The most popular dishes on the restaurant's menu are stews: pepián, revolcado and hilachas.

Pepián is a made with chicken. Pig's head and offal are in revolcado. Hilachas contains beef.

Pineda said the stews are eaten with Guatemalan tortillas.

He said the food isn't just what keeps people coming back to his restaurant.

"The most motivation I have in my life to keep the restaurant is because this place is not only a restaurant, it's like a community center," Pineda said."