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In Irving Park, Colombian Restaurants Rule

By Kyla Gardner | March 17, 2015 5:39am
 Braja Rosa is a Colombian restaurant with two locations in Irving Park, one at 3125 W. Montrose Ave. and one at 3556 N. Pulaski Road.
Braja Rosa
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IRVING PARK — If anyone knows how well a Latin American restaurant can do in Irving Park, it's Jeannette Gacharna.

Gacharna and her family own three restaurants serving Colombian fare in the neighborhood: Brasa Roja, at 3125 W. Montrose Ave. and 3556 N. Pulaski Road, and El Llano, 4011 N. Elston Ave.

DNAinfo Chicago asked review site Yelp to crunch the numbers on what type of cuisine is offered far more frequently in each neighborhood than it is citywide. (The numbers don't correlate to the most popular food — it would end up just being pizza, burgers and fast food.)

For example, Edgewater has a higher ratio of Thai restaurants than the rest of the city, and Hyde Park features disproportionately more vegan restaurants.

 The specialty at Colombian restaurant Brasa Roja, 3125 W. Montrose Ave., is the charcoal-fired chickens.
The specialty at Colombian restaurant Brasa Roja, 3125 W. Montrose Ave., is the charcoal-fired chickens.
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DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner

Irving Park was found to be home to a much higher ratio of Latin American restaurants than the rest of the city: almost 10 times more.

Brasa Roja and El Llano serve traditional Colombian fare to customers surrounded by Colombian maps, sculptures and music. El Llano is named for the region of the country where Jeannette's husband, Jorge, grew up. Gacharna herself is of Puerto Rican descent.

Imported Colombian pop is sold, and with their choice of charcoal-fired meats customers can order white rice, fried yuca strips, fried sweet plantains, cassava and arepas con queso.

Gacharna said Brasa Roja's signature dish, charcoal-fired, whole rotisserie chickens, is what keeps customers streaming in the door.

"The seasoning is my husband's secret recipe," she said.

That fire is also where the restaurant gets its name — Brasa Roja roughly translates to "red flame," Gacharna said.

The chickens take about two hours to cook, and customers can see them roasting right behind the counter.

"They come in because they smell the chicken two blocks away," she said. "I have customers that come twice a day, for lunch and dinner."

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