ROSCOE VILLAGE — A taste of Cuba is coming soon to Roscoe Village.
Cuba312 is set to open by the end of September at 2054 W. Roscoe St., the former home of El Tinajon.
For husband-and-wife owners Billy and Jamie Alvarez, the restaurant represents their first foray into the Chicago market, but they already have three years of experience under their belts running Taste of Cuba Cafe in Lincolnwood.
"We kind of really always wanted to open in Chicago," said Jamie Alvarez, 31.
Patty Wetli discusses why the Lincolnwood location just wasn't enough for this popular restaurant:
As they scouted locations for their newest venture, the pair's criteria boiled down to a family-friendly neighborhood where people appreciate fun food.
Roscoe Village fit the bill, well known to Billy Alvarez, 32, during his days as a student at Gordon Tech.
Though the name Taste of Cuba isn't making the trip south — "We kind of wanted a different identity for Chicago," Jamie said — the restaurant's entire menu is...and then some.
"We're doing everything we do at Lincolnwood at Roscoe Village and adding some unique items," said Jamie.
Though she's still finalizing dishes, she promised "really innovative fun starters" that will set Cuba312 apart from other Cuban restaurants.
"There's so much competition, I don't want to stick to the same menu," Jamie said.
Taste of Cuba is BYOB, but the Alvarezes are applying for a liquor license for Cuba312, aiming to bring a bit of the "tropics" to their drinks lineup.
Fans of traditional Cuban food will also find plenty of familiar fare at Cuba312.
The Cubano sandwich is a given, though Alvarez said hers is made with a slight twist.
"We use a different type of pan," which lends the sandwich a unique seasoning, and a different type of swiss cheese, she said.
"It's all about the layers of flavors," Jamie said.
Alvarez is particularly fond of her churrasco, a grilled skirt steak marinated in a special sauce she developed with the help of Billy's aunts, who served as Jamie's tutors.
Though she calls herself a "foodie at heart," Jamie doesn't come to Cuban cooking naturally.
"I'm not Latin," she said. "I'm black and Irish."
When she and Billy first became an item, she knew she had to immerse herself in Cuban culture in order to pass muster with her husband's family.
"Imagine me in the kitchen with his family in Miami, with his aunts in their 80s" and not at all fluent in Spanish, Jamie recalled.
"I was 20 years old, and you go from not knowing how to cut an avocado" to eventually having her cuisine featured on the "Hungry Hound," she said proudly.
"Being part of my husband's family, they make you love their culture so much, it's addicting," she said.
It's that passion for food that led to Taste of Cuba's success in a Touhy Avenue location labeled "death row" for restaurants by its Lincolnwood neighbors, Jamie said.
"I was managing a martial arts facility next door and watched all these restaurants come and go," she said.
On a whim, as she saw yet another eatery go belly up, she called Billy and suggested the time was ripe to pursue their dream of opening their own place — despite her being three months pregnant with the couple's first child.
"I said, 'We should just do it.' The other businesses, they didn't think anything could make it," Jamie said. "Here we are, three years later."
The Alvarezes, who live in Galewood with their toddler daughter, plan to shuttle back and forth between their two restaurants, putting in plenty of face time at the new location.
"You're going to see my husband and I a lot," she said.
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