Taqueria Chicago celebrates 30 years on South Bend's West Side

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A local Mexican restaurant is celebrating 30 years at its location on the city's West Side.

Taqueria Chicago opened in 1996 and is still owned and operated by the same family.

"My grandma, she opened this up in 1996, she was one of the first Mexican restaurants in the city," said Maritsa Perez, granddaughter of Taqueria Chicago owner.

At a time when South Bend had significantly less options for culturally diverse food, Maria Arellano and her husband took a leap, and decided to open Taqueria Chicago, giving the city's West Side a new option for Mexican eats.

"When she came from Mexico, she went to Chicago, Chicago was a little crazy, she had kids, and there was lot of violence, so she moved to south bend. She came to south bend and she saw an opportunity here, she didn't see many restaurants open here, and she always loved to cook, the community was a big help to her, helping her staying busy and staying open, because without the community, we would be closed, a lot don't make it this far," said Perez.

Arellano has since retired and moved back to Mexico, but her restaurant is still in good hands, thanks to her family members.

However, Taqueria Chicago was nearly taken out by the pandemic, something that Perez says she wasn't sure if they were going to survive.

"We couldn't sit people down, with the pandemic, having to sit six feet away, we could only do one booth, one table, it was very minimal so I don't know if we would've able to survive without the carry out," said Perez.

Like every established eatery, Taqueria Chicago has its regulars, so ABC57 asked one why he keeps coming back multiple times a week.

"It's an amazing place, local for me, and they're real quick. The ladies know what I like, I'm in, out, usually 15 minutes. Oscar the cook is amazing, girls are friendly, relatively inexpensive, they know what I want, I'm in and out, the sauce is amazing, the chips are always crisp," said Jeff Tumbleson, South Bend resident and Taqueria Chicago regular.

South bend mayor James Mueller took part in the 30th anniversary celebration, and calls Taqueria Chicago a South Bend staple.

"30 years is a milestone for any small business, and of course, a family business passing it on to the next generation, and continuing to serve our residents well, it's a great milestone," said Mayor Mueller.

Perez says if her grandma could be at Tuesday's celebration, she'd be overjoyed, and would want to make sure the community knows just how thankful she is for them.