HACIEN DA

Experience the true hospitality of Mexican culture and introduce your palate to gorgeous and delicious cuisine

By Jamie Baker | Photos by Chris Pereida and courtesy of Hacienda Real

Restaurateur Carlos Aréchiga has opened his family’s tenth location as a restaurant group, overall, and his first official eatery in downtown Geneva.

“We have been in the restaurant industry for nearly twenty years, and we have been business owners for eleven years now,” says Aréchiga “We started, with my parents, a fast, casual place serving Mexican food. Salsa Verde, our location in St. Charles, is the kind of operation we’ve been doing for the majority of the time.”

As the years went by, Aréchiga and his brothers started experimenting with their cuisine and business model. “We wanted to bring a little bit of what we enjoy when we go to Mexico, and we wanted to emulate the places that we like to spend time at when we go to the city,” says Aréchiga. “That’s how Hacienda Real came about and now here we are.”

Aréchiga is especially delighted to open his newest restaurant in Geneva, a community he and his family have long admired. “To start out, we are very familiar with Geneva due to the location of Salsa Verde, which is very close to downtown Geneva,” says Aréchiga. “We’ve had an eye on this community for a while and it has become a dream to have a bigger, more full-service restaurant. I found this location and thought ‘this has to be ours.’ We are right in the commons where Bar Louie used to be.”

Family is in the fabric of Aréchiga’s restaurant group, woven throughout their story and their menu designs. “Hacienda Real, for us, is a very fun experiment because we have that familiar and traditional aspect of Mexican Cuisine and we still work at the family business level where mom and my brother are designing recipes,” says Aréchiga. “We have those recipes from mom, but we also have the innovation from my brother. I like to call it ‘traditional dishes with an exciting and innovative twist.’”

Aréchiga’s first Hacienda Real location is in Yorkville and since its opening, they have dedicated themselves to keeping their menu fresh and reflective of the seasons. “One of the things I like most about our restaurant is that our menu is constantly changing,” says Aréchiga. “We print it about every three months, but we do have some core items because they are everyone’s favorites. We also like to bring