Mexican restaurant Sal Pique brings Guerrero-style dishes to Park Ridge
A restaurant with six types of tacos, 14 tequilas and 14 cocktails, offering cuisine influenced by the Mexican state of Guerrero, has opened its doors and installed a permanent sign in Park Ridge’s Uptown.
Roberto Flores and Zinnia Iglesias have opened Sal Pique at 130 N. Northwest Hwy. in Park Ridge on Dec. 22, but faced delays in getting their permanent sign installed and depended on word of mouth business, Iglesias said. Since it went up about a week ago, more customers have been coming in, she said.
With Sal Pique, Flores is diving deeper into the Guerrero-style cooking he learned from his mother. The restaurant is open for dinner seven days a week, and Iglesias said their plans are to open for lunch down the road.
Flores and Iglesias opened their first restaurant, Ovo Frito in Evanston, a breakfast and brunch restaurant with a “Mexican touch,” in 2017, Flores said.
Flores chose Park Ridge as the location for his second restaurant for a couple of reasons. He said that while Ovo Frito has been successful, it has limitations because most of its customers consist of Northwestern University students. “We don’t want to be so dependent on students,” Flores said. “There are times when they are not around, and it gets slow.”
“Nowadays, a lot folks work from home, but they still want to go out to eat,” Flores said. “Sal Pique will be the space where you want to celebrate something special — maybe like an anniversary or a holiday.”
The restaurant’s signature dish Carne a la Pique is a marinated skirt steak with a side of queso panela, salad, rice and a regional dish called frijoles borrachos, a stewed bean dish. Frijoles borrachos are cooked with bacon, jalapeños, onion and chorizo, a tomato sauce and Modelo beer, Flores explained.
Iglesias also recommended the fajitas for first-time visitors.
On the menu are chicken, steak, barbacoa, shrimp, veggie and fish tacos. Traditional seafood with shrimp cooked in flavorful sauces, mole and desserts are also on the menu. The drink menu boasts lime, blackberry, mango, blueberry, peach, strawberry and guava margaritas, classic cocktails and a Mexican Mule.
Flores said he learned to make the drinks when he moved to Chicago from Mexico City, by working in bars and later taking classes.
Iglesias said the restaurant is named after the mascot for the Mexico 1985 World Cup soccer team. It’s a cartoon character that looks like a jalapeno pepper, with a comic-type face and wearing a sombrero.
