Peruvian charbroiled chicken eatery opening on site of a longtime Kansas City area BBQ
Francisco “Cisco” Huaman has been buying restaurant equipment for a couple of decades with plans to open his own place one day.
He took a first step in 2021, buying a food truck with his now wife, Amanda Arhuire. Then in mid-2022 they bought the former Quick’s Bar-B-Q building at 1007 Merriam Lane, Kansas City, Kansas.
They plan to park the food truck in front of the building and operate Brasa Nation there. They will serve Peruvian charbroiled chicken, along with several sides: french fries, salad, white rice, lima beans, black beans, yucca fries and Peruvian rice. They will add more menu items later.
“This has been a dream of ours for a long time. We are blessed to own our own building, “ he said.
He is from Lima, Peru, moving to California when he was a preteen and later to the Kansas City area. He’s known Arhuire since he moved to California. She is half Peruvian and half Guatemalan.
The chicken is marinated at least 24 hours. The couple will prep the food in the kitchen and cook the chicken in a firewood rotisserie oven in back of the building. “Brasa” means “ember” in Spanish.
They plan to do a pop-up in a few weeks and then open regular hours. They hope to open the dining room for sit-down service later and also add other chef/operators to expand the offerings. The building still has Quick’s barbecue pit.
Quick’s closed in 2014 after 50 years. Ron Quick is serving as Cisco’s mentor and also will continue to use the kitchen to make his barbecue sauce. He bottles and sells it to longtime fans of Quick’s Bar-B-Q.
