CAFÉCHAVALOS…
A half-baked idea from the streets to fine dining!

A few years ago the chefs and waiters of CaféChavalos had no clue what curry or teriyaki sauce was. A napkin was an oddity. A gourmet meal was unheard of.

Some of the boys (los chavalos) had lived on the streets with local gangs, some did drugs for dinner, others just idled their time on street corners, waiting for the day to end. No one attended school, and there was no work.

And then a new Building New Hope project challenged eight difficult personalities to forge into a different kind of brotherhood. An agreement to exchange their street lives for culinary training was the start of new lives that had been beyond their imagination. They would receive cooking and restaurant service skills taught by professionals. With Building New Hope's financial backing, Los Chavalos started their small café by serving the public. Soon a special fraternity emerged, binding Los Chavalos into their own self-help group, keeping each other on an upward track.
 
Dinners of chicken and fish filets, sauces for which they have become famous, cream soups, fresh vegetable salads, and homemade desserts came from their energy. It put CaféChavalos into “the best tasting cuisine in town” category. Tourists began to frequent their café and were followed by swarms of tour groups. The café became one of Granada’s best-known tourist attractions and a self-sustaining business.

In 2005, Los Chavalos headed north to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they were the guests of the Pennsylvania Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau, Whole Foods Market, and the Mayor of Pittsburgh. Their tour also included a visit to the Culinary Institute of Pittsburgh; speaking engagements for a Rotary club and area elementary, middle, and high schools; a radio program at Carnegie Mellon University, and a special Chavalos buffet prepared for Building New Hope supporters.

In a characteristic leap of faith, Building New Hope purchased a larger building to allow the café to train more students and serve more customers. It has been transformed into a stunningly unique restaurant in Granada’s historic district, with the donated help of architects and a talented Washington state artist, Katie Staib.

Visit us at the corner of Calles Martirio and Arsenal, 2 blocks east of El Convento San Francisco.

Visit the Café website for the latest news about the Café and los chavalos.