Naperville's B'n Chingón Is A Family Affair Built On Passion

NAPERVILLE, IL — Ozzy Gomez says he never planned on opening his own restaurant — and likely may have never gone into the taco business for himself had it not been for his children.

Yet, over the last three months, Gomez has offered his elevated version of a Mexican favorite in a cozy Naperville location after opening B'n Chingón in May. The authentic eatery located on East Bailey Road near South Washington Street is an extension of Gomez’s catering business, which offers fresh tacos and salsas to private parties.

Yet it was the overwhelming popularity of Gomez’s personal take on tacos that proved to be the motivation behind his four oldest children insisting that expand his business operation to a full-blown brick-and-mortar operation.

Gomez opened in early May nearly a year and a half after he hoped. But what started as a family nudge to offer a variety of homemade tacos and salsas to the public has turned into a family operation that now includes four of Gomez’s five children.

Gomez’s oldest son, Jonathan, previously worked as a chef at Cooper’s Hawk while two of his daughters, Jasmine, age 22, and Scarlett, 19, worked at local Panera Bread shops. His 18-year-old son Alex has also inherited the family love of restaurants, which only added to the full-court press that Gomez’s children placed on him when it came to going into business for himself.

Gomez, who has worked as a hotel and resort chef for more than 15 years before beginning his catering business six years ago, resisted launching a restaurant He knew how much work opening his own eatery would mean. He previously had offered his Mexican food at the Standard Market in Westmont for a year before customers of his catering business asked when he was going into business for himself.

His children followed suit and kept insisting that their father take the plunge. Finally, Gomez gave in. What started with B'n Chingón catering turned into the Naperville strip mall eatery that has become a family affair.

“It was hard at the beginning, to be honest with you,” Gomez told Patch on Wednesday. “You have to be here 24/7.

“But we did it and now, my kids complain, and they say, ‘Oh, it’s too much — I need a day off’, but they love it. They love interacting with the customers, they love to hear that (people) love our food and they love seeing the smiles that say that we’re making someone happy with our food and what we do.”

And customers certainly love Gomez’s tacos. When he started, the mission was to provide quality food with top-notch presentation. Even the restaurant’s name, shortened from Bien Chingón, Gomez says, is slang for someone or something that is unique, but at the top of their game. But Gomez insists that when he relented and opened the doors to his new restaurant, he didn't expect customers to be so complimentary of what he offers.

Gomez’s goal is to take traditional Mexican recipes and elevate them with a modern twist. While most Mexican restaurants offer red and green salsa, Gomez offers a salsa bar with six homemade varieties, including his take on chimichurri, the Argentinean salsa that is primarily made with parsley that is served with steak. Gomez replaces the parsley with cilantro and serrano peppers to offer his diners a different twist on something they may already know.

The beauty of tacos, Gomez says, is the flexibility that they offer. Again, Gomez starts with a traditional foundation but loves the fact that he can take a variety of ingredients, and put them on a fresh, handmade tortilla to complete the process.

“We can make tacos with anything,” he said. “I can make tacos with Kentucky Fried Chicken or barbecue ribs, and I add a little salsa to it and that’s a taco. It’s very flexible, it’s creative – the sky is the limit.”

While he may start with traditional taco beginnings, Gomez adds his own flair to something like his Al Pastor tacos, which in Mexico, are served with fresh pineapple — an ingredient some aren’t accustomed to seeing on a taco. So, while Gomez serves a traditional Al Pastor taco (pineapple and all), he turns to his homemade salsa to crank up the uniqueness factor.

While some salsas can be spicy, Gomez prefers people enjoy the experience rather than being overwhelmed by the heat. So, he adds some spice, but not to the levels where the tastes that come out in his tacos like the crowd favorite — his Carne Asada taco with his own chimichurri and a strip of caramelized chihuahua cheese across the top — are the star of the show.

In Gomez’s mind, Mexican food needs to evolve, which has led Gomez to continue to add his own personal touches to everything on his menu to allow his tacos to stand on their own.

“It’s very important that everything I do here, I do with love and with passion,” Gomez said. “I want people to really enjoy (the food) and I really want people to be blown away when they eat my food.”

He added: “That’s like a motor. It keeps me going.”

So far, that has been the customer’s experience both with the family-owned business’s restaurant and catering operation. At times, keeping both going has required a lot of effort – just as Gomez predicted. But the fact that he is going it together with his children, who contribute to both businesses in their own way, has made all the hard work a lesson in family togetherness.

He says at times, customers find it strange to see a family working as one toward a common goal. Yet, despite the challenges that come with running both a restaurant and a catering business that provides food to 8-10 parties a day on the weekends, Gomez says he and his children are committed to delivering quality food.

While at times, Gomez struggles to believe the positive reviews his food receives as he is often his own biggest critic, he says he wouldn't follow any other path toward providing customers with his brand of food run than the road he has traveled — the occasional kids' complaints and all.

“It makes me very proud that we are all on the same path and that we enjoy serving our customers and making them happy,” Gomez told Patch on Wednesday. “Everyone says that that’s not normal, but it makes me very proud.

He added: “We push ourselves to the limit and we’re always trying to challenge ourselves and prove to ourselves that we can make it. We can do it.”