Las Tablas

 Colombian Steak House 

        About Us / Our story

Las Tablas Colombian Steakhouse was founded by the Suarez family in 1993.  With

Jorge Suarez as chef and Soraya Suarez as waitress and administrator.  It was with this goal

in mind that the Suarez family came to the United States.  Jorge Suarez worked in various

hotels and tourist resorts in Colombia, and also as chef at the world’s largest open coal

mine, El Cerrejon, in the province of La Guajira, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.  Upon

arrival in the U.S. he worked in everything from washing dishes to painting houses,

delivering newspapers, and also as a farmhand.  Soraya worked cleaning office buildings

at night and cared for their two children, Farid Leonardo (Leo) and Nicole.   

After some years of hard work and saving, the original Las Tablas was established at

1918 W. Irving Park Rd. and started out as a very small operation, being forced to sell

tacos and burritos just to get people to walk in the door, as Colombian food in Chicago

was relatively unknown outside the Latino community at that time.  Conveniently, the

family lived in an apartment above the restaurant.  Little by little they were able to gather

a steadily growing following outside of the Colombian community.  However, just as

Las Tablas was poised to really make a name for itself in Chicago, the restaurant was

destroyed in a fire on Halloween eve in 1996.  So in just one night, the family lost not only

 their business, but also their home. 

Not letting a fire destroy their dream however, within months they were open at their new

location at 2965 N. Lincoln Ave.  Very little of the momentum gained at the first location

carried over however, and for months the business balanced on the brink of failure. 

However with the same attitude, work ethic, and great food they were able to prosper as

more and more people began to “discover” what was then a one room hole in the wall that

sat maybe fifty people. 

After a few years they rented out the next door store front adding about an extra twenty

seats or so.  However, waits on weekends were still upwards of an hour an a half; and with

no waiting area, a line of people waiting outside in the cold was a common sight.  It was

clear that some solution was needed, and with that in mind the family bought a storefront

building next to a lot across the street.  It was here that they planned to one day build a

beautiful, large restaurant where their guests could wait at a bar instead of outside in the cold.

Apart from that, the construction and opening of that restaurant would represent the

culmination of 15 years of hard work in the face of adversity; it would represent that the

Suarez family had fulfilled all the goals and dreams that they came to this country to fulfill.

Today there are two beautiful Las Tablas locations in Chicago that are the product of fifteen

years of back-breaking work by one family who has persevered in the face of great hardship. 

We invite you to enjoy a unique culinary experience and to learn about Colombia, a country

whose natural and cultural beauty are not expressed often enough in this city.

Visit www.yocreoencolombia.com to see facts and news about Colombia that you won’t

see on the news or movies. 

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Last modified: 01/2008