Sweetchilango brings authentic Mexican flavors to Wheaton

A new downtown Wheaton Mexican restaurant is bringing a serious approach to casual food.

Sweetchilango is the first fast-casual concept from the Bien Trucha Group, but Chief Business Officer Julio Cano says you shouldn’t let the informal setting fool you into thinking this is fast food.

“People that are familiar with our restaurants, they know we never compromise quality with our food and drinks,” Cano said. “Everything is fresh, everything is homemade, everything is authentic.”

Sweetchilango focuses on tacos de guisado, a traditional favorite in Mexico City.

“It’s maybe the oldest kind of taco and the most popular in Mexico,” Cano said. “It’s a whole meal in a taco.”

Guisados are commonly translated as stews, but the term really implies a dish that is simply warm and homey that can be cooked any number of ways.

“This is what we Mexicans have been eating for generations at home,” Cano said. “That’s what’s unique about this. It’s a homestyle kind of taco.”

Sweetchilango is starting with eight guisado offerings: albondigas (beef meatballs), cochinita pibil (braised pork shoulder in adobo pibil), Milanesa (breaded chicken), puerco en salsa verde (pork shoulder braised in salsa verde), chile relleno, birria (braised beef), pollo pipian (shredded chicken in mole pipian) and rajas con crema (poblano peppers).

The guisados are served either as a taco with a large housemade corn tortilla and red rice, or as a plate with rice, black beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and a tortilla. They’ll soon be available on an enchilada.

The menu also includes a number of sides like esquites and fresh-made chips and guacamole. The cocktail menu includes four 18-ounce cocktails, each made with fresh ingredients, as well as nonalcoholic housemade aguas frescas.

Orders can be placed with a cashier, at self-serve kiosks, at the bar or from a table using the app.

The light, airy atmosphere and contemporary decor and vibe are purposefully absent the colorful cliches of Mexican restaurants, Cano said.

“We were born and raised there, we’re trying expose people to the Mexico that is modern,” he said. “The colorful sarapes and sombreros are not real Mexico.”

The 4,800-square-foot corner space at 133 W. Front St. was previously occupied by Yia Mas Greek restaurant.

The concept is the result of 17 years of experience in the suburbs for the restaurant group.

Cano’s parents, Ricardo and Delores Garcia-Rubio, and his brother, Rodrigo Cano, opened Bien Trucha in Geneva in 2007. A toda madre in Glen Ellyn came next, followed by Quiubo and Santo Cielo in Naperville. They also own Nacho Burger in Geneva and Lil’ Donkeys, a ghost kitchen concept that sells to-go packages.

Cano said this is the first of their concepts where they plan to open more with the same name. They’ve already planned for more locations and recently signed a lease in LaGrange, where they’ll open the second Sweetchilango next year.

“It’s a mesh of our different brands that we think work together really well,” Cano said. “So far, people are embracing it, they’re loving it.”

The restaurant is in the middle of a soft opening, with shorter hours five days a week. An official ribbon cutting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 18, which will coincide with a transition to full-time hours Tuesday through Sunday, including brunch hours on the weekend.

Cano said he and several of his partners live in Wheaton.

“This is our community, so we’re excited to bring something different and something authentic,” he said.