Chazito’s Latin Cuisine celebrates 8 years

POOLER, Ga. (WSAV) – On Saturday, Chazito’s Latin Cuisine celebrated 8 years in business at their Pooler location and reflected on their journey to make it happen.

Owner and Chef Chaz Ortiz said, “It’s 8 years at my brick and mortar in Pooler. We started with a food truck 11 years ago, and a tent 14 years ago, so, it’s pretty awesome to be able to celebrate this,”

A Pennsylvanian native and part of a large Puerto Rican family, Ortiz came to Savannah over 10 years ago. He eventually began to take traditional family recipes and put a new twist on them.

Starting with a tent on River Street in 2012 and only serving kabobs, empanadas and plantains, Ortiz and his grandfather Doming eventually purchased an old Frito Lay’s Potato Chips truck and, while working afternoons at Gulfstream, they started working on revamping the truck into Chazito’s Latin Cuisine Food Truck.

Soon they were serving empanadas, plantains, pulled pork, Cuban sandwiches and varieties of rice options at venues such as the Doggie Carnival Festival in Forsyth Park, the Isle of Hope Art & Music Festival, and festivals in the Atlanta and Jekyll Island areas.

Ortiz’s business grew to two food trucks serving the Savannah and Low Country areas and a catering business for weddings, family gatherings, and business luncheons. In 2016, Chazito’s Latin Cuisine became a physical location that opened in Pooler.

“Being able to grow within a community, and having a community, you know, propel me into being able to do this, you know, it’s very humbling. It’s awesome, it’s kind of like surreal, but it’s dope because I just know that I got a lot in me to give so I’m trying to, you know, run it back another 8,”

In honor of the anniversary on Saturday, Chazito’s Latin Cuisine is offering live music all day, a pig and chicken roast, throwback dishes from when they first started, swag merchandise and much more.

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