INDIANAPOLIS — Hispanic Heritage Month starts when the calendar turns to September, but "Yelp Indy" is starting the celebration early.
“We came up with an event called 'Yelp’s Cultura Club,'” said Niki Burt.
It’s an event series, this is the second year and there are seven events to be exact.
Burt says she wanted people to really get a taste of the Latinx culture in Indy, but she also wanted Hoosiers to learn the stories behind the cuisine.
“One of the business owners shared how her and her family cleaned car dealerships for years. They lived off one or two hours of sleep, they worked like that for years until they were able to buy Agave Bar and Grill in downtown,” said Burt.
“If you can connect people to the heart behind a business, people will support them,” said Burt.
Marcos Cesar Perera-Blasco is the owner of Che Chori on West 16th Street.
“Single parent kid grew up in Argentina, rural community,” said Perera-Blasco.
He came to America 24 years ago from Argentina. He's made cheese, worked as a farmer, he's been without, sacrificed, worked as a waiter, and even taught himself English all in pursuit of achieving his wildest dreams.
“I had big dreams but never thought I would accomplish them,” said Parera Blasco.
He named his restaurant Che Chori, which means for the people he's been making authentic Argentinian food a while, but it wasn't until 2020 that this place became a reality.
“I get to Indiana and realize there were not the chorizos and the sausages I grew up with. I would go over friends and take chorizos, they would say, 'you need to do something about it,'” said Perera-Blasco.
He says all it takes is a taste to get hooked.
“It's funny people will order one empanada and 15 minutes later give me 10, it's funny,” said Perera-Blasco.
