Sweet churros take center stage at new Geneva eatery

A churro is more than a sweet, a pastry or a dessert, it’s a journey to another realm – of fruity or creamy filling encased in a fried dough stick, doused in cinnamon and sugar for an oomph! to the tongues of mere mortals.

Que Buen Churro, 316 Crescent Place, Geneva, opened Aug. 1, a family business rooted in tradition.

Owner Peter Pacheco, his mother, Alma Pacheco, and his girlfriend Melissa Hernandez held a Geneva Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting Aug. 1, signaling the store’s opening.

“Me, my girlfriend and my mom are pretty much running the show here,” Pacheco said.

As for the idea of a place just for churros, that followed his mother’s previous successful business, Cortez Bakery, in West Chicago, Pacheco said.

“My grandpa was a baker in Mexico,” he said. “We all kind of had an idea because we really like churros. My uncle lives in Mexico right now and we flew out there and learned from a friend who knew how to make churros traditional way.”

They stayed several days to practice and learn how to make the churros by hand.

“We kind of decided to take that idea of churros that we have not done previously and bring it over here,” Pacheco said. “We had a great idea to bring it to Geneva.”

The dough is wheat flour mixed with water and salt and stirred. When it’s ready, the dough is fed into a churro maker to create the ridges before it’s deep-fried in corn oil.

The filling is added – including strawberry, Bavarian cream, Nutella or candy cream – and while still warm, the outside is sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Churros can be straight like a stick or bent into curves like bows.

“You can manipulate the dough in different ways,” Pacheco said. “We are planning on eventually making different designs with churro. For Valentine’s Day, we’re going to make them in the shape of a heart.”

According to the menu, Que Buen Churro also offers churro sundaes, coffee and milkshakes.

The store is open 12 hours a day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and closed on Monday.

The trio makes about 500 churros a day.

Any left at closing?

“Not many,” Pacheco said.

More information about Que Buen Churro is available online at quebuenchurro.com.