History

Carlos' opened in a Highland Park, Illinois, storefront on November 11, 1981, overcoming months of construction, personnel and financial setbacks. Since then, it has distinguished itself as one of only a handful of top-rated restaurants in the Chicago area. Of all our culinary achievements in our years on the Chicago food scene, I think the most important thing we've done is figure out how to make you feel comfortable in the world of top-quality food and wine. The way we look at it, if we make you feel comfortable in the restaurant, you'll also feel comfortable making our recipes at home. That's why everything we do is intended to enhance your comfort and enjoyment. We must be succeeding: a recent survey by the Zagat Guide reports that Carlos' is considered Chicago's most popular restaurant.

Carlos himself is probably the main reason. His story is inspirational. Carlos Nieto was neither a professional chef nor a restaurant man when he came to America in the late 1960s. He was a silversmith in his early twenties in Mexico City. While running an errand for a family business, he came to America and never left. To earn pocket money, he took jobs as a busboy and then a waiter in various restaurants. He fell in love with the restaurant business, he fell in love with me, and before long, both became permanent parts of his life. I married Carlos, fell in love with restaurants, and abandoned my plans to continue as a paramedic. It was quite a moment when those low-rung restaurant jobs led us to opening our own restaurant.

The restaurant has evolved and maintained its excellence, partly because Carlos Nieto distinguished himself as a superb judge of talent. He knew what he had to do to make not just a first-rate restaurant, but a first-rate restaurant that people would want to visit over and over. Carlos' is elegant, but it is also accessible and comfortable.

Carlos dedicated himself to building a brilliant restaurant from the front of the house while hiring talented chefs to take care of the back of the house. "I'm always re-inventing the restaurant," he says, and whether that means changing the menu, redecorating, or updating the cooking style, his goal is always the same: to reinforce in customers the sense that you're getting a special treat by visiting our restaurant.