Isabella Owners to Open New Caribbean Restaurant

CORRECTION (1:40 p.m. April 12): An early version of this story incorrectly used Fanny's maiden name. The current version is corrected.

This summer, the owners of Isabella Italian Cafe will opening a new restaurant on Oak Park Avenue.

El Coco Mio will be at 17344 Oak Park Avenue, the former location of Bogart's Charhouse, and will specialize in tropical and Latin foods, according to co-owner Fanny Guzman. Menu items will contain a variety of dishes from Latin American countries, such as Honduras, and feature tropical fruits and vegetables that some Tinley Park diners might not be familiar with, such as yuca.

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Carlos Guzman, co-owner and Fanny's husband, will be the chef at the new restaurant, while continuing in that same role at Isabella.

"It's been our dream for quite a while [to open El Coco Mio]," Fanny Guzman said.

Since 2001, the Guzmans have built a reputation for Italian cuisine, one that's become so strong that customers think that's all the Guzmans eat at home, Fanny said. But the couple's true passion is in the Latin and Caribbean dishes that will be a part of the new restaurant's menu, she added.

The process of getting El Coco Mio up and running has been going off and on for about a year, Franny said. As the Guzmans begin to decorate and renovate the Oak Park Avenue location, the couple can't wait to finally open the doors on their new venture, she added.

"It's not scary. It's very exciting," Fanny said.

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