Don Orlando's Opens In Joliet, 'Lamb Chops Are Delicious': Staff

JOLIET, IL — The coming soon sign went up in September, and now the wait is over, Joliet. Don Orlando's Restaurant & Catering is now serving lunch and dinner seven days a week at the former Catrinas Mex Authentic Mexican Cuisine. Before that, it was the legendary Keg Pizzeria.

Don Orlando's is drastically different from Catrinas. You will not find tacos, burritos or nachos on the menu. Don Orlando's specializes in Peruvian cuisine, more of a "South American with Central American flair," according to the staff.

"No tacos, no burritos, Peruvian style flavor," explained Don Orlando's employee Alicia Avalos. "I'm very happy they opened the restaurant. They got a lot of carryout (last) week, too."

Avalos and the owner of Don Orlando's said the Greek chicken, lamp chops and shrimp saganaki are a few of the top menu selections. As far as the lamp chops, "it's a little bit Greek, a little bit Peruvian, and it's awesome," Avalos suggested.

They also said customers will be impressed with their pastas and raw fish dinners.

Open 7 Days A Week, Lunch Specials Too

The Don Orlando's dinner menu features baby back ribs; chicken souvlaki made with a marinated chicken breast and vegetables served over rice; pork souvlaki made with skewered pork tenderloin, peppers and onions served with vegetables rice and fresh lemon olive oil sauce.

The lamb chops are char-broiled and seasoned with lemon, oregano and olive oil with potato and rice.

There are five "From The Sea" menu selections and a total of five sandwiches and burgers including the Don Orlando's Steak. That's the signature sandwich, and it's Flambe beef tenderloin strips, provolone cheese, bacon, fried egg, potato shoestrings and chimichurri.

The Classic Burger is an 8 oz Angus beef burger with American cheese, tomato, lettuce, onions and fries.

All the burgers are priced between $12 and $14.

Why Joliet For Don Orlando's?

Restaurant owner Jose Ricardo Villatoro is from El Salvador, while his wife, Arali, is from Peru. The couple have three children, who were all born in Florida, Arinna, 16, Kevin, 13 and Ashley, 8.

The new Joliet restaurant is named after Villatoro's late father-in-law.

"It was his dream to have a restaurant, he was always pushing," explained Don Orlando's employee Alicia Avalos as she helped translate last week's Joliet Patch interview with Villatoro, who speaks limited English.

Villatoro has worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years, Avalos said. He has worked for French Bistros, plus Italian and Greek restaurants.

She said Villatoro and his family came to Joliet about four months ago from Florida. He studied the restaurant scene in Joliet and realized, "there is Mexican food in a lot of the places. They came here and are trying to bring to Joliet something different," explained Avalos. "I'm very happy they opened the restaurant. There are not a lot of Peruvian dishes in Joliet."

Avalos said the lamb chops are one of the best items on the dinner menu.

"I can tell you those lamp chops are out of this world," she remarked. "And we've got some great salads as well. Everything is homemade, all the sauces, marinades, all are homemade."

Last week, Don Orlando's hosted a group party with 19 guests. "Everybody was happy and it was so good," Avalos said.

"The key to success is people need to know we are open because the food is excellent. When they try the food, oh yeah, they will know that this is special."

Located at 20 West Jackson Street, Don Orlando's is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The restaurant phone is 815-582-4137.

Avalos said Don Orlando's is in the process of obtaining a liquor license through the city of Joliet.