La Chiva, Winter Park - Closed

I had lunch at this self-described Latin (mostly Colombian) restaurant on Thursday. I had the special of the day for what came out to be $10 with a can of soda. I think it was called Chicken Ajiacco. It was a stew. It had a thigh and few pieces of the outside part of the breast plus potatoes and onion and a quarter ear of corn. It was served with white rice and a third of an avocado. It was fine. Very rustic. Maybe not the most balanced dish (two starches and a raw vegetable thrown in). The menu has arepas, sandwiches, Colombian dogs and burgers, meat dishes and daily specials. Prices can reach $20. It's on 436 in a strip mall between the road that goes to Maitland and the one that goes to Winter Park. It was a Puerto Rican (Sazon) and an Ecuadorian place before. It's has been open under these owners for eight months. The place is cute. They have all the proper decorations. It looks like a souvenir shop. They use cut up coffee bags to carpet the ceiling. There are two rooms. The front room houses the kitchen and looks like a takeout/bar area. They have a side room ( with wooden tables) that is the main dining area. It seats about 25. It also has a bar counter. There were two others there when I visited (Colombians). The service was good. The food came out promptly. Communication was a slight problem. The place has a casual vibe. You can tell from their cartoon logo that they don't take themselves too seriously. If I have it right, a "Chiva" is a loud food truck that people assemble around to eat and drink and dance. It's not gourmet. And it's not seedy. It's a nice family restaurant (you can tell by the highchairs) that happens to serve food you probably don't think much about. If you are curious, I suggest you try this place. It has a nice variety of dishes. Some dishes for the adventurous and some dishes that are universally recognizable.