An Ecuadorian musician turned chef opens first restaurant in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Neighborhood

SEATTLE — An Ecuadorian musician turned chef will open his doors to his first-ever restaurant.

José Garzón is the artist behind Bad Chancla.

Located at the corner of Olive Way and Denny Way in Capitol Hill, his menu will not have your grandma’s recipes.

“The slogan for the restaurant is not your abuela’s cooking,” said Garzón.

Garzón says Bad Chancla’s concept is a collection of his own memories and experiences.

“We see the chancla as something bad, but I see it as something that turned me into the man I am today. That discipline. I wasn’t hit as a kid; it wasn’t about hitting. It was about that move that ‘oh I got you’.”

Some people know that feeling all too well, but for Garzón this menu is about taking you back in time.

“This food is about bringing you back to when you were a kid or bringing you back to a space where it’s gonna hit you,” he explained.

Those childhood memories started in Ecuador where Garzon was born and raised.

Early on, his skills didn’t involve a pan or spatula.

“I played anywhere from country to jazz to punk rock to metal,” Garzón explained.

For 15 years, he played professionally for bands that took him across South America. One of those bands even brought him to the Pacific Northwest.

“I ended up here in Washington playing with a band from Bremerton called MXPX and they’re a punk rock 90′s band,” said Garzón.

When that tune came to an end, he turned his palate toward taste and put himself through culinary school.

His days on tour become the inspiration behind his menus.

“I always went back to food even when I was traveling and playing music. I will always maybe not remember what day I was in Argentina, but I will always remember that pizza or that pasta that I ate there,” Garzón explained.

From then on, Garzón used those experiences and crafted them into cuisine.

After years of pop-ups and special events, Bad Chancla was born.

Garzón is serving up Latin American staples with his own twist.

“To me it wasn’t special, it was something I would eat at home… it didn’t have microgreens or foams or all this stuff that I was cooking. It was just rice and beans and meat, but I find that people really liked it.”

His menu is short and sweet. Garzón wants to make sure that customers will want to try every item. His personal favorite – Huevos Con Weenies.

“Huevos Con Weenies, you know Saturday morning cartoons when you’re a kid, your mom is breaking a couple eggs with either chorizo. I like to do it with 100% beef hot dogs. I love hot dogs,” he described.

Garzón aims to push the boundaries with his own unique flavors, despite what others may think.

“I had a lot of Ecuadorians kind of being like ‘that’s not Ecuadorian food’ or ‘that’s not’ but the reality is that Ecuador is a small country with a lot of different cultures in it.”

He is proud to say his menu is anything but traditional.

“I don’t really believe in those words. Whatever is traditional and authentic to you, more power to you. Good food is good food,” said Garzón.

The grand opening for Bad Chancla in Capitol Hill will be in early June.

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