It is hard to believe that Jeronimo Gaytan and Jaime Gamez have known each other since elementary school in Highland Park, a suburb just north of Chicago. However, their friendship grew stronger when they attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Both are first generation college graduates, having majored in Engineering and Education respectively. Their paths crossed again in Chicago during the summer of 2011. Over a beer they discussed and shared hopes of one day being self-employed and getting back into the food industry. Fast forward to May of 2012 and their first location is established just across the street from Wrigley Field.
Like most other pizza enthusiasts, pizza has been an integral part of their lives, especially in Jaime's case. He worked 8 years at THE pizza establishment in Madison, WI, and then gained experience in opening a restaurant from the ground up for the same company. In fact you might even say he also graduated from Pizza University too!
Jaime was born in Chicago, IL and spent most of his life growing up in Highland Park. However, he had many opportunities to visit his parent's homeland of Guatemala. Jaime is bilingual in both English and Spanish, and when he isn't serving delicious slices of pizza to Cubs fans, you are more than likely to find him out in the city enjoying the beach or a beer.
Jeronimo also has food service experience, having worked for 3 years at Highland Park's staple restaurant Michael's Red Hots. He is an avid cook at home making gourmet dinners for his wife every other night. Like Jaime, Jeronimo speaks both English and Spanish. He was born in Evanston, IL and his parents are from Guerrero, Mexico.
The final addition to the team is what some might consider the Michael Jordan of pizza cooks, Manuel Nicolas. Manuel has been a pizza chef for 8 years and hails from the sunny beaches of Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, Mexico, an area known as Costa Chica. Growing up Manuel was accustomed to eating many different types of seafood. If you are familiar with Spanish coastal delicacies then you will recognize such foods as trucha, tejones, pescados robalo, and almojo de ajo. Manuel is a family man, with three daughters and enjoys spending quality time with the family when he is not around the kitchen.
If you ever find yourself hungry after a Cubs game or in the Wrigleyville neighborhood stop in for one of our many delicious slices of pizza and meet our BIG G's Familia.