Eight years after its initial closure, Cholo Soy, a Peruvian restaurant specializing in Northern Peruvian cuisine, is back in business at a new location at 2801 Folsom St. at 24th Street.
“I started cooking at that age,” said its owner, Yarel Caldas pointing to a six or seven-year-old-boy dining with his mother at Cholo Soy on a recent Wednesday. “I could already make stews, soups and rice.”
Cholo Soy has strong roots. Caldas’s father had been a fisherman in northern Peru before he moved inland to the Andean highlands and opened a restaurant. Caldas’s ceviche recipe comes from his father.
Cholo Soy’s beginings date back to around 2010. Caldas had just gone through a divorce and he seriously considered returning to Peru, where most of his family still resides. With no clear path forward and his daughter in this country, Caldas decided instead to take a shot at his dream of opening a restaurant.
“I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna do what I cherish and love so much. I’m gonna follow my dream and open my restaurant,” said Caldas.
Caldas worked a full-time day job at a restaurant downtown and collected bottles and cardboard at night for two years to save money to open the business. Finally, in 2012, Cholo Soy opened its doors in 2012 at Plaza Adelante, the incubator run by Mission Economic Development Agency at 2301 Mission St. at 19th.
Food reviewers were quick to praise the restaurant, particularly the ceviche. Even then, Caldas said, he kept working another job for another two years before he decided to dedicate to Cholo Soy full-time. His business acumen, he said, comes from his mother.
Caldas opened another restaurant called El Ají at 3015 Mission St. near 26th Street in 2015. In 2018, he closed Cholo Soy for reasons he preferred not to detail.