This family business of itinerant tradition produces more than 15,000 a day. It is clear that they sell like... churros!
Although La Quinta opened its doors in the spring of this year, the truth is that this family business began its activity in 1842, when the great-great-grandfather of Ibai Castiñeiras - the current head of the business - set up his first traveling churro stand at the Pontecesures fair.
More than 180 years later, the fifth generation of the family continues with the same essence of this business but adapting it to the new times with the aim of establishing an easily recognizable brand concept that can allow its expansion. For now, we can enjoy La Quinta's churros at number 42, Rúa Calderería.
Logically, the transition of the business format was a big change because “when you go with the caravan to a fair, it's a temporary stand for a few days and then maybe you don't come back for months or years,” explains Ibai. On the other hand, a business that is open every day of the week with continuous hours from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm is, of course, a different story. “Although working at a street fair is very hard work, having a fixed location implies daily constancy,” he says.
Ibai tells us that the secret of the success of these exquisite churros has been kept generation after generation and makes it very clear that “they are not only a fried dough of flour, water and salt”, but they involve a great work in which the quantities of raw materials, the temperature of the oil, the humidity in the environment, the kneading time... “There are many factors that we have learned by observing and listening for years to the family teachers”, he emphasizes, “because that experience is not written in recipe books”.
Classics with sugar and cinnamon, dipped in different intensities of chocolate, covered with toppings, filled with flavors... at La Quinta there is a fresh, crunchy and warm churro for everyone. And to accompany them, in addition to hot chocolate -classic or clear-, they also offer herbal teas, milkshakes, soft drinks and a specialty coffee imported directly from Peru and made with their own roasting.
If we ask Ibai about the reception of these first months of activity, he is clear that they are “delighted, receiving every day the visit of all kinds of public: children with their families, university students, retired couples, tourists who had never tasted churros before...”. In fact, the figures speak for themselves: every weekend an average of 15,000 churros and 2,000 hot chocolates are sold.
The aesthetics of the premises have not been left to chance either, and an open kitchen located at the entrance allows observing the whole process of elaboration of the product, inviting you to enter out of curiosity and for that delicious and irresistible sweet smell. Inside, a luminous space combines the classic with the modern. “We wanted it to evoke our long history, so the floor is reminiscent of village squares, there are awnings similar to those of street stalls...”, he says, ‘and a mural in which all the generations of the family are represented’. It is worth mentioning that the place is pet friendly.
But in addition to being able to approach one of the most historic streets of the city, La Quinta also offers its churros for delivery through the Just Eat platform or take away in boxes or cones, paying tribute to its itinerant past. In Santiago, thanks to La Quinta, if you want churros you have them. Always.
