LATIN LOVERS

WORDS BY EILEEN PACE | PHOTOS BY BILIA EATERY

One may not associate the title of executive chef with sandwiches, but once you take a bite of one of Bryan Rojas’ sandwiches at Bilia Eatery, you’ll understand that these are far more than meat and cheese slapped between two slices of bread.

A long with his wife, Mariana Wong, Rojas opened their new Bilia Eatery location in Castle Hills to a welcoming crowd who knew about his food from their original location. Rojas exudes excitement about elevating the presence of Latin cuisine in San Antonio.

“As much as I love Mexican food, I wanted to do something Latin. Something that reminded me of home, of Miami,” says Rojas.

Although Rojas is a classically trained chef thanks to his education at Johnson & Wales University, he clarified that this experience did not give him his knowledge of and techniques for cooking Latin food.

“Latin cuisine is a very comfort-style food, and it doesn’t have the cultural exploration that some others do, like French food, which is the base of all cuisine,” explains Rojas. “This is Colombian, Brazilian, Venezuelan. All these Latin American foods are now making noise.” potato bun, but went with the Florida Bowl instead. It’s a beautiful presentation of a seasonal catch (mine was shrimp), along with avocado relish, spicy slaw, rice and tender beans.

Rojas gained his first restaurant experience in his hometown of Miami. He knew he had to know more, so he moved to San Francisco, where he worked alongside people who were laser focused on culinary excellence.

“I worked for free out there, basically, but it was amazing. I really grew a passion for the culinary arts,” he adds.

After two years in the Bay Area, learning everything he could from the chefs and other cooks he worked with, Rojas moved back to Miami to attend Johnson & Wales University.

While at school, he honed his skills in Asian, American and fine dining kitchens before managing a Persian-French restaurant. Then he met and married his wife, Wong, and the couple moved to San Antonio in 2018.

Rojas’ experience preparing Italian cuisine helped him land a job at Piatti, an Italian restaurant in San Antonio. Then, when they opened their first Bilia location in fall of 2019, it was an instant success. It quickly became the go-to restaurant in Castle Hills, where customers literally could not get a seat.

“There was no kitchen, only a few seats, and we used electrical appliances to get the sandwiches out. There were always people in line, but it was hard to make it work there,” says Rojas. That’s why Rojas and his wife decided to move locations. The new Bilia Eatery, at 1900 NW Military Hwy., has 86 seats, a large patio and a spacious kitchen.

One of Rojas’ personal passions is the arepas.

“I love them, and we are able to play with them a lot more here. We want to add more varieties of arepas,” he shares.

If you’re not familiar with arepas, think puffy tacos, but made with light, finely ground corn stuffed with a variety of fillings. The Reina Pepiada, for example, is filled with roasted chicken and a cilantro-mayo-onion-avocado salad. Of course, the Cuban sandwich must be mentioned as a customer fave.

“It’s the basic Cuban sandwich,” Rojas explains. “We make the pickles here, the mayonnaise is made here and the meat is marinated and braised here. It’s that authenticity that gives it the traditional Cubano flavor.”

Even though they just opened their new location, the couple is looking forward to expanding and exploring even more. You can see the wheels turning in Rojas’ mind when he starts thinking about collaborating with other local chefs, doing a fusion event and offering live music.

“Maybe some Latin fusion soul,” he muses.

“I love this neighborhood. People have really enjoyed coming here. A lot of regulars come Wednesday and Thursday for lunch, and on the weekends a lot of the Colombian population comes out, as well as Puerto Rican and Dominican families. Our food takes people back. Some people say they moved here from Miami, and they’ve been looking for food that feels like home,” says Rojas.

The menu varies from hand-helds and bowls to breakfast foods and special juices like guava limeade. You might want to try the chicharron con yucca, one of several soups or any of the variety of other sandwiches. I was tempted by the BE Burger, which comes served on a homemade

For now, he and Wong are building slowly, adding to the menu, adding hours and leveling up.

“It’s definitely a passion. I love my Latin culture and Latin cultural food,” Rojas smiles. For more information about Bilia Eatery, visit facebook.com/eatbilia/

Eileen Pace is a lifelong broadcast journalist with multiple awards for her stories that aired on radio stations around the state and NPR affiliates across the country. She lives in San Antonio with her Schnoodle, Argentina, and volunteers as a canine foster mom, and is working toward certification as a tour guide to show off San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country to out-of-town visitors.