After a year-and-a-half in business, the Casa Humilde brewery at 7700 Madison St. closed in February when the two brothers who owned it went their separate ways. One of them, Jose Lopez, opened Sendero in its place early last month.
Sendero will have its ribbon cutting on Oct. 24 at 2 p.m., which will include a mariachi band, churro truck and, in the evening, live Mexican music. Both familiar and new, Sendero has expanded food, drink and programming options since Casa Humilde closed.
“It was months of brainstorming and seeing what the right situation would be for the new project, the new brand, and also trying to find the right people, the right concept, and a team that’s in line with what we want to create,” Lopez told the Review. “It wasn’t too far off from what we were doing here with Casa Humilde. It became a community space, a space where we can showcase and highlight our Mexican roots via music, the beers and the food.”
Casa Humilde no longer makes beer; the brand neither sells its beer at the brewery collective District Brew Yards in Chicago, nor its standalone Wheeling location. But Sendero will start brewing their own beer off-site in the coming weeks, including a Mexican lager, pale ale and non-alcoholic lager.
Though the Madison Street building previously housed Exit Strategy Brewing, which closed in Oct. 2023 and brewed on-site, Casa Humilde beer was brewed at District Brew Yards. And Sendero plans to distribute its beer in local stores, requiring a larger production facility than the Madison Street location could manage.
While Casa Humilde only sold beer, seltzers, and food, Lopez said the old restaurant planned to get a different class of liquor license to also sell liquor. Now, Sendero has a full bar with a selection of Mexican wine, plus agaves and tequilas.
“We want to keep it simple, more intentional. Our cocktail list consists of six-to-eight cocktails at a time. And our bartenders are great. If you want something that’s off the menu, they can probably make it for you,” Lopez said.
Some of Sendero’s food menu reflects that of Casa Humilde’s, while other items are new.
“I kept some of the top-sellers or fan favorites that we knew people liked, and we added a little twist to the menu with a lot of Oaxacan inspiration from one of our chef partners,” Lopez said. The two head cooks at Casa Humilde now work at Sendero. “At the end of the day, we want to create a cantina vibe where we still have some of that bar food.” The menu also boasts classics like burritos, tacos and birria.
Mainstay customer favorites include Mexican street corn, loaded nachos and fries — the latter seasoned with chorizo spice and topped with queso sauce, guacamole, crema, pico and meat. Also popular are the tlayudas, a 14-inch corn tostada with black bean spread, Oaxaca cheese, pickled onions and salsa roja — “The most Oaxacan thing we have,” Lopez said of the southern Mexican staple.
“In Oaxaca, it doesn’t come cut up or sliced or anything, so you just go at it and break into it, either with your hands, which is what a lot of people are really enjoying, or with a fork and knife,” Lopez said of the tlayudas.
“There’s a lot of good Mexican food in the area,” Lopez added of Madison Street and beyond, “but we want to have a little bit for everyone.”
New additions to Sendero’s menu include chicken wings — tossed in your choice of homemade sauces like buffalo, pineapple serrano, mango habanero and passion fruit habanero.
Sendero, like Casa Humilde, has a kid’s menu with quesadillas, tacos and boneless chicken bites. For dessert, Lopez said children have been enjoying the churro sundae with vanilla ice cream and a choice of caramel, chocolate, strawberry and guava caramel sauce.
“We get a lot of families,” Lopez said of Sendero’s clientele.
Sendero also changed the restaurant’s interior, including its color scheme and a new tile backsplash around the bar.
When Casa Humilde was open, the brewery had 30 picnic tables on the outdoor patio, which Sendero has closed for the season. Once the weather gets warmer again next year, Sendero will have a 16-foot-wide LED screen on the patio for sports and movie nights.
There are also more TVs in the building now, “Because we were doing very well with sports,” Lopez said. Every Sunday that the Chicago Bears play, Sendero shows the games.
The restaurant offers other regular programming, too. On Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m., Sendero hosts Lotería, a Mexican game similar to bingo, with drink deals. On Fridays starting at 8 p.m., Sendero hosts karaoke, and on Saturdays, DJs and live bands. In the back of Sendero, there’s a small stage for performances.
“We want to build to where, every day of the week, something’s happening,” Lopez said. “We’re getting busier every week as people are finding out that we’re open.”
Next month, Sendero plans to start offering brunch on weekends, along with Tazita coffee, made with beans from Mexico that are processed by Sendero.
Lopez said he hopes that Sendero’s guests leave the restaurant both happy and fulfilled.
“We’re seeing it with the service, the food, and the cocktails, and eventually with the entertainment,” Lopez said. “I want, six months from now, Sendero to be a place where you can go on a date night, stick around for a DJ set, for some live music, for karaoke. … We’re seeing families come in. They’re celebrating a birthday, they’re coming with their parents. They get here at 7 p.m., and they don’t leave until 11 p.m. or 12 a.m. because they’re having a good time, and we want that.”
Sendero is located at 7700 Madison St. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and open 4 to 10 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays; 3 p.m. to midnight on Fridays; noon to midnight on Saturdays; and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays