Stop into Chiquillas Mexican House in Walla Walla and you can’t help but notice the bright colors, bold authentic tastes, and the three beautiful ladies that run the restaurant. Meet the Arseos: Norma, mom Francisca, and sister Nora. Their other sister, Maria, who is away at college, also helps run the restaurant when she’s at home. “Las Chiquillas is “the girls.” We’re dad’s girls, our parents’ girls,” say Norma Arceo.
Norma Arseo’s mom Francisca and her Dad Avelardo opened the family’s very first Mexican restaurant, La Casita, 25 years ago in this very same building.
“I was like, once I’m old enough I really want this one back,” said Norma.
Just like the building, the food is still going just as strong. “You know, it’s the recipes that we had years ago. All these recipes are way back when. Throughout the years they’ve changed a little bit, but my dad really wanted to focus on bringing back what La Casita used to have here,” said Norma.
On the menu, everything a Mexican food lover could imagine: carne asada, sizzling fajitas, Mexican style shrimp, and enchiladas de pollo.
Norma’s other passion besides food is dance, and it shows in Chiquillas Mexican House brand. It’s something she’s been practicing and teaching all her life. “All my life, since I was 16, 18 years old. I started up a group. I had four girls in the group and now I have up to 38, fast forward like eight years later,” says Norma.
Norma says as her dance group and business grows, her love for Walla Walla grows even more because the way they’ve embraced her entire family. “The community here has always responded, and that’s one thing my dad wanted to make very clear to everyone here that he appreciates this community so much,” says Norma
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