At three in the morning on Saturday, October 17, a whole pig will go onto a temporary rotisserie pit in the parking lot at 217 U.S. Highway 80. Chaz Ortiz and his grandfather are building the pit themselves. That first pig comes off for lunch. A second goes on at nine for dinner. For anyone who hasn't had Puerto Rican lechón, Ortiz told Eat It & Like It, the point is the crispy skin.
The roast is the main event of Chazito's Latin Cuisine's tenth anniversary in Pooler, running from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Whole lechón is also the plainest version of Puerto Rican cooking this restaurant has ever served, with nothing between the dish and the diner. That's a big change. For most of its ten years, Chazito's has served its food in shapes Pooler already knew.
A restaurant nobody meant to open
The Pooler location wasn't supposed to be a restaurant. Ortiz told Jesse Blanco of Eat It & Like It that food truck regulations forced his hand by requiring a brick-and-mortar location. At the time he had just left Gulfstream after almost 11 years, and the trucks and tent events had been a side business. He saw an open space in Pooler, pulled over, and rented it as a place to prep for the trucks.
"A couple of months later, people started knocking on the door trying to come in. They saw the food truck outside and thought we were a restaurant."
His answer at first was no. The space was there to run the trucks. The knocking kept up, and in 2016 Chazito's opened its Pooler location as a restaurant. The company's own history puts the opening in October 2016, which lines up with an anniversary party in mid-October.
As for which rule pushed him, Ortiz remembers it as a brick-and-mortar requirement. In September 2015, WSAV reported on a proposed City of Savannah ordinance that would have required trucks to get city approval, get property owners' permission for vending spots, and use a separate commissary kitchen for storing and preparing food. The two accounts are close but not identical, and the WSAV report covers a proposal, not the final rule. Either way, Pooler got a restaurant out of a regulation aimed at trucks.
Before Pooler, there was a tent
Here is how the business got to Highway 80, based on WSAV's eight-year anniversary story, the company's history, and a Pooler Magazine profile:
- 2012: A tent at the Latino Festival on River Street at Rousakis Plaza, run by Ortiz and his grandfather Doming. They sold kabobs, empanadas, and plantains.
- The truck: The two bought an old Frito-Lay potato chip truck and rebuilt it in the afternoons while Ortiz was still working at Gulfstream. Pooler Magazine dates the first truck to 2015 and a second to June 2016, and names them Baby Blue and Big Red. Ortiz himself says he ran Savannah's first food truck "almost 14 years ago," so the start dates depend on whom you ask.
- The festival circuit: The trucks served empanadas, pulled pork, Cuban sandwiches, and rice dishes at events like the Doggie Carnival in Forsyth Park and the Isle of Hope Art & Music Festival.
- 2016: The Pooler restaurant opened.
- 787 by Chazito's: A second location at 2224 Bull Street in Savannah. Ortiz says the timing was bad, and then the pandemic hit. That space now houses Ukiyo.
As of this fall, Ortiz counts three food trucks and two brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Puerto Rican food in familiar shapes
When the Pooler restaurant opened, Ortiz says, his family were nearly the only Latino business owners around. He had to spread the word himself, and the slogan was "Taste My Culture," because many diners didn't know the food.
The menu was built for that. The two dishes Ortiz calls his Pooler staples are the Boricua Burrito and the Sloppy José. One is a burrito and the other is a Sloppy Joe, both shapes any American diner already knows. In the interview, Ortiz puts it directly. In the early years, he says, he had to "come up with dishes in a familiar vessel just to get people to try them."
TV coverage followed the same pattern. On Food Network's site, the dish listed from Chazito's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives appearance is the Mofongo Burger, from the Season 37 episode "Sloppy, Saucy and Stuffed." Mofongo, the mashed plantain dish, comes in burger form. WTOC reported that the episode aired July 7, 2023. Ortiz remembers the Sloppy José as the dish featured with Guy Fieri, and he says the Boricua Burrito has appeared on Netflix and Tastemade. Whichever dish you count, every one he names is Puerto Rican cooking inside a familiar American format.
That format also suits the location. Ortiz says the restaurant still draws travelers who saw it on Netflix or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and add it to their list on the way down I-95. Being right off the interstate makes the stop easy.
What changed in ten years
Ortiz connects the shift to the area's growth. With the ports expanding, the Hyundai plant, and the warehouses and factories around Pooler, he says, the Latino community "really grew." Now you can drive around Pooler and hear someone playing salsa or merengue.
The menu has changed with it. More Latino customers come in now, and Ortiz says he has been able to add more traditional dishes instead of "trying to find creative ways to introduce people to my food." The burrito and the Sloppy José are still on the menu. The difference is that they no longer have to carry the whole menu.
So whole-roasted lechón makes sense as the anniversary centerpiece. It's served as it is, from a pit in the parking lot, starting before sunrise. Ten years ago, this was a prep space that early visitors mistook for a restaurant, and the menu leaned on familiar formats. In October 2026 it gets the top spot, with one pig for lunch and a second for dinner.
What's planned for October 17
Here is what Ortiz has described for the day:
- Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at 217 U.S. Highway 80, Pooler.
- Lechón all day: Two whole pigs, one for lunch and one for dinner, roasted on a pit Ortiz and his grandfather are setting up outside.
- Original menu items: Dishes dropped from the menu since the restaurant's early days are coming back for one day.
- Music: Live music, DJs, and local performers throughout the day.
- For kids: Bounce houses and free giveaways.
- The family: Ortiz says his kids, his wife, and his parents will all be there.
The original menu items may be the most interesting part. Those are the dishes from the years when Ortiz was still working out what Pooler would order. They'll be served on the same day as the lechón, which reflects what Pooler orders now.
Other October dates in Pooler
October 17 falls in a busy stretch of the city calendar, and two family events come later in the month.
The City of Pooler's Public Safety Trunk or Treat is Wednesday, October 28, from 5 to 7 p.m., with a rain date of October 29. The city's announcement lists two parking lots, one at the Recreation Complex at 200 Preston Stokes Drive and one at Pooler Recreation at 900 South Rogers Street, so check the notice for the final spot before you head out.
The Big Bash Fall Festival and Car Show at Tanger Outlets, 200 Tanger Outlets Boulevard, promises cars, food trucks, a kids' zone, and vendors. The city's listing disagrees with itself on timing. The heading and calendar say Saturday, October 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the description says Saturday, October 25, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. October 24 is the date that falls on a Saturday this year. Confirm with the organizer before you plan your weekend around it.
Food trucks at the Tanger festival are a reminder of how Chazito's started. Ortiz's own Pooler restaurant opened because people saw a truck parked outside a prep kitchen and kept knocking until he let them in.
Pooler's restaurants are part of what makes West Chatham home, and a place that has grown with the city for ten years is worth celebrating. If you're coming out for lechón on the 17th and have questions about the neighborhoods around Highway 80, McIntosh Realty Team is glad to talk. Contact Us anytime.
