El Paraíso Food Truck Expands with Brick and Mortar Restaurant
South-side Mexican seafood truck rebrands as El Paraíso Aguachiles.
Site of Carnitas Mi Pueblo, 831 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
For seafood lovers, the new place may be a paradise.
The owners of El Paraíso, a southside Mexican food truck, have opened a brick-and-mortar storefront at 831 S. 16th St. (formerly Cesar E. Chavez Dr.), which opened to the public on Aug. 29 under the name El Paraíso Aguachiles.
“Hoy damos este gran paso y nos llena de emoción poder recibirlos en nuestro propio espacio,” the restaurant wrote on its official Instagram account in a post capturing its grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Translated to English, it reads: “Today we are taking this major step and we are thrilled to welcome you to our own space.”
Owner Ma Guadalupe Cabral Villarreal has been searching for a permanent location for her seafood-inspired concept since 2023. In 2024, the Milwaukee Common Council denied the restaurant a liquor license, which shuttered plans to open at 4068 S. Howell Ave. After that denial, Ma Guadalupe Cabral Villarreal pivoted and opened as a food truck later that year.
The truck was commonly found along S. 16th Street, not far from the storefront where the restaurant is now located. The business already had a relationship with the space it will now call home. While the restaurant space was operated as Carnitas Mi Pueblo, the El Paraíso food truck was used the restaurant as a base kitchen.
The move to a more permanent location came after the truck received a 10-day license suspension in June following unpaid parking citations.
The restaurant describes itself as having “Milwaukee’s best fresh seafood.” (“Los mejores mariscos frescos de Milwaukee”)
El Paraíso, translated, means “paradise.” Aguachile is a traditional Mexican seafood dish made with raw shrimp or scallops, featuring a chili-lime marinade.
The restaurant did not respond to an inquiry about its official hours or whether the food truck would still be operating.
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