Following a Fire, Carm & Gia Metropolitan Makes a Comeback With Gourmet Burgers and Hot Dogs

After spending decades in the tech industry as a human-factors engineer for major tech firms, Razz Cortes-Maceda felt it was time to start her next chapter in life by pursuing her food passion. “I’m a home cook and started in the restaurant industry when I was really young,” Cortes-Maceda reflects. “I never really stopped following what happens in the food industry with restaurants and chefs, and for me, it seemed like such an obvious segue and pivot. I pushed this amazing, highly compensated tech career off a cliff to make cheeseburgers and hot dogs."

With the help of her family, Cortes-Maceda’s dream came to fruition when Carm & Gia Metropolitan opened at 9598 East Montview Boulevard in Aurora on February 3, 2020 — but its path since then has come with many challenges, including a fire in 2021 that led to a seven-and-a-half-month closure.

The eatery pays homage to the things Cortes-Maceda cherishes dearly, including Chicago, her hometown, and Denver, her adopted hometown for over 25 years. “Carm is for my son, Carmelo; Gia is for my daughter, Gaby; and Metropolitan because I am a city girl,” she explains. “The flavor profiles that are popular in the foods in these two cities that I love are represented in the actual products and menu items. The [food] names are typical locales, streets or neighborhoods in either city. If you look at the design elements in my store, besides the mid-century contemporary, you see elements from my hometown,” she says, pointing to a dining-area portrait of her old train station stop in Chicago.
But the excitement and the thrill of opening were soon replaced with uncertainty. “We opened a month and half before the shutdown happened. It’s the same story,” Cortes-Maceda recalls. “Everything just nose-dived right? We quickly pivoted to online orders, which we didn’t open with, and that helped a lot. We started doing delivery with our own staff, so that enabled us to muddle through providing service, remaining open and keeping people hired.”

The hard work and unforeseen adjustments were starting to pay off as the restaurant gained a loyal customer base and garnered reviews that overwhelmingly skewed positive — which was reassuring for the owners. As the family felt the pressures of 2020 ease a little, the summer of 2021 promised a new horizon for the young business as restrictions began to loosen.

Then, on June 17, 2021, a freshly cleaned bag of linens at the restaurant self-combusted. “Because it was a particularly busy Thursday night, we went and fetched our linens, put them in plastic bags, and then set them on the dining floor as opposed to a table or in the back where they should’ve gone,” Cortes-Maceda admits. “When we came in on Friday morning, within ten seconds of walking in through the kitchen door, I could tell something was off because it was very dark even after turning on the lights. Then I noticed the odor of fire.”

When Cortes-Maceda and a prep cook walked into the service area, they saw the walls covered in black soot. Continuing into the dining area where the fire started, they observed even more damage. “Of course we were in shock, alarmed, everything you could think of. We couldn’t figure out what had happened until after we got a little composed and we figured out what we saw was the bag of linens. We called the fire department and insurance company immediately,” says Cortes-Maceda.
One bright spot: The restaurant’s kitchen and cooking equipment were completely unharmed. However, it was determined that the service and dining areas had to be completely gutted. The project, which was initially estimated to take three months, stretched to seven and a half months.

“After the tears were shed and I processed the devastation of what happened to our little business, things couldn’t happen fast enough,” says Cortes-Maceda. “But it was hurry up and wait. Part of the conundrum is that this was considered a small job. There’s so much demand for these tradespeople that getting on the schedule took time. Waiting and not knowing when things would be getting done was heartbreaking and frustrating. As an owner, there was very little I could do. To them it was a small restoration, but for me it was my whole world.”

Reflecting on the fire and the long journey to recovery, Cortes-Maceda acknowledges that her family business was extremely fortunate to have been properly insured in order to re-create her dream. “There’s still a mortgage to pay, still utilities to pay, still insurance premiums to pay — all of which is happening while restoration is happening,” she says. “The financial hit our family has taken to weather this and remain has been very challenging. We are hanging on by a thread — that’s the truth of it.”

Shining kindness in a dark situation, a few customers reached out to Carm & Gia Metropolitan through social media and offered to start a GoFundMe. “Of course we did not do that. We were well insured, but that just goes to show the level of engagement we have and the community that supports us here,” notes Cortes-Maceda, adding that the restaurant probably would not have risen from the ashes if not for the endless encouragement from employees and customers — as well as the emotional, psychological and financial support from her husband and business partner, Tom Klein.

With the obstacles now in the past, Cortes-Maceda is ready to focus on the burgers, hot dogs and other creative items on her menu. But don’t ask her to pick a favorite. "That's like picking a favorite child," she says.

The Montbello burger topped with bacon and caramelized onions is popular among customers, but leave room for dessert; after all, it’s not every day you can enjoy a churro topped with Fruity Pebbles. And, adds Cortes-Maceda, “if you’re into Chicago eats, I can tell you that we are the best place — at the corner of Montview and Dallas — for Chicago hot dogs.”

Carm & Gia Metropolitan is located at 9598 East Montview Boulevard in Aurora and is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.). For more information, visit carmandgiametropolitan.com.