HISTORY
Meet Merla!
Merla Plaza Ortiz Birondo was born on September 8th, 1937 in Southern Cebu, Philippines. Merla has been cooking since the age of three years old. She grew up as an orphan and survived World War II. She met her husband in her province and both of them moved together to the capital, Manila, where they raised a family of four girls. Merla began her business providing food in the stands of Luneta Park (also referred to as the grand Rizal Park) and The Manila Hotel in her residence while in the capital. Merla’s family emigrated to the United States in the 1970s to the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago, later moving to the North Park neighborhood in the 1980’s. Merla worked as a Central Service Technician at Swedish Covenant Hospital for over 33 years. In 2009, she quit her job at the age of 71 to pursue her dream and officially opened her name-stay restaurant, Merla’s Kitchen. 12 years later, Merla’s Kitchen continues to find success in servicing the North Park and Albany Park communities, as well the greater Chicagoland area, with her homemade and nostalgic food, and her specialty, her mouth-watering and handmade empanadas. To this day, she remains the sole chef of the restaurant at a graceful 83 years of age, with her children and grandchildren running the restaurant in her lead.