A treasured family rosary hangs by the entrance to Juancho’s Fonda, the authentic Colombian restaurant Jeison Bosch opened on Sweeten Creek Road in early September. The rosary belonged to Bosch’s late father and the restaurant’s namesake, Juan “Juancho” Moreno, and played a significant role during the daunting year it took Bosch to launch the restaurant. “Whenever I got discouraged, I prayed on his rosary, and something good would happen to keep me going,” he says.
Juancho’s was just starting to build its customer base when Tropical Storm Helene shut it down on Sept. 27. Though Bosch reopened on Oct. 11, poststorm uncertainty affected the restaurant’s momentum. With the new year, Bosch is looking forward to a fresh start for Asheville’s only Colombian restaurant.
In Colombia, little family-owned roadside restaurants known as “fondas” are common. “They have character,” says Bosch. Born and raised in Medellín, his mother and her father owned restaurants in Medellín, Bogotá and Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast.
At age 13, Bosch moved to New Jersey with his mother and sisters. He eventually studied mixology and spent several years bartending at resorts in Florida, then briefly in Greenville, S.C., before arriving in Asheville 16 years ago. He worked for Hector Diaz’s restaurants, including seven years as general manager of Salsa’s, but never gave up his goal to have his own business.
In late 2023, an old Pizza Hut on Sweeten Creek Road with a “for rent” sign caught his eye. “I didn’t have a lot of money, but the landlords liked me, and I got it,” he says.
Once he took possession, Bosch realized the space needed a lot of work. But he persevered, taking odd jobs, receiving some financial help from family and doing much of the buildout himself to create the cozy, 49-seat fonda. The walls are painted in warm hues and hung with Colombian décor; a window reveals the small, bustling kitchen. “People like to see their food being cooked,” Bosch says.
Most of the cooks are from Colombia, but they still had to learn Bosch’s recipes for the scratch-made, entirely gluten-free menu. “Bandeja paisa is the Colombian national dish and our top seller,” he explains. “Pork belly, steak and Colombian chorizo, rice and cranberry beans made with hogao — a seasoning sauce, like a Colombian sofrito and one of our key ingredients.”
Pan de bono, he continues, is a type of gluten-free cheese bread made with imported costeño cheese. The seafood cazuela is a typical Colombian dish of coconut milk with shrimp, lobster, octopus and fish served with rice, tostones (twice-fried sweet plantains), cabbage salad and a sliced avocado. Bosch also brings his long experience as a bartender to Juancho’s elevated beverage program.
“It is a blessing to open this restaurant in Asheville,” Bosch says. “I don’t think it would work in another city. Here people appreciate being humble and independent and hard work to make a dream happen. Locals in Asheville are gold.”
Juancho’s Fonda is at 2619 Sweeten Creek Road. Hours are 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday- Sunday. Learn more at avl.mx/eju.
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