Coracora’s Peruvian Cooking Gets a Larger West Hartford Home

By Maria Rodriguez
10:10 a.m. ET, June 26, 2026

AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a regular at your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in magazines from Spain to Seattle.

Before the national attention and before the new big flagship location, Coracora began in an old, converted McDonald’s in West Hartford, its name the romantic origin story of its owners.

Now the family-run Peruvian restaurant has a dazzling new Blue Back Square location with a full bar, patio, private dining space, and a dining room designed to carry a whole lot more ceremony.

The story still starts with Hector Ludena and Luisa Jimenez, who opened Coracora in 2011 and named it after the Peruvian town where they met. Their daughters, Grecia Ludena and chef Macarena Ludena, helped turn the restaurant into something far larger. Coracora became a James Beard Award semifinalist, Macarena earned her own semifinalist recognition, and the restaurant was later named a finalist for Outstanding Restaurant. That kind of trajectory can make expansion feel inevitable.

Coracora Peruvian Restaurant West Hartford Connecticut

The new Coracora lets the family stretch without walking away from the food that made people care in the first place. The menu includes croquetas de ají de gallina, arroz con pato, seco de tira con tacu tacu, and yuquitas a la huancaína, alongside the ceviches, lomo saltado, ají de gallina, and Peruvian comfort cooking that built the restaurant’s following.

Coracora Peruvian Restaurant West Hartford Connecticut Grecia Ludena

The bar adds another layer, with cocktails developed with Peruvian beverage consultant Luis Flores. The design makes its own references, from Nazca Lines artwork and macramé to a mural by Peruvian artist Rudolph Castro and a chandelier shaped like the Inca Cross.

Coracora Peruvian Restaurant West Hartford Connecticut Noodles

The move into the new spot earned enough attention that the governor and other politicians showed up for the grand opening. “To be honest, we’re really surprised that they are paying attention to our small restaurant,” Grecia said at the opening. “We serve Peruvian comfort food so that’s what people have noticed. Our food really makes you feel like you’re at home.”

Coracora Peruvian Restaurant West Hartford Connecticut Chicken

The original Shield Street restaurant remains part of the operation. Blue Back Square simply gives Coracora another way to tell the same story: Peruvian food, family labor, national attention, and enough confidence to let the next version look a little more polished without sanding off what made the first one work.