Eusko Txokoa is a restaurant and a Basque club. The Elorriaga family, descendants of Basques from Bizkaia, established it 15 years ago, and since then it has been the nucleus for Basque families in the area. It has also become a place for good food that has staples on its menu like shell fish that are typical in dishes in the Basque Country. “It is a family project, it is our house,” Norberto Elorriaga, grandfather of the family explained to EuskalKultura.com. “But we would really like to get in touch with the rest of the community in the country….”
Armstrong, Argentina. Located in the Province of Santa Fe, 100 kilometers from Rosario, the town of Armstrong has a Basque club and Restaurant called Eusko Txokoa that was founded 15 years ago by the Elorriaga family. As Norberto Elorriaga himself explained to EuskalKultura.com, his grandfather was from Bizkaia, from Arratzu, and they brought their Basque sentiment with them. "About twenty years ago, we started to organize the Foreign Communities Festival. I was one of the organizers, and with my family we presented some Basque gastronomic offerings. It was so successful that over time, people used to encourage us to open a restaurant. That is what we did, Eusko Txokoa is a restaurant but also our Basque club.”
With the restaurant, Elorriaga tried to strengthen times with other Basque clubs, but hasn’t had too much success. “When I was young, I drove truck and visited several Basque clubs; I was in Bahia Blanca, at the Foundation Juan de Garay, and at the Eusko Kultur Etxea in Buenos Aires, as well as in Rosario. But the relationships didn’t last. A long time ago, the dantzaris from Roldan came, but the same, later we didn’t stay in touch.”
In spite of that, the Eusko Txokoa, comprised of three generations of the Elorriaga family, parents, children and grandchildren, stay true to their principles and have an Ikurriña decorating the dining room. “Also at one time, we wanted to gather Basque descendants in town, but Armstrong is very small and in the end, we realized that we were almost all family; that is why it became a family project,” Elorriaga explains.
Nevertheless, opening up to the Basque community in the country is still pending for the Eusko Txokoa and as he expressed, “we would like to welcome members of other clubs, as well as advice. We want to make contacts with other institutions but we are a little far away, and we don’t know for sure how to do it. But we do have a Facebook page, Eusko Txokoa (centro vasco) and we invite anyone who would like to, to get in touch with us.”
The Basques in Armstrong also invite people to come visit them in person, to their Eusko Txokoa where they can enjoy a wonderful variety of squid and shell fish that are typical in Euskal Herria. They are located on Bell Ville Street 1672.
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