“If it’s not on the menu, I don’t feel strongly about it.” This is Sergio Rivera’s response when a customer asks, “What’s good?”
Rivera, co-owner of Momcorn in Gurnee, moved to Round Lake and found himself craving the food he ate during his years in Mexico.
“I am from Madrid,” he said with a smile, “but I lived in Mexico for many years, and I tell everyone that because who would believe a Spaniard could make good Mexican food?”
Before moving to Illinois, Rivera owned Spanish restaurants in Miami.
“They were too big. There was no way to focus. I wanted something smaller. I wanted something I could feel passionately about.”
After meeting Kathy Ross, who recently retired from 40 years of teaching and administration in Park Ridge, the two decided to become business partners, and four years ago they opened a different kind of Mexican restaurant.
Momcorn serves dishes prepared in the traditional way, not “highly spiced” like Tex-Mex or Americanized Mexican, Rivera said.
“We want people to taste and enjoy their food,” he said. “The flavor is different and healthier with no preservatives. Zero trans-fats. No cholesterol. No peanuts or peanut oil. No shellfish.”
Everything is made fresh: tortilla, tortilla chips, quesadillas, enchiladas, tamales, etc. A detailed menu displays pictures of every dish.
Momcorn’s preparation methods make many of the foods naturally gluten free. Ross’ ex-husband had celiac disease, and she remembers how hard it was to enjoy a meal out back in the 1980s.
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“When people ask what on your menu is gluten free, it’s a shorter list to tell you what isn’t,” she said. “We use a big fryer for our gluten-free foods and cook things separately in smaller pans that are not.”
“Many customers say it reminds them of their home cuisines, from their grandmas or moms,” Rivera said.
One of the big sellers is on the kids’ menu: a flauta dog — a hot dog wrapped in a crispy tortilla with ketchup.
“Kids really do like it,” Ross said of the Momcorn original that’s enjoyed in hot lunch days at Gurnee schools. “Kids come in picky eaters and aren’t picky eaters here. We love when families come in and say this is their favorite place, and they celebrate birthday parties here.”
Through their commercial division, Momcorn Foods, Rivera and Ross recently started to serve their tamales at five Marcus Theatres in Gurnee, Addison, Elgin and Wisconsin.
Every customer who enters is greeted and thanked personally when they leave by Rivera and Ross. Rivera said that’s very important.
“We may always be hurrying to answer the phone, but we are never too busy to greet and thank customers,” he said.
Pricing: Appetizers from $2.99 for chips to $6.99 for melted cheese with chorizo and tortillas. Soups from $2.99 for a cup of soup of the day or $4.59 for bowl of tortilla soup or pozole. Traditional favorites from $2.39 for hot or sweet tamales to $4.99 for sope with meat. Tacos and flautas from $2.19 for one taco to $9.99 for fish taco plate. Salads, sandwiches and wraps from $2.99 for house salad to $8.99 for jibarito. Breakfast plate from $5.49 to $6.99. Kids’ meals from $1.69 for taco to $3.50 for burrititito. Homemade beverages from $1.99 for small atole to $2.79 for large chicha morada. Treats and snacks from $1.29 for an ice-cream scoop to $3.99 for sweet plantains in ice cream.
Hours: Summer hours through Oct. 31: Open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. Hours starting Nov. 1: Open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.
Address: 5101 Washington St., No. 2, Gurnee.
Contact: 224-610-0407 or visit momcorn.com
Shonda Talerico Dudlicek is a freelance writer.