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18 | November 23, 2016 | The Homer Horizon dining out
homerhorizon.com
The Dish
Buenas Nachos offers authentic fare inspired by family roots
Frankfort restaurant
relies on word-ofmouth,
regulars to
grow over the years
Thomas Czaja, Editor
The light yellow and
green walls hint of a different
past.
Though the inside of Buenas
Nachos now is filled
with the sights and smells of
a variety of authentic Mexican
cuisine, the Frankfort
eatery used to be a flower
shop.
Keeping the bright paint
in the interior is a daily reminder
of how far the business
has blossomed since
first opening in the spot in
1991, according to Buenas
Nachos manager Andres
Torres, son of the restaurant’s
owner, Elvia.
“We literally had patio furniture
in here,” Andres said
of the humble beginnings of
the family-owned business.
“We started without much,
but it began to catch on.”
Elvia, originally from central
Mexico, first had a different
restaurant in Chicago
but decided to move to their
Frankfort spot to put her
family in a better, up-andcoming
neighborhood, according
to her son.
Converting the space to
house tacos and tamales instead
of the likes of roses
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The milanesa dinner ($8.99) is a breaded rib-eye steak
that is handmade and fried. It features the flattened meat
accompanied by rice, beans, a salad and French fries.
and daisies may not have
been an easy task, but neither
was slowly building an
established clientele — a
feat made all the more impressive
when coupled with
the fact Buenas Nachos has
never advertised.
“We are 100 percent wordof-mouth,”
Andres said. “So
we really have to thank all
the people that have tried it
and have recommended us,
because that’s actually how
we thrive.
“Even to this day, we
don’t have any kind of marketing
things.”
Instead, the restaurant relies
on namesake items like
the Buenas Nachos tacos
($2.40 each, $9 for a dinner)
to do the talking. The
tacos come with a choice of
steak, pork, ground beef and
chicken and are made with
grilled pepper, onion, tomato,
cheese and avocado, on
either a corn of flour tortilla.
The menu item again
serves as a nod to a harder
past, back when the Torres’
family fridge was sometimes
nearly empty and Elvia made
tacos for the family with a
random mix of ingredients
on hand.
That improvised meal was
the same as the Buenas Nachos
tacos ordered regularly
by many today.
“We decided to make [the
tacos] just how she made
them [that day],” Andres
said.
To ensure the best quality
dishes, there are no “imitation”
ingredients, and plenty
of prep work is done.
Every morning, before
opening, two hours are spent
hand-cutting tomato, cilantro
and onion.
“A lot of people don’t go
through that work, because
they end up just purchasing
it themselves or buying it
The tacos al pastor ($1.85 for single, $7.50 for dinner) are a traditional dish made with pork
soaked in a marinade of fresh oranges, limes and more, finely cut and served with onion
and cilantro on a corn shell. Photos by Thomas Czaja/22nd Century Media
in bags or in bulk,” Andres
said. “Stuff like that, we actually
go ahead and put in
labor hours. The chicken is
hand-chopped. Everything is
natural.”
To accommodate demand,
pots that “go up to your
waist” hold large batches of
food, according to Andres.
Sauces are made in house.
Elvia even has traveled back
to Mexico in the past to ensure
the culinary standards
are right, while always remembering
the lessons in the
kitchen her mother gave her
as a young girl.
For those looking for
a dinner served with rice
and beans, the carne asada
($13.50) is a skirt steak that
is lightly salted with grilled
onions and comes with a
stack of corn or flour tortillas,
fresh guacamole, lettuce,
tomato and a side of
French fries.
“A lot of individuals who
have come like our food because
it is not very heavy,”
Andres said. “It’s friendly
for consumption purposes.
It doesn’t have a lot of preservatives
or nitrates or anything.”
A staple of the family-run
restaurant — which Andres
calls a “dying breed” — is
that at least one member of
his extended family always
is present to ensure the operation
is running smoothly.
Whether guests choose
tostadas, burritos, gorditas
or tortas, the focus is on
providing quick, satisfying
lunches or dinners.
“Anything here is good,”
Andres said. “I mean, you
really could almost blind
shoot the menu. Everything
is so fresh and delicious. It’s
really what you have a taste
for that day.”
Another recommendation
by the manager is to order
the enchiladas ($8.25), made
with a choice of chicken,
cheese, pork and beef, with
an option of steak for 75
cents extra.
Buenas Nachos
21016 S. LaGrange
Road in Frankfort
Hours
• 10 a.m.-9:45 p.m.
Monday-Saturday
• Closed Sunday
For more information ...
Web: www.
buenasnachos.com
Phone: (815) 469-8353
The customer has a choice
of four different sauces for
their enchiladas, picking
among red, green, mole or
ranchera — each offering a
distinct flavor.
With Elvia ready to retire,
according to Andres, the future
growth and course of
Buenas Nachos is not set in
stone, but there is one certainty
— the family tradition
and authentic dishes will
continue.
“We are here to stay,” Andres
said. “We’re not going
anywhere anytime soon.”