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winnetkacurrent.com DINING OUT
the winnetka current | March 7, 2019 | 29
Mario’s Comida Fresca makes long-term stop in Northbrook
Food truck
owner secures
permanent place in
Northbrook Court
Erin Yarnall
Contributing Editor
When Mario Ortiz
wanted to start operating a
food truck for fun in 2013,
he was told he had to be
100 percent in on it.
So the longtime cook
left his job as a manager at
Schaumburg’s Big Bowl
and together with his wife,
Anita, started Mario’s Cart
— a food truck specializing
in Mexican cuisine
staples.
While Mario and Anita
are still traveling around
the Chicago area with
their cart, they’ve recently
put down more permanent
roots in a sit-down restaurant,
Mario’s Comida
Fresca, located in Northbrook
Court.
But the mall location
wasn’t anything new for
Ortiz.
The couple was part of
a rotating group of food
truck owners who would
take over the spot for two
weeks at a time.
“They [invited] a lot of
food trucks around last
year,” Ortiz said. “I would
come for two weeks and
then another food truck
would come for two
weeks.”
Ortiz said the transition
to fully taking over the location
wasn’t difficult because
he was already accustomed
to the spot and
its customers.
“Everybody started to
know my food and other
people here liked it,” Ortiz
said.
For fans of Mario’s
Cart, there are only minor
Street tacos ($3) come with a choice of protein, cilantro
and onions.
differences between the
food truck and the restaurant,
primarily the exclusion
of two sandwiches,
the Cubano and steak
king, that they serve at the
food truck from the restaurant
menu.
“Maybe I will try them,
because they are so popular
at the food truck,” Ortiz
said of the sandwiches.
While the couple has
set down some roots in
Northbrook, their plans to
take their food on the road
continue to grow. Ortiz
said that he and his wife
plan to buy another food
truck — this one serving
Italian ice.
“My wife is 100 percent
Italian; I am 100 percent
Mexican,” Ortiz said.
Their initial goal with
the first Mario’s Cart was
to pay homage to both of
their ancestries, serving a
combination of Italian and
Mexican food, but in the
end they decided to focus
on Mexican cuisine.
“It was not easy in the
beginning, we tried Italian
and Mexican mixed,” Ortiz
said. “We tried a lot of
items to see what people
liked the most. With Italian
items and Mexican
items on the same menu,
it’s a little crazy.”
Mario’s Cart
Northbrook Court
1515 Lake Cook Road,
Northbrook
(847) 899-4790
www.marioscart17.com
10 a.m.-9 p.m.
Monday-Saturday
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday
This time, Ortiz hopes
he can highlight the Italian
influence in his family.
Last week, a group of
22nd Century Media editors
stopped by Mario’s
location in Northbrook
Court to sample some of
the restaurant’s dishes.
We first tried the nachos
— a large pile of tortilla
chips topped with lettuce,
a lime cream, guacamole,
pico de gallo, cheese and
jalapeños. The nachos can
be topped with a choice of
a protein, with options including
carnitas, chicken,
chorizo, al pastor, skirt
steak and shrimp.
The restaurant’s tacos
can be made three ways:
a gringo loco taco, filled
with lettuce, tomato,
cheese and choice of protein;
the spicy shrimp taco,
filled with avocado salsa,
lime cream and shrimp;
and the street tacos, topped
with cilantro, onion and a
The nachos ($10) are topped with lettuce, lime cream, guacamole, pico de gallo,
cheese, a choice of protein and jalapeños at Mario’s Cart in Northbrook Court.
Photos by Megan Bernard/22nd Century Media
The quesadillas ($8) have lettuce, lime cream, guacamole and cheese.
choice of protein, served
on a soft corn tortilla.
Quesadillas are served
on a crispy tortilla, and
filled with lettuce, lime
cream, guacamole and
cheese. Like most menu
items at Mario’s, it can
also be filled with a choice
of protein.
Mario’s also serves burritos,
which like all of
the other menu items are
served with a choice of
protein, rice, beans, lettuce
and pico de gallo,
wrapped in a flour tortilla.
Corn in a cup is one of
the many side dishes available
at Mario’s Comida
Fresca — the restaurant’s
version of the traditional
Mexican street food elote.
The restaurant’s corn in a
cup features grilled corn
topped with mayonnaise,
cheese and chili powder.