FF_071819

22 | July 18, 2019 | the frankfort station dining out
frankfortstation.com
The Dish
Flavor, homemade food key to Frankfort’s El Motor
Nuria Mathog, Contributing Editor
At El Motor Mexican Restaurant,
the focus is on family.
The four members of the Martinez
clan who run the Frankfort
restaurant are united by a common
goal: encouraging area
families to keep coming back for
flavorful Mexican cuisine made
from scratch.
“My dad has been cooking for
more than 25 years,” El Motor
owner Ernesto Martinez said.
“He’s always been our cook, so
about two years ago he wanted to
start up his own restaurant, and
we’ve all worked in the restaurant
industry — me and my sister
and my brother.”
Each member of the family
plays a different role at the restaurant,
Martinez said. His father,
Gabriel, cooks up the dishes
in the back, while his brother
Valentine and sister Gaby help
out as servers.
“We’ve always been familyoriented
people,” said Martinez,
who added that working with his
father and siblings has been a
great experience.
Frankfort’s location and business
community made it an ideal
site for the restaurant, Martinez
said.
“We knew people that started
businesses here,” Martinez said.
“And we live close, 10 to 15
minutes from here.”
El Motor offers traditional
Mexican staples such as tacos and
tostadas. Many of the items can be
purchased as standalone dishes,
as well as part of a dinner option
that includes rice and beans on the
side, and the restaurant also offers
specials such as half-price margaritas
from 4-8 p.m. Fridays.
The tacos, fajitas, burritos
and quesadillas are among the
restaurant’s most popular items,
Martinez said.
The fajitas de res ($12.95)
feature steak strips cooked with
tomatoes, green peppers and onions,
and are plated with rice,
El Motor Mexican
Restaurant
9645 Lincolnway Lane Suite
107, Frankfort
Hours
• 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-
Thursday and Sunday
• 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday
and Saturday
• Closed Monday
For more information ...
Phone (815) 464-5219
Web: www.facebook.com/
elmotormexi
canrestaurant/
beans and salad, then served
with the customer’s choice of
tortillas on the side.
“With every table, we bring out
our own chips and salsa,” Martinez
added. “We make our own
chips here, our hot and mild sauce
also, we make it here, and our
pico [de gallo]; it’s very popular.”
All of the items on the restaurant’s
menu are made from
scratch, including the drink selection,
which includes horchata,
a strawberry lemonade and agua
de jamaica, as well as two types
of licuados, or smoothies.
“We don’t make it with ice
cream,” Martinez said, of the
licuados. “We make it with real
strawberries or bananas, real
fruit, and then we mix it with ice
and milk.”
Martinez said the restaurant
began offering delivery services
through Doordash two months
ago.
“It’s really helping us grow
and gain new customers,” he
said.
Ultimately, Martinez said, the
restaurant’s goal is to create a
family-friendly environment.
Many of the restaurant’s customers
are families who drop
by after their child’s baseball
game, and El Motor also offers a
10-percent discount to customers
with a Supporters in Area Music,
or SIAM card, which benefits
At El Motor Mexican Restaurant in Frankfort, the fajitas de res ($12.95), made of steak strips cooked
with tomatoes, green peppers and onions, are plated with rice, beans and salad and served with the
diner’s choice of tortillas on the side. Photos by Nuria Mathog/22nd Century Mediav
The steak tacos are sold for $2.20 each with lettuce, cheese and tomato.
the Lincoln-Way Community
High School District 210 Music
Booster organizations, he said.
“I like seeing that people love
our food, and they keep coming
back,” Martinez said. “They
kind of became like family, because
they know my dad, they
know it’s a family restaurant.
... It’s the relationship that you
build with people in Frankfort,
that we build with them.”