LP_071819

20 | July 18, 2019 | the lockport legend dining out
lockportlegend.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
family-oriented 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
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/elmotormexican
restaurant/
rice and beans on the side,
and the restaurant also offers
specials such as halfprice
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, 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,
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 Media
The steak tacos are sold for $2.20 each with lettuce, cheese and tomato.
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 familyfriendly
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
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.”