Isidro’s Tamales & Taqueria is now open at 430 W. Station St. in Kankakee.

Thanks to a reader named Sara, who emailed me with the tip and a review of their food. She wrote:

“Wanted to let you know about this little restaurant that opened a couple of months ago in West Kankakee. They are the BEST Mexican food in the county — great tamales and fabulous tacos (nice and big).

Their tamales are fabulous. They have normal green or red tamales, but also have sweet ones like strawberry, pineapple and coconut.

They have great tacos (the best I have tried in town) and they make this great drink called champurrado,  which is kind of like a chocolate, made of masa, with a hit of cinnamon.

All their food is very, very good.”

After trying their food for myself last week, I agree.  A colleague of mine and I tried several tamales and tacos, including one — the “special taco” — that’s made with spicy pork. It isn’t on the menu but is often available by request.

My favorite item was the cecina taco. It’s a marinated piece of steak, served on a corn tortilla with diced onion and cilantro. You can get lettuce, tomato or cheese upon request, but I suggest trying it the authentic way first.

I enjoyed all the tamales I tried, including pork, chicken, jalapeno with cheese, and coconut for dessert. I went a little overboard when I ordered, but it’s easy to do because the prices are so affordable. Tamales are $1 each, or $5 for a half-dozen, or $9 for a dozen. Tacos are $1.50, tortas are $4 and burritos are $4.25.

This is the first restaurant for owner Francisco Martinez. However, tamales is the family business. His father, Isidro, founded Sandra’s Food Inc., where Martinez is vice president and general manager. The company makes Isidro’s Tamales at a factory on West 59th Street and delivers them throughout Chicago, and now here.

Here’s more information about the tamales from their Web site:

“Our tamales are hand-made with meats and vegetables that are at their peak of freshness. From our secret green and red salsas, made with fresh tomatillos and chiles, to our pork and chicken delivered daily, to our real Wisconsin cheese, we strive for the highest standards of quality and flavor.

Isidro’s Tamales are made fresh daily in our licensed plant and delivered hot daily across the city and suburbs. Our plant is inspected by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, with an inspector on site daily to ensure quality and sanitation.”

The restaurant gives Martinez another outlet for his family’s specialty, plus it satisfies his love of cooking and fulfills his dream of owning a taqueria. His son lives in the area and found the available building, which is on the south side of Station Street, across from St. Rose Church. The restaurant opened Jan. 9.

Isidro’s Tamales & Taqueria is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. There’s limited seating inside, including counter seating along one wall.

The phone is (815) 929-0700.

For more information, you can visit Sandra Foods’ Web site, or become a fan of Isidro’s Tamales on Facebook.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 4:54 pm and is filed under Reader feedback, Restaurant news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.