El Molino on Elgin Road in Carpentersville, one of the first Mexican restaurants in the area, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. (Village of Carpentersville)
By GLORIA CASAS | ELGIN COURIER-NEWS
Gustavo Soto never aspired to become a restaurateur. It just kind of happened.
He was working as a construction supervisor in the early 1980s when he mentioned to his in-laws, Kurt and Margita Steinmaier, that their Dog n Suds restaurant in Carpentersville would make a good location for something different.
“I told my father-in-law we could convert it into a Mexican restaurant. He went along with it,” Soto said.
In the mid-1980s, “there weren’t that many Mexican restaurants, especially out here,” Soto said. “We took a chance because there was nothing here.”
El Molino opened at 2112 Elgin Road in March 1984, a time when the only well-known restaurant in the suburbs was Pepe’s Tacos and the first Taco Bell in Illinois wouldn’t open for another two years.
El Molino in Carpentersville opened as a sit-down, full-menu Mexican restaurant serving made-from-scratch food, and hasn’t that approach in the 40 years it’s been in business, owner Gustavo Soto says. (El Molino)
Now, Mexican restaurants are everywhere, he said. He counts four in Carpentersville alone.
“Mexican food is addictive,” he said. “It’s like when you eat hot sauce. You start eating hot sauce and start craving it.”
The Mexican restaurants opening today are targeting millennials, and they’ve been successful although maybe not as authentic, he said. And there are lots of taquerias in the area, the fast-food version of Mexican cuisine, but their menus can be limited, he said.
What cuts them from the pack, Soto said, is El Molino’s has a full menu and bar.
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