Andale Taco Shop shows off owner’s signature dish

SYCAMORE – Andale Taco Shop in Sycamore is three months into operation and its owner, Michel Oliver, said his quick service restaurant – “a totally new concept of Mexican food,” – has been well received by the community.

“It’s not your typical Tex-Mex,” Oliver, 34, said. “We took a risk to add new Mexican dishes – not only from one region of Mexico but from all the country.”

Late in the morning on Friday, Feb. 3, Oliver busied himself running back and forth from the restaurant’s drive-thru window to serve patrons on the go.

Oliver said he took a risk but he’s relying on a full career’s worth of experience to operate the establishment, which also offers indoor dining.

In 2005, Oliver got his first job in the restaurant industry. First promoted to busboy, then food runner before becoming a server, Oliver has been busting his chops at restaurants since President George W. Bush’s second term, he said. Eventually, Oliver found himself as a business partner for other restaurant ventures, but decided he was ready for something more long-term.

That’s what made him commit to Andale Taco Shop, 202 E. State St., the desire to plan for a future with his girlfriend, Dyesy Mesta.

“I’ve been doing this for more than 18 years – working in this industry –being partner here and there, but it was time to do something for a family,” Oliver said.

Andale Taco Shop wasn’t something Oliver anticipated making a reality in 2022, but he said God’s plan caused him to see a social media post, that from the previous owners of the standalone building on the corner of Locust and East State streets in Sycamore, ultimately setting in motion the chain of events that led to the building acquisition and his new business.

“I’d been dreaming about about it, fighting, working everyday, you know, always putting new ideas, always improving but yeah, it was time I guess,” Oliver said.

Not operating as a part of a franchise, Oliver has had full control over the restaurant’s branding, menu and aesthetics.

The walls inside the shop are painted a bright orange with black trim that gives the dining room a sense of depth. The tables and backs of the chairs are adorned with popping flower visuals over a black background. A large full body mirror is fixed to the wall outside the restroom and a Mexico mural faces the front entrance, greeting customers when they walk in.

The new establishment has three TVs mounted to the dining room walls, and is equipped to serve dine-in guests beer and margaritas. Oliver said he likes to describe the inside of Andale Taco Shop as a “shortcut to Mexico.”

Although it has an immersive atmosphere, Oliver said he’s been surprised to find the one area of the restaurant he doesn’t have previous experience with has been the busiest – the drive-thru.

Oliver said juggling the styles of service can, to him, feel like running two separate businesses.

“This is my first time doing a drive-thru and I totally, totally underestimated it,” Oliver said. “I thought that we were going to be really quick, but the thing with our

If You Go

WHAT: Andale Taco Shop

WHERE: 202 E. State St., Sycamore PHONE: 779-222-4131

HOURS: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Sunday

INFORMATION: www.andaletacoshop. com/, www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100085910127873 food – we are not a fast food – we make food fast but we are not fast food because we have to make everything from scratch.”

When the restaurant isn’t busy, Oliver said a drive-thru order usually takes about 5 minutes to prepare and serve. But as the restaurant gets busier, orders can take 10 to 15, sometimes 20 minutes, seriously slowing down drive-thru times.

Oliver said he was expecting the drive-thru to be a hit but he hadn’t anticipated the volume of customers he’d serve with it. In the three months since opening, Oliver said he and his staff have been working hard to improve order times for drive-thru customers.

Oliver said he took a risk by including a variety of Mexican dishes in Andale’s menu.

One of those dishes Oliver called his signature. It’s Andale’s rendition of quesabirrias: Beef Mexican stew folded into three tacos with cilantro, onions, limes and consommé. So far that risk has paid off. Oliver said he’s received rave reviews about the dish.

Andale Taco Shop’s menu also features six different kinds of meat for tacos as well as three different kinds of breakfast bowls, including a chilaquiles option. The restaurant also has nachos, burritos and quesadillas. Chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, chicken cheese rice, orange juice, apple juice and chocolate milk are on the kids menu.

On Feb. 3, more than a handful of restaurant goers braved the frigid near-zero temperatures to order food through the drive-thru.

“We are so grateful,” Oliver said when asked about how his business has been received in the area. “We are so happy with the community, not only with Sycamore, but DeKalb, Genoa. In general, DeKalb County has been so great to us. We’re so grateful and blessed.”

News Briefs

Ellwood House Museum tour guide training begins Feb. 16

DeKALB – The Ellwood House Museum will offer training for new and returning volunteers interested in leading guided tours.

Ellwood House, 420 Linden Place, DeKalb, will host in-person training from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, in the museum’s visitor center, according to a news release.

Registration is required.

The training will focus on tour content while also sharing background information on the Ellwood family and the story of barbed wire. After the training is completed, guides can visit the house in-person in order to practice the tour route and ask additional questions.

A virtual training session will also be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17. Tours of the Ellwood House estate begin Wednesday, March 1.

For information, email king@ellwoodhouse.org or call 815-756-4609.

Mental Health board accepting 2024 grant year applications

DeKALB – The DeKalb County Community Mental Health Board is accepting funding applications for its 2024 grant year.

The board is accepting applications from providers of services to DeKalb County residents that support access to high-quality behavioral health care services. The fund’s goal is to offer programs to help with mental health, substance use disorder and developmental disabilities.

The 2024 grant year application is available online at dekalbcounty.org/ departments/mental-health-board/ grant-application. The deadline to submit applications is noon Monday, Feb. 27.

The DeKalb County Community Mental Health Board helps to fund programs that serve the needs of people with mental illnesses, developmental disabilities and substance abuse, along with prevention and educational programs. For information, call 815-899-4960 or email dcada@dekalbcounty.org.

NIU student, biology professor receive $14.2K agriculture grant

DeKALB – Northern Illinois University graduate student Elizabeth Taylor and Bethia King, Ph.D., biology professor and honors adviser, were recently awarded a $14,229 grant for their research on the impact of buckwheat and wasps on dairy farms.

The grant was awarded through the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Programs.

Taylor and King were awarded the grant to fund research for their agriculture project, “The Impact of Buckwheat Plantings on Releases of Parasitoid Wasps on a Dairy Farm,” according to a news release.

The grant is part of the NCR-SARE’s 2022 Graduate Student Grant Program. The program funds graduate student projects that address sustainable agriculture issues. NCR-SARE administers each of its grant programs, each with specific priorities, audiences and timelines. The focus of the NCR-SARE grant programs are research and education.

Grant funding is determined based on how well the applicant explains the nature of the research and education components of their grant proposals. NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. –ShawLocalNewsNetwork