Cicero, N.Y. — Today is a day of celebration, and no, not just because the sun decided to make a rare appearance here or that it’s the last day of the weekday. On this fifth day of May, the world commemorates Mexico’s victory over the Second French Empire in 1862.
Because Cinco de Mayo parties in America generally revolve around food and margaritas, Mexican restaurants everywhere are prepping for their biggest day of the year.
Theresa Aviles-Vandewalker and her staff at Carmelita’s Mexican Restaurant in Cicero have been busy all week making tortillas and everything that goes on them. They generally make more than 1,000 each day, but this week they’ve ramped up production.
“We were busy yesterday, and today we will be even busier,” Theresa said on Thursday morning. “Tomorrow we will be oh-my-goodness busy.”
What’s different about this restaurant located in the Lakeshore Heights Plaza strip mall on Route 31 is that everything is made from scratch. That includes the tortilla chips and the salsa we dip them in. Most Mexican restaurants buy unfried already-cut chips. They fry them and serve them hot. And they’re delicious.
The chips at Carmelita’s are mixed, pressed, grilled, cut and fried throughout the day and night.
“Each one of these chips that you’re eating is made with love,” Theresa said. “Yes, it takes a little extra time to make, and yes, we charge for them. But it’s worth it in the end. You can taste the difference.”
Theresa has been following the same recipe and process since she started making them as a child after getting home from school. Her parents, Carmelita and Pablo, opened Carmelita’s Restaurant on Court Street in 1976. It later moved to Spencer Street. It closed in the 1980 until Theresa brought it back to life 6½ years ago in its current location.
The chips start as full tortillas. The dough comes together from just three ingredients: masa harina (corn…
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