Longtime Batavia resident now at the helm of Fernando’s Street Kitchen

Picture this: warm corn tortillas filled with grilled brisket and nachos topped with elote. Chef Fernando Martinez says those aren’t his father’s recipes.

And he loves it.

After years of working in his parents’ Mexican restaurant, managing his own restaurant and taking time off for a venture in a new career, Martinez is back in the kitchen, having just rented a space in downtown Batavia. The longtime Batavia resident — and now owner of Fernando’s Street Kitchen — jokes it’s like having a restaurant in his backyard.

Martinez was just 15 when his parents opened El Taco Grande in Batavia, serving tacos and burritos. He got his start busing tables, taking orders and later joining his older brothers and father in the kitchen.

After years in the family restaurant, he launched Fernando’s in Geneva, but the love of the food met the challenges of working long hours seven days a week and missing time with his family. Martinez decided, after 20 years in the restaurant business, he needed a change.

He enrolled in cosmetology school during the day to learn the art of hair styling and coloring, continuing to work nights at the restaurant. When he earned his certificate, he closed the restaurant business and joined his wife to manage a small hair salon.

For the last 10 years Martinez has colored and cut hair for men and women, but the love of food was never far away. About three years ago he and his father took a trip to Mexico; the two went on a food journey, sampling cuisines from street vendors in Mexico City. Martinez says he hired a guide to help them better explore the best street vendors.

It was from that trip that he was inspired to return to the kitchen and cook for others. He started a catering business where he would prepare dishes, load them into his truck and deliver to events and parties. As business grew, he purchased a trailer and offered on-site food preparation. Parking on someone’s driveway, he’d serve his street tacos to hungry friends gathered for parties.

“I’m trying to bring the flavors of Mexico back to our area. I offer something different,” Martinez says.

One trailer grew to three, and word of his food had him booking more than block parties. He’s prepared individual boxed lunches for corporate events to feed 150 people and prepared catering options for events that feed more than 500.

Last year he learned about a restaurant space on Water Street, in downtown Batavia. He decided to park his trailers temporarily and open a restaurant, but this time it would be on his schedule. Dine-in and carryout at Fernando’s Street Kitchen is available Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for lunch and dinner, providing the other days with time for him to prepare and manage his catering operations, whether prepping for a wedding or serving food at a brewery or local event.

In the kitchen he’s recruited two of his brothers to lend a hand. His now-retired dad, Manuel Martinez, stops in to visit and check on him. Manuel came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1966 at the age of 14. Among his first jobs was as a dishwasher at a hotel, later working his way up to cooking.

Manuel met his wife, Ancelma, when he accepted a job working at a local greenhouse. She was the owner’s daughter. They worked, saved and decided to plant the family roots in Batavia. “At the time, there were not too many restaurants in Batavia,” Manuel Martinez recalls. “We always wanted to have good quality food. That’s what I teach (Fernando), to always get the best quality.”

Manuel speaks with pride about his son, impressed to see him bring flavors like brisket tacos or the way he enjoys cooking up breakfast tacos at an outdoor market in the summer. “He can do most anything,” he says.

While the restaurant is fun, for Fernando Martinez, there is a greater joy to be outside, grilling and serving warm food, much like the street vendors he admires. While he jokes it’s the opportunity to serve dinner with a show, it offers the chef a chance to witness people enjoying his foods and to engage in banter over the sizzling cheese on the griddle.

Fernando’s Street Kitchen is located at 12 S. Water St., Batavia. For more information, visit www.fernandosstreetkitchen.com.

This article originally appeared in the April 2022 issue of Kane County Magazine.