Champaign, Illinois, is well known as the home of the flagship campus of the University of Illinois System, but there is a smaller gem in town that is vying for its own prominent mark in this central Illinois community. Welcome to Maize Mexican Grill where owner Armando Sandoval is serving up traditional Mexican cuisine that has turned heads with food that he describes as “a mixture of Mexico City and rural Mexico.”

“We run two restaurants in Champaign and a food truck,” said Armando. The larger location of Maize is in the heart of downtown Champaign, and there is a second Maize location at the University of Illinois Union Hall on Green Street. “Yes. I’m proud of myself, because I’ve been able to grow in a very hard industry, which is restaurants. And, I am proud of myself because I’m able to promote my Mexican culture by just doing something that I love.”

Armando’s commitment to cultural authenticity is evident in the restaurant’s menu, which features dishes made with corn tortillas sourced from Illinois farms.

“My restaurant’s unique because we’re serving corn from Illinois to our customers.” Armando said with a prideful smile. “Corn is important to the Mexican culture because we grew up with corn. We’re corn people.”

In fact, the name “Maize” itself reflects the importance of using corn in the dishes served to customers, because Maize means corn in Spanish.
“We named the restaurant Maize, because it (the restaurant) is 100% authentic,” added Armando.

For Armando, serving authentic Mexican cuisine is not just about sharing his heritage, but also about staying true to his family’s roots. “I was farming with my grandfather (in Mexico), since I can remember. My grandfather was a corn farmer,” reminisced Armando with a smile.

That connection to the land and his family’s heritage inspired Armando to create a restaurant that reflects his upbringing.

In addition to tacos, diners can enjoy Chile Relleno con Pechuga, Carne Asada and an array of vegetarian dishes. Maize also features a daily happy hour with draft beer, sangria, wine and appetizers.

“Some of my favorite dishes are the tacos,” said Armando. “Mexico City is the capital of the taco. So, putting that together with rural handmade tortillas, it’s the best way to have a taco.”

A cooking dream is born

Armando’s journey to Maize Mexican Grill was not a straightforward path. Despite growing up in the restaurant business, Armando initially swore off the idea of opening his own Mexican restaurant. Born in Mexico, he immigrated to the United States to join his mother in Chicago.

“I came to the States when I was ten years old. I came to join my mother,” explained Armando. “She grew up in the corn field community the same way that I did. “She just decided to look for a better life.”

Armando would go on to attend The University of Illinois in Champaign with the intention of becoming a sociology teacher. Owning a restaurant was not part of Armando’s original plans.

“I grew up in the restaurant business. I always said that I was never going to do a restaurant or a Mexican restaurant,” explained Armando about his how he used to envision his future. “It’s a lot of hard work. It’s very, very hard work. And there are easier ways to make your money.”

However, life took an unexpected turn for Armando, and he decided to reevaluate his direction.

“I had some health issues in Chicago. And when it was finally time to come back to Champaign, I decided to start my own business,” Armando explained. “Being in Champaign, I realized that there were no restaurants that I felt that I could eat, like I would eat back home.”

Armando opened his first concept of Maize in Champaign during the fall of 2011, Little Maize Mexican Grill, serving up delicious dishes and flavors from Mexico City, Michoacan, and the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico. He says he learned his recipes from his family’s restaurant when he was growing up in Chicago.

“What changed my mind was, at the end was, I’m part of the restaurant business, and I was going against my nature,” recalled Armando. “I just decided to open up a restaurant, that is what I would eat or the things that I would crave.”

Serving up success and appetites

Armando says his six-year-old son has become a source of inspiration. “My son wants to eat everything,” said Armando with a chuckle. “We now serve organic tortillas, because I want to give the best to my son. And as a result, I think that it should be the best for my customers as well.”

Since opening his first location, the road to success has not been without a few bumps along the way. In fact, in 2024, Armando and his wife closed their first restaurant, after 13 years in business. The landlord of Little Maize decided to redevelop the property, and Armando needed to find a new home for his restaurant concept. “It pushed us to grow and be in this position that we’re in right now,” stated Armando.

“We were actually afraid of opening the (new) restaurant with this concept, because the majority of the restaurants were Tex-Mex,” said Armando. “But, my wife was the one that gave me the advice and strength to stay true to my menu. If we failed, we would reinvent ourselves. But, the people in Champaign were actually waiting for something different, and we’re very excited when we arrived.”

Diners are unable to get flour tortillas for their tacos at Maize, and there is no queso on the menu. Instead, the culinary team here makes its tortillas from scratch, putting corn into a machine and cranking out a corn-based dough known as masa.

“We’re different from Tex-Mex, because we produce our own corn,” stated Armando. “We buy corn, we cook it, we grind it, and then we turn it into masa, which we then turn into tortillas and serve it to our customers.”

“Being from the southern part of Mexico, it is a sin for me having flour tortillas. Because, flour tortillas are actually more on the northern part of Mexico,” said Armando. “I hear they’re delicious, but my taste buds never developed toward flour tortillas.”

As Maize grows and evolves, Armando said he wants to expand his vision of authentic, traditional Mexican cuisine. He said he is in the process of opening the first tortilla factory in Central Illinois. “I want to be able to sell tortillas to my customers in the restaurant, but also to the general public.”

Armando says he loves what he does and recommends this life to anyone with the desire to own something special, as long as they approach this lifestyle with realistic expectations.

“A lot of people that open a restaurant think that they’re going to be sitting, waiting for their chef to cook something for them while doing their books,” explained Armando. “Just have realistic expectations and be willing to get your hands dirty.

“We have a lot of variables. The margins are slim,” said Armando. “So, having them (customers) understanding that our prices change, the way that everyone else’s change. I think people expect, especially a Mexican restaurant, to keep the prices low just because it’s a Mexican restaurant. There’s been a lot of instances where I’ve had people say ‘it’s just Mexican food’. But when you’re providing high-quality products and good service, you know, it shouldn’t matter if you’re a Mexican restaurant.”

In the end, Armando says he gets great joy by serving up bona fide Mexican dishes and delivering big smiles to his guests.

“I love the retail part of it, because it connects me with people. There are so many people that I’ve met, from all sorts of life,” said Armando with a look of pure joy.

“I’m proud that I’m able to live my Mexican heritage. Having corn around me has made me even happier now because I feel more connected. Being able to grow with corn and having my restaurant just makes everything full circle.”