New restaurant offers ‘Maria’s Authentic’ Mexican dishes

Local business owner heats up lunch options

By: Stephanie Brown
   JAMESBURG — It’s Friday afternoon and the late lunch orders are coming in at a steady pace.
   Maria Sanchez, 26, tosses a dozen flour tortillas onto the grill. A few squirts of olive oil and within seconds the taco shells are lightly toasted.
   Ms. Sanchez snatches them up and aligns them on prep table so that they are overlapping each other.
   With lightening-fast hands she tops the warm tortillas with little piles of homemade sausage or ground beef, lettuce and cheese, folds and wraps them, then rings the little silver bell.
   "You never know when you’re going to get a hit," she said, before reading the next order ticket. "It’s fun. It’s the best thing ever — always action — talking, cooking."
   Ms. Sanchez, who lives in South Brunswick, has been working in the restaurant business all her life. Now she has taken years of experience and traditional recipes from her native Mexico and — with the help of her fiancé, Jason Aldemir — opened her own restaurant.
   Maria’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant, located at 194 Buckelew Ave., opened Sept. 15. A cozy storefront with brightly painted red and yellow walls, Maria’s has a little something for everyone. Plus, the prices are modest, averaging about $8, and the portions are generous.
   Dishes range from common American favorites — burritos, fajitas, and quesadillas — to the traditional recipes of Oaxaca, Mexico, like chilis rellenos, which is a poblano pepper stuffed with Mexican string cheese, battered, baked and served with a tomato sauce.
   "I try to keep it as homemade as I possibly can," said Ms. Sanchez, as she continued to whip around the kitchen.
   Ms. Sanchez must be on the right track, because her customers had nothing but good things to say about her food.
   "This is the best authentic Mexican food within a 30-mile radius," said Doug Renk of South Brunswick. "She’s a very talented woman. In five years, I expect to see a whole string of Maria’s."
   Perhaps her success stems from her childhood in Oaxaca, where she worked in the family restaurant business.
   "My mom was always on top of us, teaching us how to make tortillas," she recalled.
   After her family moved to America, the Sanchezes opened a restaurant in New Brunswick called La Cabana. Then in 1998, Ms. Sanchez and her mother opened El Tapatio in South River.
   Ms. Sanchez said she soon wanted to open her own restaurant and began scoping out prospective locations about a year ago.
   Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Aldemir felt Jamesburg, with its Hispanic population, was ideal for an authentic Mexican restaurant.
   "Now from both restaurants, I think I have the experience to have control of the kitchen and staff," she said.
   While Ms. Sanchez is in charge of the kitchen, Mr. Aldemir, 31, helps out with managing the restaurant, taking care of paperwork and picking up the daily produce.
   It has been quite a transition for Mr. Aldemir, having gone from working for a limousine company to the rush of a restaurant.
   "It’s a lot different," he said. "I was sitting all day driving, and now I’m always running around."
   But Mr. Aldemir said he’s enjoying the transition and working with his soon-to-be wife, most of the time.
   "Whenever she’s busy in here, I’m the one getting screamed at," he joked.
   Maria’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and offers eat-in and take-out service. For more information call (732) 656-9772.