When the late, great Logan Square loncheria Cafe Marianao mysteriously shut down and the property went on the market in the summer of 2016, it was like the unexplained disappearance of a loved one: shocking, brutal, and offering no closure. For decades, stoic countermen at the Milwaukee Avenue sandwich shop plied a steady but disordered scrum of adherents with cafe con leche and Cubano, steak, and medianoche sandwiches. And suddenly, without warning, it was all over. News reports were vague—the owners listed the spot for $1.39 million, and not surprisingly it sold a month later.
Last year his daughter, Odalys, enlisted son Marcos to help her reopen in Irving Park just as stealthily as Cafe Marianao closed in Logan Square. I missed it completely until I passed by a few weeks ago, but unsurprisingly Friend of Food Chain Titus Ruscitti was on the scene early, and Check, Please! paid a visit last month.
But Santiago’s not keeping any secrets, openly encouraging people to get creative, which has resulted in innovations like the double ham, egg, and cheese with steak, and the triple steak with egg and cheese.
