“Culinary Gangster Hits It’s Mark”

**** Oscar Martinez always wanted a restaurant. After working for chefs, he decided with his flair for menu items it was time. Not having a location was his first problem, but then it struck him. Why not start with a food truck? This way, instead of having to wait for people to find him, he could go to them. It worked.

He still does parties and catering jobs with his Culinary Gangster Food Truck, but now has a home kitchen as well. Located on Waukegan Road (1216 North Waukegan) in Glenview, in a strip mall, Oscar and his crew have a great space. It is primarily a pick-up and carry-out restaurant, but there are some tables inside and for those who want to make the trip to Glenview, a solid dining experience.

Culinary Gangster is a no-frills dining spot, but the food will amaze you and your guests. Frank and I went there tonight, along with Carrie and Jane, allowing us to sample many of their dishes. They have small bites (appetizers), salads, and burgers- they have lots of choices. Juicy Lucy was wonderful.  The patty, 100% beef < was stuffed with grilled onions, cheese and pickles. Probably the juiciest burger I have ever had ( and I have had a lot of burgers). The “spicy gangster burger” will cause you to say “WOW!” at least twice, and you will remember this one for sure.

They have some great-looking wraps and sandwiches, but the “bowls” were quite intriguing. We did do the Gyros Bowl-gyros, tomatoes, onion, cucumbers and tzatziki sauce. Absolutely the best ( just missed the pita bread).

Then we had the Steak Quesadilla-grilled skirt steak, grilled onions, and peppers with chihuahua cheese placed on a 14” tortilla with a touch of gangster sauce. We cut this into 4 sections and all partook of this delicacy. They have a great many Tacos on their menu as well as loaded fry choices. We chose the Gangster Fries- gangster ranch dressing, cheddar cheese, bacon and of course their Gangster Special Sauce.

Plastic silverware and paper plates are what you will find at Culinary Gangster. Nothing fancy, but a clean restaurant, with wonderful food and affordable pricing. You will find this to be a great value and certainly worth the trip to Glenview. We even had some deserts that were amazing as well. They also have pizzas..lots of choices. Their base is Italian mixed with American and Mexican flavors.

They are primarily a delivery, pick-up operation, as I stated, they do have a few tables to dine in…nothing fancy, but something special! Welcome to the North Shore!

They are closed on Mondays

Open daily  11 a.m. 7:25 Tuesday thru Sunday

Again, the address is 1216 Waukegan Road in Glenview. Call 847-834-0374, visit www.culinarygangsterchicago.com or contact them culinarygangsterglenview@gmail.com

For newspaper: add- bring this story in and get 10% off your entire first order.