Cristian Orozco's American dream began as a dishwasher at a Vietnamese restaurant. Seventeen years old, fresh from Guatemala, and determined. Now, after 12 years of methodically climbing through kitchens at celebrated restaurants like Acadia, Tzuco, and North Pond, he's opening his own place.
Mazor, a counter-service restaurant at 485 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago's Fulton River District, represents everything Orozco learned along the way—and everything he grew up with.
"We used to eat in Mexico during the day, and then we would come back home and eat Guatemalan food," Orozco explains of his childhood near the Guatemala-Mexico border. Those dual influences now define his menu: fresh masa tostadas, tacos, and empanadas that celebrate both cuisines.
The masa comes from Pilsen's third-generation El Popocatepetl Tortilleria, including blue corn masa made from corn sourced from Puebla, Mexico. Every tortilla is hand-pressed to order.
The menu features bluefin tuna tostadas with salsa macha and avocado, rib-eye tacos with crispy potato strings, and Guatemalan-style shrimp cocktail. For dessert lovers, Guatemalan coffee from Sparrow Coffee anchors a café de olla program.
But Orozco's ambitions extend beyond counter service. Monthly ticketed tasting dinners will transform the ordering counter into a six-seat chef's counter, offering six to eight courses featuring ingredients like caviar and huitlacoche.
"We're going to introduce more Guatemalan flavors along the way," Orozco promises.
The restaurant exists because Orozco took a chance. Lacking funds but not courage, he cold-emailed building owner Anthony White about a partnership. "I had nothing to lose," he says. "He actually said yes, and I came up with a concept."
Lessons from his previous restaurant inform his approach. Mazor will be closed Sundays. "I want to give the people that work with me the chance to be with their families," he says.
Mazor opens mid-February, serving 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and until midnight Friday and Saturday.