Maddy's Mexican Grill: The Product of Hard Work

Hard work has run in Luz Matos’ family since before her father came to the U.S. from Mexico 20 years ago. Now, she and her family have put that hard work into a venture that incorporates their past, present and future goals.

That venture is , located at 52 N. Beverwyck Road in Lake Hiawatha. Maddy’s combines authentic Mexican cuisine with pizza creations that recall back to her family’s history working in pizzerias.

“My mom always wanted to open up a restaurant, not a pizzeria," Matos recalled. "What we did was we worked hard, we got the loans, we opened up the space and so far it’s gone pretty well.

"It was because he worked so hard that we wanted to give them the opportunity to own their own restaurant and try to work for themselves.”

The thus far, which is a dream come true for Matos and her family, who, due to the recession, had reason to doubt that the entire venture would come to fruition not even a year ago.

“We took more than five or six months to open, and there was a point that we thought we weren’t going to open because of the loans and everything about that,” Matos said.

However, the family was able to turn things around with a little bit of faith.

“My parents are very religious, so they just believed that we should have faith and we were going to do it,” she said.

Matos and her family have also received encouragement from friends throughout the process of opening the restaurant, which officially opened its doors on Mother’s Day. This encouragement has served as additional motivation to succeed.

“[One friend said], ‘If you want to do it and you want to open up 10 Maddy’s [locations], then go ahead and do it,’” Matos said. “I believe in that. You just have to give the best service and the best food. If you have that, I guess you can do it.”

As far as the food is concerned, Maddy’s boasts fresh, authentic Mexican cuisine alongside some signature pizzas, bringing another new flavor to an already-diverse restaurant district in Lake Hiawatha.

“Everything’s fresh, everything’s homemade and [the cooks] actually take their time peeling everything,” Matos said. “Nothing comes from a can.”

However, authenticity doesn’t just stop at the food at Maddy’s.

Even the pizza ovens the eatery uses have history: They are the ones her dad used more than two decades ago.

“Everything’s authentic, and everything in here that you see came from Mexico,” Matos said. “The picture frames, the plates—everything.”