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| - Move over, Rick Bayless! This is some of the best Mexican food I have tried in a long time. I've had Maize bookmarked for quite some time, but I never managed to make my way that far down Green Street to check it out. My brother graduated from UIUC last weekend and I knew it was my last chance to try it! It was about a half mile walk to Maize from Alma Mater. We took one look at those long graduation day lines and decided we would much rather enjoy some Mexican food.
There was a crowd of people waiting outside when we arrived and at first I thought that was because all of these people were waiting in line to order. Once I stepped inside, I saw it was because the place was so tiny and there wasn't any room for people to stand around waiting. The actual line to wait for ordering was quite short. Luckily, it seems like a lot of people choose to order carry-out and with good reason. The whole place probably doesn't seat more than 12 and the seating is just countertop. We originally also chose carry-out, but then we were lucky enough to snag some seats, so we decided to dine in.
I ordered the biggest guacamole, which was $7. I also ordered a Vulcane, which was less than $3. Say what? I know the general idea is to eat 2-3 of these little tortillas for a full meal, but I was planning on loading up on chips and guac. The guac = OMG. There was so much! I shared with our group of three and there was still enough leftover to enjoy later in the day. The Vulcane was my favorite, though. It has amazing cheese melted with a toasty crunch to it so you can't fold it up to eat. There was also Spanish rice, onion, shredded lettuce, and avocado. I totally inhaled it.
I was tempted to give Maize four stars because of the cramped space, but I just can't do that. Maize is more about the amazing food than having a relaxing sit-down meal. I strongly recommend you try Maize if you're in the area!
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