Throughout the slow winter months, Amerikas Restaurant, 734 Lake St. in Oak Park, closed its doors after brunch on Sundays. It was a rest for staff and an acknowledgement that fewer diners come out during the coldest weeks of the year.
Well, that was then. Chef Armando Gonzalez has set a course for Sunday nights unlike any other in the restaurant’s 8 summers in operation.
“My team, they want to have fun. So, we come with the idea to make happy the neighborhood,” Gonzalez said. “We want to be dancing, we want to be having all the Mexican street food outside. It’s more to get together with the community, having churros, having tacos, having fun.”
From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Sunday through September the tables and chairs in the dining room will be put away. A taco cart and a churro cart will be on the sidewalk.
On the first Sunday, May 17, guests packed the restaurant and sidewalk, sipping drinks, eating $6 tacos, munching on crisp churros.
The menu is limited. There are two taco choices: carne asada and vegan cauliflower taco, but that didn’t seem to dampen enthusiasm about the new idea.
“It creates interest,” Carlos Castillo said.
“It leaves more room for people to gather together and get to know each other and talk,” Adela Castillo said.
“It feels more like a street fair than just sitting at a table by yourself or with someone you know,” Jackie Cascaneda said. “It lets you mingle while you enjoy the music and have a drink outside in the nice weather.”
Chef Armando Gonzalez at Amerikas’ Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Guests line up for tacos at Amerikas’ Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Chef Armando Gonzalez works with his team at Amerikas’ Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Camaraderie at the bar at Amerikas’Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Patrons enjoy tacos at Amerikas’ Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
A patron uses her phone and an LED light to photograph tacos at Americkas’ Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
A team member brings out fresh tacos at Amerikas’ Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor 
Amerikas team member Crystal Escalante shows off a churro at the restaurant’s Tacos & Dancing event on Sunday May 17, 2026 | Todd Bannor
“It’s a great Oak Park celebration,” Seth McClellan said. “Even when the road [Oak Park Avenue] is shut down, Oak Parkers still find a way to enjoy each other in the summer.”
The idea is part of Gonzalez’s desire to create a legacy in Oak Park. This is his third restaurant, but his first in Oak Park and the only one that he is still operating.
“When I chose to open Amerikas in Oak Park, it’s because I read about the neighborhood,” he said. “I see that there’s more of a community and more of a diversity. When I come with a concept we choose Amerikas because to me America says diversity.” That informed his menu choices, he said, “In the morning it’s more traditional, cultural flavors. For dinner it’s more like an experience. I mix the cultures.”
He also said the “k” in the spelling of “Amerikas” is to honor Oak Park.
“The only way we want to work is to have fun, the community have fun,” Gonzalez said. “We call it ‘Tacos & Music.’ All types of music. We can make it like a summer tradition.”