The Maize Mexican Grill stands on the corner of First and Green streets where past restaurants have set up shop only to close down after a few months. But today, the restaurant is standing-room only.

The restaurant opened just last month and has already created a solid following of University students, professors and Champaign residents looking for fast and authentic Mexican cuisine.

Maize owner Armando Sandoval, 33, worked for his family’s restaurant in Chicago for 18 years.

When he attended the University in 2007, he drove from Champaign to Chicago every weekend for two years to work.

“One day, I woke up with drool all over my face, and (my family) told me that I was too stressed,” Sandoval said. “I’ve always wanted to have my own business, and a restaurant is all I’ve known since I was 15, so it was a natural decision.”

He spent a month driving around Champaign looking for a venue and decided on the one-floor building.

He called up the building’s realtor and handed them a check that same day.

“I’m not sure if I picked the location or the location picked me,” Sandoval said.

Through word of mouth, social media and websites like Yelp, Maize has garnered a local fan base. Sandoval said that most of his customers are Champaign locals, but University students and professors enjoy the restaurant as well.

Third-year graduate student LaTesha Washington is a frequent patron.

“Not all the Mexican restaurants that I go to here are good,” she said, “but the food here is very good and authentic.”

Sandoval said that all of the food is cooked and prepared in house. Their tortillas are handmade and the tortilla chips and meat are fried in their kitchen.

“The type of food that we have is very typical in any part of Mexico,” Sandoval said.

Dish prices range from $2.75 for each quesadilla to $9.95 for chicken fajitas. Each order comes with a free side of tortilla chips and salsa.

The restaurant space is small and sits less than 15 patrons. Sandoval wanted it to resemble taquerías (taco shops), so the counters are topped in talavera, imported from Puebla, Mexico, the walls are coated in orange and yellow paint, and the glass door refrigerators have Jarritos (Mexican soda) and Coca-Colas in glass bottles.

The venue has an intimate feel to it; Sandoval and waitresses greet frequent customers by their first names.

Paola Bribiesca, senior in Education and Maize employee, said she applied at the restaurant because she loved its food and atmosphere and wanted to be a part of it.

Patrons who don’t know each other talk about the food as they wait for their orders, and when the restaurant is packed, patrons offer their seats when they’re finished eating.

“This is something that I can’t take credit for,” Sandoval said. “I’ve been to a lot of restaurants, and I’ve never seen this. We’ve become really cold, into our phones and into our own worlds, and when customers come in here and are really friendly with each other, that’s really interesting.”

Sandoval hopes to expand to a bigger location one day. But right now, he’s content with how things are going.

“Some people ask me to change to a bigger location,” Sandoval said. “But a lot of people come in and say, ‘You know what, don’t change a thing. I love the fact that I can come in and talk to strangers.’”