New food park to offer ‘flavor from all around the world’ in Loves Park

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A new food park on North Second Street will allow you to taste flavors ranging from Caribbean cuisine to Mexican food, barbecue and sweet treats all in one place.

Yoselyn Cortez, the owner of Taco’n Madres food truck, is preparing to open the food park next week at 5723 N. Second St., a plot of land that formerly housed CD Source before it burned down in September 2022.

The gated area opened as a food truck oasis called Carlito’s Munchie Station last summer. Now, Cortez has taken ownership of the space and revamped the food park with new vendors and new activities designed to make it a family-friendly gathering place.

Food Park in Loves Park is set to open Thursday, May 22, with six women-owned businesses serving their specialities: Taco’n Madres, GTO Tamales & More, Jammin Jerk Grill, 815 Snacks, Indita Mia, and Da Crack Houze.

“This is like a one-stop shop if you want your tamales, or your Caribbean food, or your barbecue or tacos,” said Renee Radway, owner of Jammin Jerk Grill. “It’s a one-stop shop and we’re going to have a little bit of flavor from all around the world.”

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Cortez said the goal is to create not only a foodie destination, but a hangout spot with movie nights, karaoke, live music and games including Lotería, a traditional Mexican board game similar to Bingo. Cortez, a Rockford resident who grew up in Atlanta, said she’s seen the concept work in other communities in wanted to bring it here.

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“We’re going to have different stuff so we can have families enjoying the outdoors,” Cortez said. “There’s a lot of places where you have to travel outside of the city in order to enjoy it, so we said why don’t we have that here.”

The food park will be open Thursday through Sunday, with late hours until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

“There’s people who get out of work late and there’s nothing that they can do because everything is closed,” Cortez said. “We want people to know that you have a spot at night that you can enjoy.”

It will be open seasonally as long as weather allows.

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Cortez’s business, Taco’n Madres, specializes in quesabirria, sometimes called dipping tacos. Some of the other restaurants complement that with additional Mexican food options and desserts. Others add variety like the Jamaican dishes from Jammin Jerk Grill or the barbecue ribs, brisket and macaroni and cheese from Da Crack Houze.

The food park’s six establishments combine to offer dishes such as tacos, birria, corn, barbecue, jerk chicken, carnitas, shakes, magaritas, ice cream and other options.

“We’re thinking of everybody,” Cortez said.

Cortez said her goal is also to help budding businesses grow by giving them a place to build their customer base with low startup costs before they graduate to a traditional brick-and-mortar space.

“Our plans are not to have you here forever,” Cortez said. “Our plan is for you to grow into a bigger restaurant. … They can start here and then have their followers follow them to that next location.”

For Jammin Jerk Grill, the food park is second stationary location in addition to its food truck. Radway opened the food truck in 2020 before opening inside the CherryVale Mall food court in 2021.

So far, Jammin Jerk Grill has offered boneless jerk chicken options. Now, at the food park, she plans to add authentic bone-in jerk chicken.

“In the food truck we found it challenging to keep that traditional jerk with the bone in, and we moved to the boneless jerk chicken,” Radway said. “We have a huge following in the area. A huge customer base and fan base in the area, and everybody asks the question: When are you going to bring the real deal? Here we are.”

She said she hopes the food park becomes a new staple in the community and looks forward to building a bond with new customers.

“All of the vendors that are going to be here have really, really good food in the Rockford area, and that’s going to draw our crowd,” she said.

Fast facts | Food Park in Loves Park

Where: 5723 N. Second St., Loves Park

Grand opening: Noon Thursday, May 22

Hours: Noon to 8 p.m. Thursday; noon to midnight Friday and Saturday; 10 to 4 p.m. Sunday

Food options: Taco’n Madres, GTO Tamales & More, Jammin Jerk Grill, 815 Snacks, Indita Mia, Da Crack Houze

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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas

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