Nebraska Passport selection of Mexican restaurant draws diners to Fremont (2024)

For Bianca Gengler and her brother, Jose Ortiz Jr., their restaurant's spot on the2024 Nebraska Passport recommended travel list isn't just about bringing in new customers to their cozy eatery in downtown Fremont.

Gengler said the recognition of Los Mezcales Ortiz Mexican Bar &Grill is a humbling validation of the journey their mother, Guadalupe Ortiz Lopez, and father, Jose Ortiz Sr., made in coming from Mexico to the United States in 1980.

Forty-four years later, the family’s next generation is wowing the taste buds of diners who order dishes made with family recipes.

“It just feels like such a big accomplishment, just being able to do it,” Gengler said of the restaurant. “You know, I’m a first generation (American). What they couldn’t do, I am doing. And it just feels absolutely amazing to be able to be doing this when they paved the way for us."

Bianca Gengler played soccer at Fremont High School before attending Mount Marty University in Yankton, South Dakota, where she fell in love with fellow Tiger soccer player Tyler Gengler. The couple co-owns Los Mezcales with brother Jose and his wife, Mayra. Jose Ortiz Jr. also owns the Hispanic and Latino grocery store Epicentro down the block.

The restaurant is inside a renovated space that has seating for up to 50 diners underneath the original hammered tin ceiling that was left in place. The walls are adorned with colorful cultural murals celebrating the family’s heritage in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

The popular eatery is the only Dodge County stop in this year's Nebraska Passport tourism promotion program, now in its 15th year.

Bianca Gengler said the passport recognition is a nod to the growth downtown Fremont has experienced in the past few years. She also sees it as a shining example of the robust Latino and Hispanic business community in the city.

“My excitement was more than for our restaurant. We are representing Fremont,” she said. “It not only helps us because people are obviously going come to our restaurant to get a stamp, but they can also go to other places and visit."

Menu inspired by family recipes

Mexican cuisine is known as one of the most diverse in the world, with each of the country’s different states having its own culinary culture marked by indigenous foods, but also by the infusion of European flavors, ingredients and techniques over centuries.

Gengler said the food at Los Mezcales Ortiz is centered on the state of Guerrero but also includes fusion dishes that mix Mexican traditions with American techniques and flair.

She said the restaurant's most popular dish is the quesa birrias tacos, a traditional Mexican dish normally made with goat meat. However, she said their recipe uses beef instead of goat.

Another birria-inspired dish on the menu is the Casuela de Birria, which is the birria-style beef with a rich consommé broth on the side along with cilantro and onion. The dish is served with four tortillas as well as a side of green salsa.

Gengler said all the recipes prepared at the restaurant are closely held family secrets that hark back four generations. She said her mother taught them to her children, and the siblings first served them up to Fremonters at the Epicentro grocery store.

“(Our mother) passed away like five years ago," she said. "We are just living through her, through her recipes. Having everyone taste a little bit of a piece of her through our restaurant.”

A customer favorite is the house-made chorizo, not as spicy as usual traditional Mexican sausage.

“Our chorizo, it is a sausage with ground beef or ground pork. We’ve been making it for generations on my mom’s side. So my grandma made it, my great-grandma made it,” Gengler said. “We make it from scratch. We have a machine that grinds the chili pods that we soak for 24 hours and then we put all the condiments, the salt, and we mix it by hand. We grind the pork fresh and we make that in house."

The restaurant also has a full-service bar, with margaritas made from scratch with no additives.

Jose Ortiz Jr. said being highlighted in the Nebraska Passport program is a new adventure.

"Our name is thrown out there and people get to know us,” he said. “I just want people to try our food. It is good, small-town Mexican cuisine.”