Manuel Pizaño-Carlo and Suzanne Tresnak are the founders of Listo! Fresh Mexican Grill. Photos: Liz Flores
A family-owned Tex-Mex restaurant opens in Woodbury.
Manuel Pizaño-Carlo has figured out what keeps his customers coming back to Listo! Fresh Mexican Grill: It’s not just its flavorful menu, but the kindred spirit of community created by its staff and customers.
“We have good flavors and the ambiance is pretty unique. It’s like walking into a mom-and-pop shop. That’s the feeling we wanted to bring to Woodbury,” Manuel says.
After immigrating to the United States from Veracruz, Mexico, in 1996, Manuel held a variety of jobs, including real estate. When he turned 40, Manuel says, “I joked with my wife. I told her, ‘You know, I have enough money to buy [a business] … Why don’t I buy a franchise?’” That was in 2015, when the Woodbury resident and his wife, Suzanne Tresnak, purchased their first Erbert’s & Gerbert’s sandwich shop. The second location came along just 18 months later. Then, Listo! was born three years after that with its location in Northeast Minneapolis.
The Nachos are topped with black beans, queso dip, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, jalapeños, pico de gallo and customer’s choice of salsa and meat.
More recently, the fast-casual Tex-Mex restaurant opened its doors in Woodbury, where its menu combines Manuel’s familial recipes with ones he discovered online. “How we cook the food—the beans, rice, proteins—all of those come from recipes that my mom gave me,” Manuel says, noting those recipes were adapted to create his unique flavors. “They’re simple recipes. You won’t see all the proteins you would expect to see in a Mexican place. When you go down Lake Street in Minneapolis or Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis, you go into a taco place, and you’ll get lengua, which is cow tongue. I don’t have those exotic plates.”
Al pastor (marinated pork with pineapple), asada (grilled marinated steak), barbacoa (shredded beef), carnitas (shredded pork), chorizo (seasoned ground pork) and tinga (spicy, shredded chicken), alongside familiar meats, such as ground beef or chicken, make up the proteins. Traditional sides such as black beans, chips with guacamole, salsa or queso, Spanish rice and more are available. Customers can also discover new tastes, such as Sweet Fried Plantains. “Everything is a hit on my menu,” Manuel says, noting that over the years the menu has dwindled in size. “We had hamburgers at one point. We tried having lengua … I have reduced the menu to what’s popular.” The concise menu ensures that the flavors remain consistent between both locations. “Being at a restaurant is stressful, but I try to minimize the stress by cleaning out the menu,” he says. “It’s easier, more efficient, and [staff] doesn’t feel overworked.”
The Chicken Tacos are a guest favorite at Listo! Fresh Mexican Grill.
The restaurant is a family affair, as Manuel and Suzanne’s children, Daniel Pizaño (23), Nicole Pizaño (21) and Camila Pizaño (12), help out with the restaurant. Plus, Manuel says the staff has become family over the years. “The key to Listo! is that the people who work here have been here since we opened,” he says. “They’re appreciated. I know everyone so well, and they’ve seen my kids grow. If you asked me, ‘What’s the key reason of why Listo! is popular nine years after we opened?’ I would say it’s the people who work there and really care about what they’re doing.” Daniel agrees; he says, “I graduated from college, and I couldn’t have done that without support from my family or the employees that work with us.”
Manuel recalls memories of eating his first-ever hamburger at Mickey’s Diner in St. Paul, a spot where he later enjoyed meals alongside his family. That feeling is exactly what Manuel hopes customers will feel walking through its doors. “We want Listo! to be the type of place that families grow with and will always want to come back to,” Manuel says. “I want my concept to be part of the community wherever we are, including Northeast and Woodbury.”
The Quesadilla is created with the customer’s choice of meat and served alongside guacamole, sour cream and pico de gallo.
“We are a family,” Daniel says. “Every time [customers] step into Listo! or have a meal here, it’s made with care, love and [decades’] worth of passion that has gone into the restaurant.”
Listo! Fresh Mexican Grill
Instagram: @listofreshmexican
