Birria de Res in Chicago

- On the road with the 'Chicago Taco Tour'

It took a minute but the ‘Birria Boom’ of Los Angeles has arrived in Chicago. We’ve had plenty of places doing goat and lamb but for whatever reason we’re just starting to see spots whip up Birria de Res in crispy taco and quesabirria form. Birria being a classic Mexican dish originating in Jalisco and consisting of some sort of shredded meat cooked in a potent bath of liquid and spices. Goat is most popular but seems to be more of a celebratory dish than when it's made with beef and in the case of Tapatíos eaten for breakfast in taco dorado form. Birria de Res is basically spiced beef in broth. Exact recipes can vary by state. For example it's also popular in Zacatecas and Tijuana but it's made differently in each of those places. About five years ago a place called Teddy's Red Tacos opened in LA and they served what they call Tijuana style Birria de Res. The red tacos moniker comes from the cooking process of the taco where the tortilla is dipped into the red consommé that the beef is cooked in. The tortilla is then crisped on a hot flattop giving it a red hue. As Teddy's became an instagram sensation more birria spots started popping up and now there's tons of places doing it.

 QuesaBirria Art

I'm not sure where the Quesabirria started but I can say it always seemed like a very Tijuana dish to me. I've heard from people that would know say that some parts of Mexico look at Tijuana as basically being America. So some people think the food is Americanized or whatever but from my perspective it's a place lots of Mexicans move to from other Mexico states and in doing so lots of regional Mexican dishes are mixed together creating a unique cuisine all it's own. If not in Mexico most likely somewhere in Califrnia. Bill Esparza @StreetGourmetLA mentions it in 2010. There's no doubt social media has played a big part in making birria de res a national sensation. Between the red tinged tacos, the melted cheese, and the dipping action it's pretty much the definition of food porn. While there are spots that specialize in Quesabirria de Chivo today's post is exclusively focused on those serving birria de res in taco form. That said I must give another shoutout to my favorite birria de res dish in the city - the Consomme con Carne at Tacos el Tio. But they don't make the tacos.

 Consomme con Carne at Tacos El Tio (Click HERE for details)

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 Tacotlán

We start on the city's Northside in the Logan Square / Hermosa area near Fullerton and Kostner. I've written about Tacotlan before as it's an excellent family run taqueria. I'd call it a new age version of the local mom and pop type taqueria as it's ran by a dad and his kids. The kids have the business on social media so no surprise to see them running with whats hot in the form of birria de res in a variety of ways. As you can see below birria is being added to just about everything from pizza to ramen.

 Birriafest at Tacotlán

I believe Tacotlán started doing their birria de res as a weekend special but it became so popular they now do it every day they're open. No dining inside for now and no outdoor seating on a part of Fullerton currently under construction but that hasnt deterred cars of people from pulling up for pickup birria de res in a variety of ways. I tried both a taco and a quesabirria with a cup of consommé and came away extra impressed. Their birria is a bit chunkier than most as it's more chopped in pieces than shredded but this isn't a bad thing texture wise. I do wish the tortillas would've been better crisped but I could tell they had a ton of orders coming in so that can effect the patience it takes to get them semi crispy. The consommé itself is in the running for best sipping / dipping of the bunch.  

 Birria de Res at Tacotlán

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 Restaurante y Taqueria Jerez

Well it's safe to say facebook knows me well. It's been suggesting pages of local taquerias to me for a while now. Sometimes I'll click on one and then it'll suggest a few more. That's how I found Restaurante y Taqueria Jerez in Melrose Park. As soon as I clicked on their page I was bombarded with pictures of QuesaBirra and other dishes like red dipped tortas and such. They have an entire menu of "Talchones" as they call everything on there. An order of QuesaBirria comes with three of them which is always one too many for me. That's ok though bc I take the other home and usually eat it upon arrival. These guys do a Zacatecas style birria de res which is described well in this piece by Southern California writer Gustavo Arellano. It's a weekends only thing and available in a variety of ways including as a big ole platter. But of course I had to get the tacos with cheese. I loved how they give you a ton of topping options for these as it's similar to a setup in Sayulita that had the best birria de res tacos in town. These are a contender for best in the Chicagoland QuesaBirria class. I loved the potent beef clearly spiced with a heavy hand and the consomme was basically meat there was so much shredded beef in there. Plus each taco was stuffed and the tortillas were nicely toasted.

 Quesabirria at Restaurante y Taqueria Jerez

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 El Ge Fe

Another Facebook suggestion here. I drive by El Ge Fe on 47th street now and then including when on the way to another birria de res spot up the block (read on). They bill themselves as a mariscos spot but if you look at the reviews and the tables around you you'll notice everyone has a plate of their QuesaBirrias. They also post about it regularly on their facebook page. So they too know how to get groups of younger people in. I dined outside around a month ago and it was a little nerve wracking as I think it was the first time I ate somewhere since Covid came roaring into the States. It's a popular spot so there were groups of tables drinking and such. They're BYOB and sell michelada mixes and such. QuesaBirria comes four to a plate with a cup of consommé for dipping. These were just ok. Or at least the broth was just ok. It had a slightly unpleasant taste like all the fat wasn't skimmed.

Quesabirria Platter at El Ge Fe 

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 Las Picosas

I've written about Las Picosas at 64th and Pulaski before. It's the anchor of a strip mall in West Lawn and they're known for their Tapatío menu. Tapatío being the term used to describe someone from Guadalajara. So of course their Tortas Ahogadas are front and center but that's not the only Tapatío dish they do. They call their birria barbacoa but it's the same idea as far as shredded beef as a taco filling. They offer a platter of four served on a sizzling plate with regular sliced onions, grilled knob onions, and also a halved grilled jalapeno. It's fun presentation but the plate isn't hot enough to where it crisps up the tortillas the way I like it. They're basically just soft shell barbacoa or birria tacos.

Tacos de Barbacoa at Las Picosas 

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 Taco Boom 

Taco Boom is a food cart that sets up shop daily in an empty lot on Cicero just past I55. Right around Cicero and 43rd street across from the park. I too found them through Facebook. They're one of the best street food setups in the city and the line on a weekend night will reflect that. Luckily most everyone is there for their Quesabirria which they say is their specialty. That said the menu is more than just those even if they take up all the grill space the entire night. Birria tacos are also an option if you don't like cheese and they've done a good job crisping them up just right. On my most recent visit I tried the birria ramen which is ramen noodles served with birria in it's broth. It's made with the classic ramen noodles we all remember from college but if we all had potent birria de res like this to mix in many of us would still be eating it. One can make a case Taco Boom is the city's best birria.

UPDATE: They've moved to 4753 W. 47th Street

Birria de Res at Taco Boom 

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 Chavelos Tacos estilo Guadalajara

This roundup would be incomplete if I didn't include the most authentic tacos dorados estilo Guadalajara in town. I posted about Chavelo's last year in my Chicago street taco roundup. Well they're back at it this year in the same location of the parking lot of Mariscos Luis on 47th street. They set up shop on the Weekends around 8p and go until at least midnight. It's a very Mexico like setup and this makes the tacos that much better as they're cooked to order on a hot portable flattop. I've been by a couple times this summer and they always hit the spot. Sometimes they're crispier than others but I now just ask for them extra crispy. Though I keep forgetting to bring my own crispy giardiniera which I think would work perfectly in these tortillas full of shredded beef. Birria de Res is kind of like the Italian Beef of taco fillings and I cant get enough. Did I miss a spot? Let me know.

Tacos Dorados at Chavelo's

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See ya next time @chibbqking

Gaijin

-Grubbing in Chicago  
New to the 'Scene'

Today's stop was one of the best openings over the last calendar year. Gaijin debuted on Lake street in the West Loop in November of 2019. Right around the time we were returning from an epic adventure in Japan, my first of hopefully many visits. Chicago's Japanese food scene is lacking to say the least. We have a couple spots in the city that are worth trying and also in the last year we've seen the areas ramen game take a step up. But for the most part the best Japanese restaurants in the Chicaoland area are in the suburbs and they're pretty low key choosing to cater to the areas Japanese businessmen who spend time between the Arlington Heights area and Japan. That said the city's dining scene has seen a handful of new Japanese leaning bars and restaurants incl. Gaijin. 

Recently Opened in West Loop

Gaijin is the product of local chef Paul Virant and his business partner(s). I remember reading that Virant's wife fell in love with Okonomiyaki while studying abroad in Osaka. So over the years he'd made it for her and eventually decided he wanted to make it for everyone. More on the dish most associated with Osaka in a minute. When we first visited Gaijin the only thing one thought of when they heard the word Corona was the mediocre Mexican beer loved by gringos. So we got to enjoy what Virant and team set out to do. When they laid out the groundwork for their Osaka style eating establishment they wanted to bring the energy of some of Osaka's better bars/ restaurants where the Okonomiyaki is as popular as the beer. Well for now that's on hold and it may be for a while. That said Gaijin has a menu that adapts to takeout pretty well and they also have an outdoor dining area.

 Kombu Marinated Vegetables

Items like Kombu (edible sea kelp) marinated vegetables to start are pre-made and served at room temp anyway so I imagine this is a good way to start your meal whether dining in or taking it to go. With summer here this dish should be in your order if there's any type of heat wave happening. As with those savory pancakes Osaka also loves Yakisoba. Japan's preferred version of stir fried noodles (yaki = fried and soba = buckwheat noodles) is on the menu at pretty much every Okonomiyaki house in Osaka. I'm a big fan of Gaijin's version with the pork belly. They do a nice job of frying up the soba noodles and the pork belly is super crispy outside but almost creamy on the inside. 

 Yakisoba with Pork Belly at Gaijin

The main event at Gaijin is the aforementioned okonomiyaki. As stated this to Osaka as pizza is to Chicago. As with pizza okonomiyaki is also regional. In Osaka where the dish is said to have originated they make it much like a pancake. The batter and other ingredients such as flour, grated nagaimo (a type of yam), dashi, eggs, green onion, and shredded cabbage etc. is cooked on both sides and usually on a teppan flattop which separates cook from diners. They have this setup at Gaijin which is kind of like the tableside hibachi experience still popular in the suburbs. Cooked okonomiyaki is topped with ingredients that include okonomiyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce but thicker and sweeter), aonori (seaweed flakes), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger. Over in Hiroshima the dish is equally as popular except it's made differently. There the ingredients are layered rather than mixed and they always include noodles.

 Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki 

Because I'd just ate Osaka style okonomiyaki in Osaka I opted to try the Hiroshima version from Gaijin. I think I like this version better although I'll happily pig out on the Osaka style too. I just preferred the layers of flavors with the fried noodles lurking at the bottom. Either way both options are satisfying for anyone looking to scratch that okonomiyaki itch. One itch I was worried about being able to sooth was my newfound love for Kakigori. The Japanese dessert was one of the things I most looked forward to on our trip to Japan and that's on an entire scale of the trip level, not just the food portion of it. Kakigori is my ultimate food crush and I was very happy to see Gaijin doing it.

Pineapple Upside Down Kakigori at Gaijin 

While there is a spot serving kakigori inside Mitsuwa Market's food court Gaijin is the first place in the area to take it seriously. In fact they have a pastry chef who like me has a big time love for Japan's favorite summertime treat. If dining in you'll be able to choose from a selection of recipes that the pastry chef and her team came up with. I suppose I should explain that kakigori is Japanese style shave ice flavored with homemade syrups and sweetener like condensed milk. According to Wikipedia the "origins of kakigōri date back the Heian period in Japanese history, when blocks of ice saved during the colder months would be shaved and served with sweet syrup to Japanese aristocracy during the summer." The syrup options are endless but to me it's all about the fruit. I liked the pineapple upside down kakigori we tried but it wasn't quite the same thing as the stuff in Japan and that's not a knock bc most all Japanese food in the States isn't quite as good and that's true of most foods. That said this is still good shave(d) ice and they're doing a walk-up window this summer.

Walk-up Kakigori Window

We stopped for kakigori on a hot and humid day recently and it was a cool experience, literally. We just walked up to the window where a guy makes them to order. You don't get the same creative selection as you do inside but they have a handful of fruit flavors that all come with a snowcap which is a splash of condensed milk throughout. She got raspberry and I got the cantaloupe. All the syrups are made from real fruit so no complaints there but I do wish they used a little more of it. It's better than nothing as they say. Meanwhile Gaijin is one of the spots I really hope we see on the other side.

 Cantaloupe Kakigori at Gaijin

Gaijin
950 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607
(312) 265-1348
Website

More Gary Indiana Eats

-Exploring NW Indiana

I'm pretty sure this remains the only food blog with a dedicated series of posts exploring the food options of Northwest Indiana. Could you imagine one of those cute social media blog / influencer types doing a post from Gary, Indiana? Haha. That's pretty funny to think about. As far as this site goes the NWI area remains a fascinating place with plenty of spots to explore. You're not going to find any future Bon Appetit 'Best New Restaurants in America' here but you will find some interesting things. Interesting as in lots of BBQ and trips to the Flea Market. Gary remains down but not out.

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 Faby's Tacos

First stop up is Faby's for some Flea Market Fried Tacos. A pleasant but not unexpected surprise as Northwest Indiana is a major stop on America's crispy taco trail. These were pretty much pristine. To the best of my knowledge they're setup outside the Flea Market whenever the flea market is open. 

Fried Tacos at Faby's 

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Thai Chhimski's Egg Rolls And Stir Fry

This next stop is also found at the Market City Flea Market. Except you have to go inside to find it. I'm pretty sure the inside area is open all week while the outside vendors set up on just the weekends. Thai Chhimski's Egg Rolls And Stir Fry caught my eye with the mention of egg rolls in their name. I'm always down to try a place that thinks their egg rolls deserve to be in their name. I walked to the back where the food court is at and was greeted by a friendly Asian lady who must've been the matriarch as all the customers knew her. A young man took my order and within five minutes I had a fresh fried housemade egg roll. These are stuffed with your choice of shrimp or chicken and lots of cabbage and such. Bc they fry them fresh they're extra crunchy with a thinner than normal wrapping. They also do Chinese-American favorites and fresh fried green tomatoes.

Egg Roll from Thai Chhimski's Egg Rolls And Stir Fry

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Phenomenal Ribs

One thing I've noticed on recent trips though Gary is lots of BBQ options. Like tons. I need to check a few out sooner than later bc they do come and go. Some are just weekend type pop-ups in empty lots and such and others are full brick & mortars. Phenomenal Ribs is the latter and I chose it based on the fact smoke was billowing out of the parking lot as they had a huge smoker setup outside. I had to try the rib tips as that's what I would normally judge a bbq spot in these parts by. Not bad at all. The tips themselves were extra meaty and had nice smoke flavor. They may have been pulled off a tad early but nothing wrong with a bit of chew. Extra points for the well done fresh cut fries.

Rib Tips at Phenomenal Ribs 

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Motha Trukn' Kabobs

With Indiana being the crossroads of America they see a ton of truckers pass through. Especially in  in Gary where lots of freight passes through the highway junction. It's a popular place for truckers to pass out too with there being lots of gas stations catering to them and such. These truckers have to eat and in most cases cant go through the drive-thru. So spots like Balkan Grill Company decided to make it easier for them to stop in and get some food. Gary’s newest food semitrailer is already popular with all the Black truckers who find themselves passing through the Region. There's plenty of parking for 18 wheelers at Motha Trukn' Kabobs. Their big blue Charcoal grilled chicken kebab with rice was nice. Ask for the house special sauce which is an interesting raspberry concoction.

Chicken Kabob at Motha Trukn' Kabobs

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See ya next time @chibbqk1ng

(new twitter handle)

Cafe Marie-Jeanne

-Grubbing in Chicago

French Diner Food in Humboldt Park

Here's a post I had planned pre-pandemic. Though both of the dishes featured were ate dining in, they're both featured on the current takeout menu for Cafe Marie-Jeanne. The French forward cafe at the corner of California and Augusta opened in 2016 to some good reviews and they were rolling along before covid landed and forced all spots to close. Sure some places are doing ok and those are mainly the spots that did mostly takeout. Places like Cafe Marie-Jeanne which relied on mostly people dining in and ordering drinks are obviously struggling compared to before. So we've tried to do our part and order out food but it's never as good. Though some spots have better pickup options.

Locals Favorite in Humboldt Park

My favorite menu item at Cafe Marie-Jeanne is what they simply call a ham, butter, and pickle sandwich. Which it totally is. But it's a super well curated sandwich with each ingredient being of the highest quality. House cured ham with beautiful marbling comes sliced paper thin just how I like it. Then sweet pickle chips and butter complement the ham and crusty roll so perfectly. A contender.

Ham, Butter, Pickle Sandwich at Cafe Marie-Jeanne

The other item both the wife and I really like from here is/was their duck confit with frites. It's a huge plate of duck confit and fries with some sort of light gravy drizzled over the top. It's really heartwarming on a cold winter day. Sure it's the summer but don't let the weather prevent you from trying this glutton of a dish. They switched up the duck but the good news is they've added an entire menu of different meat and frites options for takeout. The menu lists a few sausages, all grilled up really well and also BBQ chicken and duck leg all served on top a big pile of fresh cut fries. Usually fries don't travel well but the dish kind of steams up into one for the car ride and I haven't had any problem with that. Kind of like the fries on the bottom of an order of Harold's or rib tips from Lem's. We tried a combo of the summer sausage and cheddar hot link recently and I'm getting it again soon.

Duck Confit and Frites 

Cafe Marie-Jeanne
1001 N California Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 904-7660
Website

Cevicheria Coco Loco

-Eating like a Mayan King in the Windy City

I'd been waiting all winter for the weather to warm up and with it to try Coco Loco Cevicheria in Des Plaines. It's a small little shop in a small little four store strip mall on Oakton. It's not new but it hasn't been around that long either. There's a good little jibarito spot a few doors down that I visited in 2018 called Jibarito Time. Coco Loco wasn't there then so it's no older than a year or two. It's owners are from Durango in Mexico which is more known for it's meat. But you wont find much meat on the menu here though they do offer a carne asada taco I'll probably try next time. I say that because all the seafood dishes we tried on my initial visit just last week were wonderful. A trend in these parts.

 Locals Favorite in Des Plaines 

The menu here is small but effective. Like I said it's mostly dominated by mariscos of which a large chunk of the dishes on offer are either ceviche or seafood cocktail in some form or fashion. We visited on a Sunday afternoon and it was empty upon arrival but filling up shortly after. They open at 2p and we had arrived right around then. We weren't comfortable eating inside so instead I asked the friendly young lady working the front of the house to have them prepare it for there but we'd be eating it outside on the trunk of my friends car. We ordered with the help of the aforementioned young lady.

Fiesta de Mariscos al Trunko

Obviously we were there to try the ceviche but the Baja style fish and shrimp tacos were also a nice menu surprise and with that came personally rec'd by the front of the house. They also had homemade shrimp empanadas with cheese in orders of two so that worked out well. For our ceviche we got the fish and shrimp mix. All in all we tried a large order of ceviche, two shrimp empanadas, and one each of the fried shrimp and fried fish tacos. The young lady was right regarding the tacos which were both fantastic. I may have preferred the fish which is rare outside Baja but they fried it up crispy. There's not many spots doing better Baja style tacos in town. I'll tell you that much. The empanadas were good too but I kind of ruined all others when Irecently tried this well known street vendor in Sayulita's version. The fish and shrimp ceviche was nice and fresh and came with a ton of both tostadas and saltine crackers for eating it with. Beware of that green salsa on the side. It brings the pain for about 20 seconds or so. Overall this was a fantastic lunch that hit the spot on a pretty hot day. Chicago's got a ton of mariscos places but many of them share the same menu which is often too big in terms of figuring out what's good aside from the langostinos. So it's great to see a place like Coco Loco where they specialize in a few popular mariscos dishes and that's it. I'm already a big fan.

Shrimp Empanadas with Cheese

Fish and Shrimp Ceviche at Cevicheria Coco Loco

Baja Fish Tacos at Cevicheria Coco Loco 

Cevicheria Coco Loco
931 E Oakton St
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(224) 612-6012

Quarantine Food Highlights

-Grubbing in Chicago

Food from the Chicago Quarantine Time

The dining world has been tossed, fried, and smoked since Covid came calling. Restaurants have been forced to switch up their operations entirely by pivoting to completely different menus and such. For many spots what worked before covid does not cut it anymore. Some places were better equipped to deal with it. Maybe they were a majority takeout business anyway or what they sold travels well (comfort food). But most of the city's hipper bars and restaurants had no choice but to change their menus and some did so switching to family dinners or daily specials. I might not have been eating out as much when this all started but I still needed to eat. Some Quarantine highlights.

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Ludlow Liquors 

Ludlow is one of those spots that had to make pretty drastic changes. They relied heavily on their backdoor patio where people love to drink during the summer months. I heard it's opening with social distancing soon but that's not the only way they're trying to get customers. One of the most popular pivots for restaurants has been pizza. Quite a few of the popular spots around town have started selling pizza in one form or the other. Ludlow was already selling slices of grandma style pie on Monday's which I'd tried months ago. It was good and from what I saw on social media had it's fair share of fans. Well now they have access to it on the weekends with a little bit of planning. Ludlow is selling their grandma pies whole to those willing to place a pre-order so they can guarantee a slot to come pick up their pizza. It's worth the planning if you're a fan of the grandma style pizza that's super popular in NYC and bc of that it's now gaining fans across the country. It's lighter than it looks.

Grandma Pie at Ludlow Liquors 

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Hermosa Restaurant 

This off the radar spot just off Armitage in Hermosa has been open for a few years. But it just became well known in the last year or so. Actually I've posted about it before back in 2017. With the help of a little social media campaign by @FartSandwich aka "The Greatest Food Writer in the World" Hermosa became a regular stop on the Chicago food peoples trail. It's a typical looking hot dog stand that has a not so typical menu. It's owned by Ethan Lim who's family owns Googoo's Table with which Hermosa shares a building. They also own Somethin' Sweet Donuts which now has two locations. The Lim's have a Cambodian heritage and Chicago is lucky to have them. It was the Cambodian fried chicken sandwich that wowed the Readers Mike Sula among others. I have to agree with the masses here. This is the best fried chicken sandwich in town. Read Dennis Lee's article HERE. In the last couple months Hermosa has started offering Cambodian meals to go. Here's Mike Sula's review.

Cambodian Fried Chicken Sandwich at Hermosa 

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 3 Little Pigs

Covid pushed the idea of ordering food from instagram into the Chicago area. It's been a thing in places like LA already. But ever since corona arrived I've noticed a bunch of people pushing food though instagram. These could be former chefs, or line cooks, and even just home cooks trying to get into the market but not able to rent an entire restaurant out for the time being. One day one of my buddies @'ed me on insta to an account selling Chinese style BBQ pork and potstickers. You can find Henry @3LittlePigsChi. His family has provided potstickers to restaurants in Chinatown for more than 30 years. With some spots in the neighborhood closed he started offering both his family’s dumplings as well as his own ode to Chinese BBQ Pork which has some dope Chicago style bbq components going for it in the sauce piled on top of some well charred pork. It's fantastic. Special plate appearance from an order of plain and extra crispy chow fun noodles from Three Happiness.

BBQ Pork and Potstickers from 3 Little Pigs

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 Jeong Restaurant 

Jeong is a spot that many considered one of the city's best new restaurants when it opened in 2019 (my post). So it really sucks they've had to put a pause on growth from the restaurants perspective. That said Dave Park and his team have been able to pivot in the most dopest of fashions. Before they ran one of the city's best new restaurants Chef Dave and his wife ran a food court stall in a Westmont shopping mall. They cooked Korean classics at Hanbun which garnered national attention for it's food and setup. Check out my old Hanbun review HERE. People were sad to see Hanbun go but it wasn't the best of setups and what not. It sucked losing Hanbun but we gained Jeong from it and it's in the city at that. So the overall effect was a net positive and even though Jeong isn't in service right now Hanbun is. That's right if you can plan to pre-order for the weekend you can try some of the all time favorites from Hanbun which can be picked up at Jeong. Bulgogi with sliced apples, Spicy Rice Cakes, and the Korean-Chinese favorite Jjajangmyeon (pork belly noodles in black bean sauce) were all wonderful. I don't know how much longer this will last so act accordingly if you haven't already.

Hanbun at Home 

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Shawn Michelle's Homemade Ice Cream 

I don't know why Shawn Michelle's doesn't have locations scattered across the city but I could take an educated guess. Let's be real how many people even know of this homegrown ice cream specialist on 47th and Wabash? Not as many that should know. That's for sure. Chicago's ice cream scene consists of a bunch of corporate brands from out of town. Why don't we have a homegrown brand? Shawn Michelle's is that. They've been open since the 90's and are well known among Chicago's African-American community but just becoming known to most others. Social media campaigns have driven customers to Black owned businesses all summer and admittedly it was some posts from these campaigns that finally got me over to try Shawn Michelle's homemade ice cream. Damn is it good! I loved the Jamaican rum raisin. They should be more well known like other Southside spots. Maybe they don't want to expand but they have the ability to as far as product in the coolers goes.

Jamaican Rum Raisin at Shawn Michelle's Ice Cream

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See ya next time @chibbqking