North Side Taco Crawl

-Grubbing in Chicago
Five of a Kind: North Side Tacos

Anyone that says you have to go to Pilsen to get good tacos is seriously misinformed. As are the people that say you have to go to Little Village. Every now and then I’ll see a comment that says as much if not worse - something like you can’t get good Mexican food on the North side. Seriously where do these people get their information? Not from me obviously as I can tell you right now that the gap between the north and the south side isn't all that wide when it comes to good Mexican food. 

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Birrieria Zaragoza (Uptown)

Let me just go ahead and make my case right from the jump. Birrieria Zaragoza on the south side is often mentioned among the city’s best Mexican restaurants and rightfully so - it's one of Chicago's best restaurants period. But did you know they also have a North side location? You can find it at Broadway and Lawrence right next door to the historic Green Mill Lounge. It opened back in 2023 and right now it’s the only place in town you can get their incredible goat tacos on made to order corn tortillas - the south side location suffered a fire and is temporarily closed. I’m pretty sure the menu at their Uptown outlet is the same as it is in Archer Heights so you can get their incredible steamed and slow roasted goat meat with or without bones or in taco form. The goat tacos with an order of their warm salsa molcajate is one of the top tacos in town. Heck it’s one of the best bites in town too. They also make a great quesabirria but the taco de cabeza might be my favorite thing on their menu right now. If the idea of eating head meat turns you off I bet if I told you it was Vaca Frita (fried beef) you’d love it as it tastes like that or corned beef hash to me. It’s really flavorful and pairs so well with their pungent corn tortillas and Mexico level salsas. I wish their south side location a speedy recovery.

Taco de Cabeza at Birrieria Zaragoza

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Edgewater Tacos (Edgewater)

Next we head even further north to Edgewater which is where you’ll find my favorite fish taco in all of Chicagoland. Edgewater Tacos has been around for a little while now and it’s become a bit of a neighborhood staple as their walk up window (no indoor seating) stays pretty busy throughout the day. It’s far north side location makes it a bit of a journey coming from Logan Square but it’s one I make a few times a year for their terrific tacos de pescado. There’s nothing special about them as far as prep or ingredients. They do a simple version using fresh fried beer battered cod, lettuce, tomato, and chipotle mayo on a warm corn tortilla and they’re perfect every time. Honestly I don’t get anything else here - I was a bit underwhelmed with their other options when I first tried it but that was a while back. I can’t get myself to try anything else these days when it’s the fish tacos I constantly crave.

Fish Tacos at Edgewater Tacos
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Pan Artesanal Bakery (Logan Square)

Pan Artesanal is a neighborhood favorite for pastries. People line up on the weekend for boxes of baked goods including their best in show cinnamon rolls - I haven’t found a better one in Chicago for whatever that's worth. But when I last visited I was greeted by a little street stand setup offering Oaxacan antojitos in the form of tacos, quesadillas, and tlacoyos. All the masa for these is handled by hand and cooked on a hot comal by a couple Mexican grandmas. Large toasted corn tortillas fresh off the comal are filled with a handful of guisado options of which I tried the potatoes, the mushrooms, and the shredded flank steak with poblano peppers. These are really in a league of their own as far as their style goes as you won’t find anything like them elsewhere in the city. Con todo which means “with everything” includes lettuce, onion, sour cream plus Oaxaca and cotija cheeses. I don't get here often as they’re only open on Saturday and Sunday but the online menu is still showing the tacos.

Tacos at Pan Artesanal
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Las Pueblitas Tacos (Albany Park)

Chicago isn’t a big taco truck town like LA. I see more of them up in Milwaukee than I do here, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have them, we just don’t seem to have a ton of good ones. Also many come and go which makes it rough to find a reliable one. That said my favorite taco truck in town can be found most nights in a parking lot at 3737 W Lawrence in Albany Park. Los Pueblitas is a family owned taco truck that has been parking in that lot in the evening for a couple of years now and it’s developed a really nice following over that time. The term “street tacos” is so overused and misused too but not with this spot which serves up real street tacos in the form of slightly greasy corn tortillas filled with finely diced meats like steak and chorizo which get mixed together to make the Taco Campechano. Like most real deal street tacos these are served with cucumbers, radish, limes, salsa. 

Tacos Campechanos at Los Pueblitas Taco Truck
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No Pasa Nada (Mayfair)

If you’ve ever rode or walked past the corner of Lawrence and Kilbourn (just west of Elston) you may have noticed an out of service car repair garage with a permanent food trailer sitting in the lot. That trailer once housed a hot dog stand circa 2012 but it had sat empty the last decade or so. I’d pass by occasionally hoping something new had opened but it sat vacant until No Pasa Nada recently set up shop. No Pasa Nada is a one man operation ran by Isaac from Jalisco. The menu isn’t much bigger than the work force with a couple of Tacos al Carbon options including carne asada and al pastor plus a cheese quesadilla and guacamole too. Tacos al Carbon refer to the meat being grilled with live fire which Isaac uses for both his steak and trompo meat. The steak is done on a traditional charcoal grill while the pastor is cooked on a charcoal rigged trompo which he had made by Jalisco’s Best in Bridgeview - they make equipment for taquerias and taquizas including taco carts, discada discs, salsa bars etc. Isaac has a unique way of marinating his sliced pork meat and I encourage you to go try it and ask about it for yourself. This is definitely the style of setup you typically come across in Mexico and the tacos reflect that too. They’re smoky and spicy and clearly made with care. He says he’s going to stay open thru winter but there’s something therapeutic about eating tacos on the street during the summer twilight hour so don’t wait too long to go get some real deal tacos al carbon.

Tacos al Carbon at No Pasa Nada
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See ya next time @chibbqking