Pressed Cafe

-Grubbing in Chicago(land)

Latin American Sandwiches in Skokie

I love a good pressed sandwich. So when I passed by Pressed Latin Sandwich Cafe on Oakton in Skokie I made sure to take a mental note. Some online research later that day told me this was a well reviewed sandwich and coffee shop. They claim to serve the best Cuban sandwich and jibarito on the Northshore. Skokie is not part of the Northshore but I'll tell you my thoughts on the jibarito below.

 Locals Favorite in Skokie

Normally I would go for the Cuban sandwich on the first visit. I decided the jibarito looked better as I'm very particular on the building of a good Cuban sandwich. Plus my gluten free cousin was with me and she's of course a big jibarito fan being GF and all. Also for what it's worth online reviews make mention of the jibarito the most. I went with a classic steak version dressed traditionally with cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. We got an order of Yuca fries on the side of one of our sandwiches and then also a cup of rice and peas plus a cup of elotes. The sides were alright. The yuca fries which are made with cassava were the ones I'd get again next time. The jibarito was well made with the most important part the smashed plantain itself being crisp and not greasy. The tender steak was loaded with the cumin. Mixed with melted cheese and grilled onions made it that much better.

Steak Jibarito with Yucca Fries at Pressed Latino Sandwich Cafe 

Pressed Cafe
4845 Oakton St
Skokie, IL 60077
(224) 251-7649
Website

Snix Snax

-Grubbing in Chicago

Chicago Park District Puerto Rican

Welcome Back. I wish it could be under better circumstances but the notion of "going back to the way it was before all this" is ridiculous and probably semi racist at this point. The truth is we had a restaurant problem before covid and we had a racism problem before George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the countless others who's lives were lost to police brutality. I've "blogged" about the food in Chicago for more than a decade as both a hobby and as a way to better see and understand the city. So I didn't want to just up and stop that as it's actually in some ways good for my health especially now to be able to escape our sad reality for a little while by sitting down and pounding out a post about a place like Snix Snax in Independence Park over by the Irving Park neighborhood.

 Locals Favorite in Independence Park 

I wanted to get a post on Snix Snax up last summer but it ended to quickly and cold weather was here before we knew it. It worked out delaying it until now as not only do we have lots of summer left but the entire dining world has been shaken upside down with covid and even though places are starting to open it's clearly not safe to be eating and drinking inside. So the fact Snix Snax is a little permanently parked food cart means you have no choice but to eat outside or bring your food home. The menu here features both Puerto Rican and Chicago favorites. I wouldn't know about the Chicago dogs and pizza puffs bc the Puerto Rican food is where it's at. For example the lady who's been inside on all three of my visits will cook items like a mini jibarito to order. For me this is the perfect size jibarito if I need to do something productive the rest of the day. It's about half the size of a regular one and the fillings inside are as good as any I've tried. The steak was really tender and not the least bit resistant. She also offers a nice selection of finger foods like morcilla and papas rellenas.

Jibarito and Papa Rellena at Snix Snax

Snix Snax also makes pinchos (pork or chicken) to order. These are the Puerto Rican version of kebobs. Skewers of meat are fried up until golden and tender and served with your choice of rice and your choice of fried plantains or tostones. Garlic bread rounds out what could be a two meal container of food for something like $10 and tax. As long as the weather is nice and eating outside is an option I encourage everyone to practice that right now be it via takeout or outdoor dining. The latter is a bit more risky but as long as you're not in a festival like setting with a crowd of people around you. Whichever way you choose to eat your food for the love of god make sure you tip min 20% but there's no reason it shouldn't be a little more. People are risking their lives to make sure some don't have to eat frozen pizza all year and more importantly so they can have a place to live. It's never been more important to be a responsible diner. My posts will try to reflect that as far as the rest of the year goes.

Pork Pinchos at Snix Snax 

Snix Snax
3945 N Springfield Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
Seasonal Operation

Cafe Central

-Grubbing in Chicago
Where the locals eat

At a time when hip restaurants openings are very common, the bare bone spots serve the neighborhood type places are not. Sure theres plenty of taquerias that open up but unfortunately 7 out of 10 end up closing not to long after. So I feel like it's my duty to support places like Cafe Central which have been around a while and remain to do the same thing as when they opened back in the 70's. Chicago avenue might have changed but this place has not. Food and all.

Locals favorite in Ukrainian Village (Winter is Coming)

Despite being featured on Check Please! I don't think many non-locals make it into this Puerto Rican favorite. Every time I've been in the diners that were also inside definitely knew the ladies behind the counter. Speaking of those ladies they do all the cooking here and they do it well. It's cafeteria style Puerto Rican but some things like the jibaritos get made fresh upon ordering. The best time to go here is on the weekend when their lechon style pork is on the menu. One of the best jibaritos in the city is made using it as the base. Mixed with melted cheese and an extra garlicky fried plantain that acts as the bread this isn't for those looking to slim the wasteline. Good thing it's only weekends.

Lechon Pork Jibarito

Another way to enjoy their delicious roast pork is as a plate. It comes in two different sizes and I always recommend going large as it's great for leftovers. This mixta plate below includes a wonderful stewed beans recipe that warms me up especially well when mixed with the yellow rice I choose to go with it. It's a true taste of the neighborhood. Go get some before it's no more. We all die one day.

Roasted Pork Mixta Plate

Cafe Central
1437 W Chicago Ave #1
Chicago, IL 60642
(312) 243-6776

The almighty Jibarito and its creator...

-Chicago's Other Famous Sandwich: The Jibarito

When you think of Chicago originals and staples in the food world thoughts of deep dish pizza, Italian Beef, Polish Sausage, Hot Dogs and Mexican food jump into the mind but there is so much more. The Italian Beef may be Chicago's signature sandwich but he has a running mate that can more than hold its own, the almighty Jibarito (pronounced hee-bur-itto). It was invented circa 1993 in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood by the owner of a great Puerto Rican restaurant called Borinquen.


a Chicago staple

The city of Chicago has so many different cultures that make up the city and the Puerto Rican's play a major part in that role. Just like Chicago is home to the most Mexicans east of L.A its also home to the most Puerto Rican's west of NYC. They started coming into the city during the 1940's and by the 1960's most of Chicago's Puerto Rican's were concentrated in Lincoln Park and they had established a long row of small, ethnic enclave along Armitage ave that included small grocery stores and businesses providing goods and services for Puerto Rican neighbors. By the 1980's Lincoln Parks redevelopment pushed most of the people into the Humboldt Park neighborhood where most still reside today.


Division ave in Humboldt Park

Today Chicago is home to a wide array of Puerto Rican places to eat and all of them serve Jibarito's but only one of them invented it. The owner of Borinquen was fooling around one day when he decided to create a sandwich based off the plaintain sandwich from his native country. Peter took two plantains and flattened them and proceeded to twice fry them and that would be used as the bread. He then decided to add steak cooked in butter, cheese, lettuce, tomato's, mayo, sauteed onions and then brush the plantain with a garlic butter spread. The creation was the almighty Jibarito and it has since made its way back to the island. It truly is one of the best sandwiches in the world and there are many different places to get them but Borinquen is the creator and maybe the most consistent around town and when paired with their amazing yellow rice its a treat that you have to try while in Chicago to know just how good they are.


The Chicago specialty sandwich from above


be careful these bad boys pack quite a punch...to the heart

Those of us lucky enough to live in Chicago sometimes forget just how lucky we are. In a recent review of the newly opened Meatloaf Bakery on the serious eats site it was asked if Chicago was closing in on other great food cities of North America like New York, San Francisco and Montreal because "one factor against our pre-eminence as a serious food town was our lack of fringe specialty food shops." Its not a false statement that we may indeed lack specialty food shops like the meatloaf Bakery, where they make meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato "icing" and use only the freshest and best ingredients to make quite a few variety's of meatloaf. But do we really need them?

The answer is yes and no. It would be nice to be able to get real pomme frites from a specialty shop and stuff of that nature but we don't need a chicken wing place that specializes in chicken wings made from famous chicken dishes created centuries ago for royalty. I don't need Chicken wings ala Divan or Chicken Wings Marengo. Now find me a city anywhere in the world that has the selection of original foods like the roadfood staples we have all the way up to the high end dining with stops of every cuisine in between? sure we don't have the deli's and specialty food shops of NYC and they don't have the authentic Mexican and real fast food joints like we do. We already are one of the premiere dining destinations. If you could get the real McCoy of everything in one location on the map, what would the fun in traveling be?

Borinquen Restaurant (3 locations)
1720 N California Ave
(at Wabansia Ave)
Chicago, IL 60647
Website