Viral Chicago Food

-Grubbing in Chicago
Five of a Kind: Gone Viral

I started to do these five of a kind posts as a way to showcase specific dishes. It’s much easier writing a paragraph on a piece of pizza I tried than it is doing an entire post. It’s also a way to get a little more content up and not left on my phone to forget about. So I’m always thinking of ways I can combine five different things I ate and this post kind of came about when I recently tried two places I knew of due to their popularity on social media apps like Instagram. I thought to myself hmm what other things did I eat that were directly influenced by Instagram and I was able to come up with five spots (and dishes) that I likely learned of online by appearing on my food dominant timelines. So today’s post is about five places that have gone viral. It’s true that a lot of viral foods are gimmicks but not all of them are. Some are just good and catch on in a way that’s organic in terms of specific dishes like pizza, bagels, burgers, pasta, and hand rolls being popular with the younger TikTok demographic. 

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Tilly Bagel (South Loop)

We start with bagels but not at the spot in Lincoln Park that had lines around the block last week. I don’t have plans to go there as I already tried an outlet in Delray Beach and the bagels there reminded me of the packaged ones you get at the supermarket. Today we check out Tilly Bagel which was a popup during the pandemic that turned brick and mortar in 2023. Tilly is known for its sourdough bagels that people have been known to line up for. No lines when I visited on a Tuesday morning (St. Patrick's Day) to try their popular cacio e pepe bagel with a smear of caramelized onion cream cheese. Simply put I’m not a big bagel guy so make of this what you will. I thought it was ok. The bagel had decent chew but maybe needed a little more. The cream cheese didn't really have much of a grilled onion taste and I thought there was too much of it on mine but I’ve seen people complain at places that put much less so maybe overloaded is the preferred normal for most but not for me. In the end I felt about these how I do about most bagels - it was fine for what it was - a bagel.

Cacio e Pepe Bagel with Caramelized Onion Cream Cheese at Tilly Bagel
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Chomp Pizza (Pilsen)

Next up we head over to Pilsen where we’ll pop into the 18th Street Pink Line stop where Chomp Pizza runs a slice stand. It’s ran by a guy named Travis who used to worked at Paulie Gee’s in Wicker Park before doing his own thing at Chomp Pizza where they pretty much serve just one thing - a slice of cheese pizza ($5). I saw this place making the rounds online and made a point of trying it. I arrived right around opening time so the pizza had just come out of the oven. The pizza is made with a simple blend of tomatoes, Grande Cheese Co. mozzarella and some oregano but the magic is in the dough which is taken very seriously. The color on the crust is slightly darker and the texture is crisp and crackly. I can see why this place has become popular with people passing thru the 18th St. Station. 

Cheese Slice at Chomp Pizza
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Smash Jibarito (Humboldt Park)

A lot of these viral food spots started as pop-ups as is the case with our next stop - Smash Jibarito in Humboldt Park. These guys paid their dues on the pop-up circuit and now have a spiffy new brick & mortar on Division. It’s the perfect fit for their hit smash burgers inspired by the classic Jibarito sandwiches that originated in this Puerto Rican enclave. This means instead of buns they’re using flattened and fried green plantains aka tostones to hold their smashed beef patties. The menu is tight with just a few burgers, some sides, and one wildcard item which is their twist on a pizza puff. The plantain “bun” on these burgers holds up better than you’d think and adds some extra crunch to the mix. Pictured below is “estilo Animal” aka Animal Style ala In-N-Out and it's a damn good burger. 

Jibarito Smash Burger at Smash Jibarito
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Italian Homemade Co. (Fulton Market)

Pasta is a dish that tends to go viral as often as any and Fulton Market is a place where restaurants commonly go viral so of course a pasta spot on Fulton Market is going to go viral. The Italian Homemade Company got started in San Francisco circa 2014 before opening their Chicago location around 2024 as made from scratch pasta spots have really taken off. As soon as you walk in you’ll see the setup they have for making pasta from scratch plus a fridge with a bunch of that pasta packaged for home use. Or if you want to eat there you can pick a pasta and pick a sauce to go with it or choose one of their specialty pastas. Seems like most of the people working here are Italian, for whatever that’s worth. I saw some videos about the lasagna and they list it among their specialties so I stopped in with a friend when he said he had a taste for lasagna. There was some sort of meet and greet going on so the place was packed and our table was surrounded by annoying people with no sense of their surroundings and it was loud but that's to be expected in this area. I got the meat lasagna which is made with a beef and pork bolognese, bechamel, parmigiano. This was a textbook version. The pasta was fresh and soft and the meat sauce had a nice beefy taste to it. A very hearty dish. I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here but if you're already near there it’s a pretty good option. 

Meat Lasagna at Homemade Italian Company
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Noriko Handroll Bar (West Loop)

Last stop takes us over to Perilla Korean Fare in the West Loop. Perilla is a Michelin-recognized Korean BBQ restaurant group with a Steakhouse in the Loop. They also have a tiny handroll bar located in the basement of their West Loop location. It’s called Noriko Handroll Bar and it’s a hot reservation in big part due to it being such a small space with seating for around 20. The menu is revolved around handrolls with starters and a few crudo options. They have a few different sets you can get that mixes and matches a variety of rolls. Every seat is at the chef’s counter and all handrolls are made to order and meant to be eaten immediately. We started with a couple crudos which were just ok. I chose to go with the chefs handroll set with yellowtail, California roll, bluefin tuna poke, bluefin tuna toro, and bay scallop dynamite. I think I paid around $42 for the five rolls. They were all pretty good but the bay scallop dynamite roll was perfectly named as it was a lot more dynamic than the others as far as flavor. It’s described as a baked/spicy scallop with toppings like masago and sweet soy and it gets a kiss of flame with a blowtorch that gives it a smokiness that almost resembles a hot dog. That might sound funny but this was a really satisfying taste to me and one of the best things I ate last year. If I ever go back I’ll probably order a few of those and make a meal out of them.

Bay Scallop Dynamite Roll at Noriko Handroll Bar
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See ya next time @chibbqking

Steak Tacos in Pilsen

-Grubbing in Chicago
Five of a Kind: Pilsen Taco Tour

The days of Chicago being just a steak and potatoes town are done but it’s most definitely still a steak taco town. There’s been mini empires built off chopped carne asada loaded into locally produced corn tortillas. The steak taco is to Chicago what the fish taco is to San Diego meaning it's a part of the city's culinary identity. So much so that steak tacos never seem to taste as good outside of Chicago and that's including Mexico. Now I'm not saying that Mexican food in Chicago is better than that in Mexico or even that the tacos here are better than they are down there but I will say the quality of the steak tends to be better in the States. I'll take it a step further and say the quality of steak tacos in Chicago seems to be a step above the rest of the country. Today we're going to hone in on five specific steak tacos in the Pilsen area which help solidify this statement. Please note this isn't a best steak tacos in Pilsen list - it's simply five delicious steak tacos in Pilsen that are worth seeking out. 

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Taqueria El Milagro

We start with what might be the most iconic taco in Chicago - the Bistec Asado at Taqueria El Milagro. The El Milagro brand has been a part of the city's food scene since they first started making tortillas all the way back in 1950. I don't know exactly when they added a cafeteria to their main operation in Little Village but it's served more than a few generations of Chicagoans. They also have an outpost in Pilsen and a stall at the North Riverside Mall. I really miss their long gone Lakeview location which me and my buddies ate at regularly back in high school. But at some point in the last few years I tried the Pilsen location and found the famous steak tacos to be a bit better than those in Little Village. It's the exact same taco in terms of ingredients which starts with a thin slice of flame grilled arrachera left intact (not chopped) and paired with thick refried beans, fluffy Mexican rice and a vinegar tossed cabbage on a warm El Milagro corn tortilla. Each taco comes served with fresh pico de gallo.

Steak Taco at Taqueria El Milagro
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Cecina Grill

Next stop is this cecina specialist on 18th street. Cecina is simply salted air dried beef and it's prevalent in Central Mexico. Here in Chicago it's commonly featured at the city's Guerrero linked restaurants. Cecina Grill showcases cecina in many ways including platters with different toppings like cactus and salsa molcajate and also tacos de cecina. Whichever way you go your order will include some wonderful made to order corn tortillas. I'm partial to the ‘Taco Mejica’ which is an absolute beauty. Sliced cecina goes into a soft but sturdy corn tortilla stamped with a glistening cheese crust. It's all topped with a dollop of guacamole which works wonderfully with the salty beef and cheese. 

Taco Mejica at Cecina Grill 
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Taqueria Victor Bueno

The Tacos de Arrachera at Taqueria Victor Bueno have a bit of a cult following as this spot has alot of history in Pilsen. Don Victor started out selling tacos on the street way back when before becoming a taquero at a long gone spot called La Unica. He's since opened his own spot on Cermak where you can find his signature steak tacos. Ask for the pico de gallo and don’t sleep on the tacos de guisado which come served the same way, slathered with fluffy rice and extremely creamy beans.

Tacos de Arrachera at Victor Bueno
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De Luna Taco Grill

Chicago doesn't have a ton of good taco trucks but there's a few including De Luna Taco Grill which always sets up shop at the same spot on Blue Island. They open at 4p Tues.- Sat. and you'll know when they're open based on the smell of smoke permeating the block. De Luna has become known around the neighborhood for their excellent carne asada tacos which they grill right there in the truck resulting in a cloud of smoke hovering over it. The traditional steak tacos are great as is but don't pass up a chance to try a lesser seen taco. The ‘Taco Vulcan’ is a roasted chile guero that’s slit in half, gutted, and stuffed with melted cheese topped with chunks of super smoky carne asada. 

'Taco Vulcan' at De Luna Taco Grill

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Taquerías Atotonilco

The Atotonilco name is one of those mini taco empires I spoke of in the opening paragraph. Much like El Milagro they got started as a tortilleria and have branched off into taquerias too. Tortilleria Atotonilco was founded by Oscar Muñoz back in the early 70's. The founder grew up on a farm and purchased land in Illinois where he began growing and harvesting his own corn. They opened their first taqueria in Little Village and now have a few locations though I think they might be separately owned by different family members. The Pilsen location on Blue Island is likely the most consistent and it's open late so this is a good stop for late night tacos. They make a pretty unique taco al pastor with thick cuts of spit roasted pork slathered in a smoky salsa and I always like to get one of those paired with their namesake taco. The 'Taco Atotonilco' is chopped skirt steak topped with a mound of sour cream plus wafer thin sliced tomato and onions. It’s got the flavor profile of a Mexican gyro.

Taco Atotonilco at Taqueria Atotonilco 
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See ya next time @chibbqking

Old School Chicago Diners

-Grubbing in Chicago
Five of a Kind: Greasy Spoon Diners

I wouldn't say the greasy spoon dining genre is headed towards extinction but it's certainly been endangered with each and every closing across the country. There's really no bringing these places back to a healthy number either as you just cant recreate them in any form or fashion. It takes decades for a greasy spoon diner to fully spawn and in today's age they're just not suitable for most areas. There's no exact definition but there's plenty of traits that make a place a blue collar greasy spoon diner. They're usually small, they're always cheap, and they've rarely been remodeled. There's still a decent amount of these places left in Chicago but there's not nearly as many as before. 

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Uncle Bens Grill (West Town)

If one of those Chicago PD or Chicago Fire TV shows ever needs a low key greasy spoon diner to film at Ben's Grill on Damen is a good call. It used to go by Tommy's Grill but it switched names a while back. I must've driven past this place a hundred times before I finally stopped in last summer when I was getting a cracked windshield on my car fixed across the street. The inside looks exactly like you can imagine and so the menu is what you would imagine too. It's pretty standard with all the usual suspects when it comes to American style breakfast. The biscuits and gravy get some love in online reviews so I went with a small order and they weren't bad for being this far north of the Mason Dixon line. They were better than I thought they would be. The biscuits weren't anything special but the gravy was highly seasoned with lots of sausage and had a nice and creamy texture to it too. 

Biscuits and Gravy at Uncle Ben's Diner 
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Parkview Restaurant and Grill (Pilsen)

Our next stop serves up some of my favorite chilaquiles in town. Parkview Diner at the corner of 19th and Damen is a mother and son run spot that's been serving the people of Pilsen for more than 35 years and the more Pilsen changes, the more this place stays the same. The menu is a fun mix of American and Mexican breakfasts and also a few Chicago style items too. The Mexican food here is old fashioned and similar to what you would find elsewhere in Chicago back in the 90's. But it's a step above as they put care into their food such as making their aguas frescas and soups on site. They also grow their own peppers for their salsas. Whatever you get from here it's going to be a hefty plate of food for a more than fair price but I cant get past the chilaquiles loaded with tender hunks of steak. 

Chilaquiles at Parkview Diner 
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United Grill (Belmont Cragin)

You wont find much info about United Grill online and that's how it usually is for a blue collar establishment such as this. They have two locations and I've featured the one in Cicero before. They also have a spot on Armitage just west of Cicero. It recently under went a renovation inside but before that this place felt like something straight out of the 80's. That goes for its looks and feel as well as the menu and prices. When I visited more than a year ago I had a very satisfying patty melt that was something like $6 or $7 with a huge side of hash browns. The patty melt was just about perfect although it is a thinner patty than most but both sides of the bread were well toasted and they loaded up on the grilled onions and the cheese was well melted. I think it might be time to revisit them soon. 

Patty Melt at United Grill 
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Cinderella (Back of the Yards)

Any and every greasy spoon diner worth it's weight does burgers for breakfast. Back when I was a kid in my pre teen days we used to go to this long gone place on Fullerton Avenue in Lincoln Park called Glenn's - it was maybe a half black west of the Walgreens and they had the best greasy burgers we would get for breakfast. Well I was reminded of my trips to Glenn's when I recently returned to Cinderella on 47th street in Back of the Yards early one morning this past winter. At the time I had no idea this out of date diner was still open until I read a feature at Block Club Chicago. Cinderella’s is ran by a Polish grandma named Helen Borowicz who walks to work every day and when I say nothing here has changed I mean that in a literal sense as burgers are still $2.15 each and the dining room is filled with little relics from another era as well as random piles of junk that looks like it hasn’t been touched in 20+ years. Stepping into here is like going to your grandparents house circa 1993. 

a peek inside

There’s few if any places like Cinderella’s left, the burgers taste like they come from a time machine. I got one with mustard and onion and another with lettuce, tomato, mayo and they’re even better than I remembered them to be, just be ready for the smell to linger like a bag of sliders will do as they reek in a way only an old school burger does. I should note that they're the frozen hockey puck variety but there must be some really good flavor in that flattop as they had that classic old school taste to them. According to that Block Club article Helen started working here in 1974 when her future husband hired her to work the Easter shift and the rest is Chicago restaurant history as she’s been working at Cinderella’s ever since then. Her husband passed away in 1993 and she’s been running the show solo ever since. The menu is a short and simple mix of breakfast and sandwiches and includes a few clues into the neighborhoods old Eastern European past such as a liver sausage sandwich ($3.50). If you visit in summer the tomatoes in the BLT come from the garden in back and with that I have to ask how is this place not listed on the Chicago Historic Resources Survey identifying close to 10,000 properties in Chicago with historic or architectural significance? Cinderella is almost a time portal.

Cheeseburgers at Cinderella
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Golden Nugget (Avondale)

Our final stop is one of the more well known blue collar greasy spoon diners in town. Golden Nugget is a homegrown mini chain from another era. Actually I was curious about it's history so I did a little digging and came to find that it was started in Florida by a Chicago guy who named it after the famous Las Vegas casino where he had previously worked as a blackjack dealer. The Golden Nugget first popped up in Chicago in 1966 and they still have four locations left. If you've ever been to the Golden Apple in Lakeview or had been to the Golden Angel at Lincoln and Montrose those too were once Golden Nuggets. I'll be honest I've never been a big fan in part bc we always ate Mexican food late night when I was in that phase of life. I'm just not a big American breakfast person in the morning or the night so Golden Nugget was never my first choice for food after alcohol. But it was and still is for many as they remain open 24 hours at this Diversey location (the others close in the afternoon). The last time I visited any of them was actually right around the pandemic when it felt like the world was headed to the shitter and nothing mattered so I said f-ck it one night and decided to eat here. The menu at Golden Nugget is almost as long as a children's book. It reads like a Sysco catalog with just about any and every diner type dish you can imagine. I somehow ended up on the "Little Italy" section which reads like a menu in Omaha's Little Italy. Whatever I was on that night had me wanting some chicken parm after putting it into my head so that's what I got and it was about what you would expect. It's not the best chicken parm except when it is in those wee hours of the morning. 

Chicken Parm and Spaghetti at Golden Nugget
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Previously Featured Greasy Spoons:

Mr. A's
Don's Grill
Fred's Place
Pete's Place
Johnnie's Grill

The Choo Choo
Alexander's Restaurant

See ya next time @chibbqking

Especialidad de la Casa Pt. 13

-Grubbing in Chicago
Five of a Kind: Specialty of the House Series

In his weekly newsletter roundup of Chicago food writing, Michael Gebert at Fooditor (sign up HERE) wondered last week if the next great Mexican dining find in Chicago had yet to be uncovered. He wondered if it hasn’t due to the fact the Tribune no longer has much of a food presence. He did give props to me mentioning I’m always on the prowl and I can verify that - but I can also verify that it’s been rather quiet of late. Not bc Nick is no longer on the beat but bc it’s just not an exciting time for Mexican food in Chicago in the way it's been with South Asian food of late - in part bc Mexican food had its coming out party more than a decade ago during the heyday of LTHforum in the mid 2000’s and beyond. It’s the reason I haven’t done any of these specialty of the house posts in over a year, because there just hasn’t been a ton of interesting Mexican to uncover. That said I plan on taking another deep dive this summer as it’s been a couple years since I last scoured the south side for street food and what not. But as far as the taquerias and restaurants go I’ve still been checking out new spots but I haven’t had much luck finding the next Asian Cuisine Express or Minna’s Restaurant as it took me over a year to collect today’s five spots - each is worth a stop for the house specialty. 

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Aztlan Mexican Grill (Albany Park)

Albany Park is full of low key Mexican restaurants that almost exclusively serve the neighborhood itself. Most of them look just like Aztlan Mexican Grill which is a small family owned spot on Montrose. Thus it can be tough to figure out which one to go to and what to get but there’s always clues. In the case of Aztlan those clues were found in both the menu and online reviews. The menu is deep with all of the typical Mexican favorites ranging from tortas to burritos but there’s a note next to the quesadilla section stating that their 8 inch quesadillas are hand made and if you look at the pictures of them online they look legit - and they are. I don’t eat a ton of quesadillas anymore but I still enjoy one from time to time and the next time the taste for one comes I'm heading straight to Aztlan where they load up thick hand made tortillas with a number of interesting fillings including an alambre (steak, bacon, pepper, onion, melted cheese) but there’s something about a chicken quesadilla with guacamole that I love - I rarely get chicken at Mexican restaurants but the combination of tinga with hot melted cheese and cold and creamy guacamole is comfort food I trace back to my childhood at TBP (Taco Burrito Palace), a long gone Mexican restaurant on Halsted I ate at for more than a couple decades before it's closing. TBP had great quesadillas and I commonly got the chicken with a side of guacamole but the ones at Aztlan are much better with a strong masa taste thanks to the made from scratch tortilla. 

Quesadilla at Aztlan Mexican Grill 
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Barca Restaurant (Portage Park) 

Next stop is a spot that was originally featured in the Tribune back in 2022 when it was named one of the 32 best Mexican restaurants in the city. Barca Restaurant is family owned spot specializing in birria tatemada, which the family matriarch learned to make growing up in San Jose Casas Caidas, Jalisco. Nick Kindlesberger describes it in his story: “Instead of cooking the meat in a large pot until finished, the goat is simmered part of the way before being removed and slathered in chile paste made with ancho and guajillo chiles. It’s then roasted until the outside starts to char from the high heat.” I had forgot about this spot which I visited over a year ago so I'm due for a return visit very soon. The goat tacos from here are served on handmade tortillas and come with a trio of excellent salsas that truthfully aren't even needed thanks to all the flavor induced from the chile pastes but I thought the addition of the salsa verde elevated them to 1st tier status - one of the best tacos in town.  

Birria Taco at Barca Restaurant
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Cecina Grill (Pilsen)

This 18th Street Cecina estilo Guerrero specialist isn't new but they updated their menu recently and it now includes one of the city's top tacos in the form of the 'Taco Mejica' featuring sliced cecina (dry cured beef) loaded into a soft and sturdy made to order corn tortilla blessed with a glistening cheese crust and topped with a dollop of guac. The guacamole and the cheese sing so well together. 

Taco Mejica at Cecina Grill 
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Carniceria Maribel (Pilsen)

Nobody does hot dogs and hamburgers as good as the United States and nobody comes close but Mexico is a distant second. Our love for hot dogs and hamburgers has traveled south to Mexico where they have a culture all of their own. Street food stands across the country load up bacon wrapped hot dogs and mesquite grilled burgers with a ton of toppings making them a custom experience. I always have to get at least one burger or hot dog when I'm in Mexico and I usually do so after a few rounds of drinks so that the booze can soak up all of the grease. Carniceria Maribel is a popular taqueria / butcher / liquor store in Pilsen that I've featured on here a few times before. They have good tacos, I like the grilled steak options as the butcher stocks some quality carne asada for backyard barbecues and such. At some point between my last two visits they put a cheeseburger de la casa on the menu. It starts with a 6/1 ground in house beef patty dressed with grilled jalapeno + onions, chipotle mayo and melted Chihuahua cheese and its very fairly priced at $10 with fries. 

Cheeseburger de la Casa at Carniceria Maribel
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Querrepario (Archer Heights)

Comida de Guerrero is popping up all over the Chicagoland area. I don’t have exact numbers but there’s clearly a large number of Mexicans in Chicago with connections to the Southwestern Mexico State based on all of the Guerrerense restaurants that have opened over the last handful of years. Most of these spots are on the city’s Northwest side. But Querrepario Mexican Kitchen is on 47th street in the heart of Archer Heights. It had been on my radar for a bit before I finally got the chance to check it out last April and it was worth the wait so to say. Pictured below is the ‘Querrepario Platter’ which comes with an array of antojitos including one picadita, two chicken chalupas, two tacos dorados con pollo (with green sauce) and I switched out the quesabirria for a Taco Torreado - a cheese stuffed pepper with cecina and guacamole on a made to order corn tortilla. Each of these regional snacks was as good as the last and I feel like this place would've been a hit with the old LTHforum crowd and others like previously mentioned former Tribune food writer Nick Kindlesberger so maybe this is the place Fooditor's Michael Gebert is looking for. Or maybe these type of finds are dwindling due to constant change.

Querrepario Platter at Querrepario 
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Previous Posts from this Series 

Especialidad de la Casa Part 1

Especialidad de la Casa Part 2

Especialidad de la Casa Part 3

Especialidad de la Casa Part 4

Especialidad de la Casa Part 5 

Especialidad de la Casa Part 6 

Especialidad de la Casa Part 7 

Especialidad de la Casa Part 8
Especialidad de la Casa Part 9
Especialidad de la Casa Part 10
Especialidad de la Casa Part 11

See ya next time @chibbqking
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Mariscos San Pedro

-Grubbing in Chicago
Fiesta de Mariscos en Pilsen

There’s always Mexican restaurants opening in Chicago though so many of them are basically the same thing. But of late there’s been a handful of interesting and out of the ordinary openings. Mariscos San Pedro inside Pilsen’s Thalia Hall is the latest. The live music venue at the corner of 18th and Allport has teamed up with the Poilevey brothers of Le Bouchon, La Chingon and Obelix.

Recently Opened in Pilsen 

Mariscos San Pedro replaced Dusek’s in July and immediately started garnering buzz. Michael Nagrant of ‘The Hunger’ Substack called it “The Restaurant of Summer” which is fitting with its colorful space mixed with lots of light, friendly hospitality, and a chef driven menu of mariscos more commonly found in LA. I’ve always said Mexican food in Chicago is awesome but it doesn’t quite match LA due to a lack of seafood forward spots like Mariscos San Pedro. Slowly but surely we’re starting to see some Baja quality places so to say. We visited San Pedro a couple weeks ago on a warm and sunny early evening. We took a seat on the patio despite there being plenty of seating at the bar with lots of empty tables inside though they were all filled by the time we left (reservations are always suggested).

a peek inside 

The menu at San Pedro is flooded with seafood or mariscos as pronounced in Spanish. The menu is broken down into platters, ceviche (and aguachile), tostadas, tacos, hot seafood, whole fish and “Masa y Mas” which is everything from quesadillas to a plate of Nopales. Me being me I had to start with a couple of the seafood tacos including the classic Baja Fish taco and also a newfangled Taco Gobernador as they call them here. The fish taco was on point with a nice chunk of perfectly fried cod topped with aioli and slaw resting atop a made on site corn tortilla. The Gobernador was just as good although technically it’s more of a taco de costra con camaron or a cheese crust taco with shrimp. Gobernador tacos are typically like quesadillas as they melt a bunch of cheese mixed with shrimp and peppers but here they mix shrimp into a cheese crust and roll it all up as seen in the picture below.

Taco Gobernador at Mariscos Don Pedro 

Did you know the Caesar Salad was born in Baja Mexico? Caesar Cardini - a French - inspired Italian chef who immigrated to America before moving to Tijuana Mexico to escape prohibition is the man credited with its creation. Chefs in Baja and beyond have been cheffing up this classic salad alot of late. The kitchen at San Pedro starts out with little gem lettuce, boquerones, and Cotija cheese according to the menu. I also detected some crushed up tortilla chips with sweet corn and matchsticks of radish and it all blended together really well. This is a very good choice to start your meal with.

Ceasar Salad at Mariscos San Pedro 

The “Hot Seafood” section has four really interesting options including a wood fired shrimp dish that we ended up choosing over the mussels and frites, an Octopus Sonoran Hot Dog and the Scallops with corn and nduja. You get four large head on shrimps with each plate of the wood grilled shrimp. The shrimp itself was a bit limper than I like but this is pretty much always the case in Chicago and other land locked sections of the country. Though the aguacate salsa with chunks of pineapple sitting on the side was so good it made up for the limp texture and a lack of smoke flavor in the shrimp.

Wood Grilled Shrimp at Mariscos San Pedro 

All three of the whole fish selections sounded good but the pricing on whole fish has gotten out of control in my opinion. We ended up choosing the Dorade bc it was the most reasonable but it’s likely that I come back for the whole fried snapper which I noticed is broken down into individual fried chunks like some spots in Mexico do. I prefer it that way as it’s easier to eat and it's texturally better too. The dorade is wood grilled and served the same way as the fish at Mexico City’s Contramar Restaurant or Christmas style as it’s called out in New Mexico due to the red and green coloring from the sauces used to marinate each side of the butterflied fish. It comes with four thick made on site corn tortillas but you have to add rice and beans if you want those too. I really liked the salsa options included but thought the rice had a weird Uncle Ben’s texture to it. All in all it was a great summertime meal as there’s something about warm weather that makes me crave seafood and Mariscos San Pedro is already one of the city’s best seafood restaurants. Check it out while the weather is ripe.

Grilled Dorade 

Mariscos San Pedro
1227 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 508-4700
Website

New Tacos Around Town

- On the road with the 'Chicago Taco Tour'

While there will never be a full stoppage of taco spots opening around town it's been slower than normal around Chicagoland of late. Don't get me wrong there's plenty of taco focused spots still opening but there's not many that warrant an immediate visit. So many places just seem to be trying to cash in on the taco craze of the last decade without really giving any thought to how they can stand out in a field that's as crowded as they come. So with that we get alot of average, repetitive feeling places. But some stand out more so than others and when they do I make it a point of stopping by. Today we visit six taco heavy spots that have opened up in the last year and a half or so. Let's roll. 

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Tlahco Mexican Express & Grill (Lincoln Park)

Aside from the fact this new spot on Halsted sits in the old Taco Burrito Palace #2 space it also caught my eye with it's colorful tortillas. I stopped in to try a couple tacos recently and wasn't expecting much which made my delicious lunch a bit of a surprise. You get the feeling that Tlahco is playing to it's neighbors with it's fresher focus on tacos, tortas, and burritos. The tacos come served on fresh pressed to order tortillas and you can choose which color you want (although they didn't ask me so I got pink). These are massive two hand tacos that were actually pretty good. The steak (pictured) came with pickled onions and sliced peppers along side lettuce, cilantro, and onion. The steak was cooked on a flattop so it didn't have that crucial char flavor but it was a higher quality than most other taco spots. The barbacoa was even better and I wouldn't hesitate to go back if I'm near there. 

Steak Taco at Tlahco Mexican Grill 
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Taquizo (Wicker Park)

Taquizo has been open since it rebranded from Las Palmas in 2020. I listed their specialty quesatacos as some of the best of the year over on twitter and I figured it would be good to include them in this post since I never got around to sharing them over here. The quesataco is a regional style popular all over Mexico but especially in Mexico City. Cheese is cooked until crisp on a hot flattop and the fillings are wrapped inside of it. I feel like steak without a doubt works best when eating a quesataco but don't sleep on the suadero from Taquizo. They describe theirs as "confit beef brisket (in pork fat), morita adobo, cilantro-spanish onion jardin, rolled in crispy melted cheese, hand made tortilla". There's another neighborhood spot on Damen that's way more popular but I've never had a taco from there as good as the Quesataco con suadero from here. Add guac to take it over the top. 

Quesataco at Taquizo
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Tacos Loteria (Logan Square) 

When Tacos Garcia closed it marked the end of a 20 year run for the Logan Square restaurant that was popular with local Mexican families. It didn't feel right for the nephew of the namesake so he decided to carry on his uncles legacy in the form of Tacos Loteria. The name change came with an upgrade to the space geared more towards the neighborhoods younger residents. Tacos, Burritos, Tostadas, and Tortas are the focal points of the menu with the tacos coming on terriffic corn tortillas made on site. There's not a ton of great shrimp tacos in town so when a good one like those from Loteria comes around it's immediately a contender for best shrimp taco in town. Loteria serves a non fried offering consisting of seared shrimp that's marinated in a habanero sauce and dressed with green mayo, cabbage, and crispy pickled carrots and cauliflower. An underrated neighborhood spot. 

Camaron Taco at Tacos Loteria 
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Sabor De Mi Tierra (Stone Park)

Gas, Gambling, and Guerrero style tacos can all be found under one roof out by O’Hare. Sabor De Mi Tierra is a family owned spot with roots in Guerrero. They boast a full menu with specialties like chamorro (braised red chile beef shank) and cecina estilo Guerrero. Tortillas are made on site and in the case of the cecina taco they're spread with refried beans and topped with homemade cecina, pico de gallo, chiles toreados. I also tried a quesabirria bc we just can’t seem to put an end to the trend.

Tacos at Sabor Di Mi Tierra 
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Viva La Frida (Berwyn)

I visited Viva La Frida shortly after it's opening last summer on Ogden in Berwyn. The mural might catch your eye if driving by, or if it's a nice weekend you may notice a live band playing in the large outdoor dining area. Clearly they're going for the Berwyn day / night out drinking and eating crowd. I stopped bc the taco menu had some interesting choices including tacos acorazados. "Battleship" tacos are a regional specialty of Cuernavaca that aren't too common in Chicagoland but there are a few spots that serve them and Viva La Frida is the latest one I've found. Typically they're dressed with rice and you choose your filling which can be a variety of things including steak and or hard boiled eggs. A mixture of sauteed peppers and onions are also usually part of the toppings used. I love them and Viva La Frida makes a pretty good one but my visit was over a year ago. They do decent specialty taco with a piece of thinly sliced ribeye, frijoles, and avo-salsa. The drinks looked sweet. 

Tacos at Viva La Frida 
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Rubi's on 18th (Pilsen)

Last but certainly not least is the Maxwell Street Market legend that is Rubi's. When the market closed for covid they had to reshuffle their entire operation and were popping up at another restaurant in Pilsen for a while before announcing their first brick and mortar location on Pilsen's 18th street. It's an incredible success story for this hard working family that has taken the business their grandmother first founded to new found heights. I visited on opening day (yesterday) and got one of their popular al pastor tacos and a huitlacoche too, the latter on a made to order blue corn tortilla. To me Rubi's stands out for both their tortillas and also anything that's braised (lengua, chicharron, and even better the campechano with both of them). It's great they'll now be available more than just on Sunday's.

Taco al Pastor from Rubi's on 18th Street 
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See ya next time @chibbqking