Wurst Kitchen

- The Midwest: Butchers + Bakers + Sausage and Cheese Makers

Tucked away in a residential neighborhood out in Aurora is one of the states oldest butchers. Wurst Kitchen has been at it since 1885. Just last year they celebrated their 118th anniversary. They started out serving a predominantly German community becoming well known for high quality fresh meats and especially for their homemade German sausages.

Aurora, IL

During the course of the year Wurst Kitchen makes over 80 different varieties of encased meats.  Customers have been known to drive hundreds of miles out of their way to buy sausage. I've been known to take the drive from Chicago as these are some of the best brats you'll find anywhere.

As we enter

They've been making these coveted brats since they opened up shop back in 1895 when Aurora was predominately German. From their original recipe brats down to the German potato salad they make a great amount of stuff for a small shop on a quiet neighborhood corner. The people behind the counter are extra friendly, always making sure you get what you need.

Some of the goods in the display case

Fresh and Grilled Bratwurst 

Your options are a wide range of encased meats, not just brats. My buddy the Grub Seeker swears by the uber garlic brats, others love the spicy "Kicker" ones and while those will both be in my future I think their original recipe brats are right on par with Ream's. A taste off might be in order but both happen to be sitting in the same elite seats so who cares. I always pick up a couple packs of their just made English Bangers and they are great. I'll stock the freezer with those and plenty of other treats for winter party time. This recipe HERE is one of my go-to's on a cold winter night. Excellent!

Wurst Kitchen English Bangers and Mash with Onion Gravy at Home

Wurst Kitchen
638 2nd Ave
Aurora, IL 60505
(630) 898-9242
Website 

Dave's Red Hots

-In Chicago: Every Dog Has it's Day

Dave's Red Hots on the Westside is one of a few remaining businesses from a different era. The neighborhood underwent a shift in the 50's as residents made the move out to the suburbs. I'd never heard of this place until I was driving by and realized it was in fact still open after thinking it was permanently closed upon first glance. As I always do, I decided to check out google and see what was up with this mysterious to me hot dog stand. It didn't take long to see that of course Mike Sula from The Reader has been there, and as it turned out this hot dog was a childhood favorite of another friend from the food chain's father. As always Mike is all over this, you can read it HERE.

Longtime Locals Favorite in Lawndale

I will try each and every Chicagoland hot dog stand before this is all over so I knew I was coming in no matter what, I just wanted to see what I was going to be eating and admittedly I didn't think it was going to be great until I read the Reader article. Stands like these in this neighborhood tend to cater to portion size and thus will use the cheapest ingredients available to make the most money while satisfying the customer.

as we enter

However they haven't changed a thing at Dave's. The wieners are still Vienna Beef natural casing and the fries are still cut fresh. The dog includes the typical minimalist toppings of mustard, relish, onion and sport peppers as well as thinly sliced kosher pickles. This is the style I grew up on (minus the pickles, RIP Demon Dogs) and this is the style that reminds me of my youth, which was great, thus so was the hot dog. Never change Dave's.

Hot Dog everything from Dave's Red Hots

Dave's Red Hots
3422 W Roosevelt Rd
Chicago, IL 60624
(773) 722-9935

Leadbelly

-Got beef?
The Burgers of Chi

I've been on a little bit of a burger kick of late, find myself craving one near daily. So when I went into Leadbelly for lunch the other day I realized that I never posted about them over here and that wasn't planned. I really enjoyed my first visit and had they been a little bit closer to where I live I'd of been back a long time ago. So without further ado, Leadbelly is up.

Popular Burger Bar in Portage Park

Leadbelly burst onto the burger scene close to two year ago. In the small time-frame they've been open a second location on Milwaukee in Gladstone Park has also opened. I call this place the Anti-Kuma's because while it may be the same style, the music and service/hype is not. Leadbelly pays homage to the legendary blues and folk musician Huddie William "Lead Belly" Ledbetter. They have TV's with old rock playing, no crazy metal and service comes with a smile. Because of their small space and sudden popularity you might end up waiting for a place to eat but never is it out the door like Kuma's can become. On top of all this, the burgers here are better.

a peak inside 

Before we get to the patties I should also point out that they have quite an impressive selection of beer that's served here. Also impressive is their ketchup and mustard condiments section. Leadbelly makes a "gourmet" type burger. Beef is ground fresh and in it goes some smoked pork belly. I'm usually not a fan of places mixing beef and pork together in a burger blend but theirs works. I'm more of a simpleton when it comes to my burgers, I prefer the griddled variety but now and then find myself with the taste for a large hunk of beef and Leadbelly is one of my go-to spots for this style. While they do have some crazy concoctions as far as toppings go, I prefer the namesake burger made with lettuce, tomato, red onion, homemade spicy sriracha pickles and your choice of american, cheddar, jalepeno jack, swiss, goat or bleu cheese.

Leadbelly Burger with perfectly cooked Fresh Cut Fries 

I love this one for it's simplicity. As you can see this is the same style of backyard burger many of us grew up on. But they take it to another level with both the wonderful blend of house ground meat and also a top notch bakery bun. While they don't ask how you want your burger cooked I found my medium made patty to be perfectly juicy. Leadbelly, I'm a fan.

The insides

Leadbelly
5691 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60646
(773) 775-6650
Website

Gringo Tacos of Iowa

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- The Interesting Tacos of Iowa

The state of Iowa has some mighty fine tenderloin sandwiches and then there's also the loose meats and gringo tacos. Wait what? Yep. Iowa has quite a few unusual or one could say different types of tacos. While taking a trip to Kansas City last July I finally got try one I always wanted to when we rolled thru Des Moines. There's actually quite an up and coming food scene there, and from the looks of this post on LTH some great taco "trucks" but I'd always wanted to try this unique town favorite that goes back to over fifty years ago when Mexican food was becoming a thing in the United States.
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Tasty Tacos

Locals Cult Favorite in Des Moines

Regular readers know I love to try the old school "American-Mexican" places as I call them. There's both history and unique to the house recipes that these places push. Tasty Tacos is a local chain but they're no different from what I just described. The namesake tacos are what they're known for. Made with flour these weren't quite San Antonio style puffy tacos but more like a cross breed of both them and an Indian frybread taco from what I could taste. The ground beef was pretty bland but the 1970's salsa took it up a notch. I'm not jonesing to go back but have a feeling I would if stopping thru. Maybe I'll catch baseballs next big thing this upcoming May before he's playing at Clark and Addison the rest of the way. Though I might of missed my shot.

Tasty Taco

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Rudy's Tacos

Regional Fast Food Chain popular in the Quad Cities Region

Over 40 years ago Rudy's Tacos started out in a tiny location in the Village of East Davenport, it seated 15-20 people. Since the late 70’s Rudy’s has grown into a regional chain that includes 11 other locations in both Iowa and Illinois. Banking off the Taco Bell popularity these are actually much better than than Glen Bell's product. No they're not anything worth driving more than 4 miles for but they use a well seasoned beef and at least at the location I visited, they fried the shells fresh.

Rudy's Hard Shell Tacos

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Obie's West

Obie's West in Maquoketa, Iowa - "Home of the famous taco"

This is definitely a new one for me, and an appropriate post for Halloween. Obie's West is a popular stop with locals from around it's way and also bikers riding around the Great River Road. Located about 30 minutes South of Dubuque I cant remember exactly how I'd read about this place but smart money says it was thru googling 'fried tacos' and 'Iowa' together.

a peak inside

We got there around opening so no bikers and or drinkers yet but after we sat a few people came in for lunch. The fried taco was why we were there and we each ordered one with ground beef inside.

Menu - "We have made "our" version of Mexican food since 1982"

Your version of Mexican food is the weirdest I've ate to date. While it doesn't mean the food will be good or bad but there wasn't a sign of a Hispanic person in sight, the employees looked like Roseanne Connor's sisters and thats it. I've ate alot of fried tacos but never anything like this.

The Famous "Taco"

What you're seeing is what I perceived to be some sort of pita/pizza dough combination that takes a quick trip into the deep fryer before getting stuffed with beef that can best be described as well spiced loose meat. On top of that goes the holy trinity of gringo trailer parks nationwide, of course it wouldn't be complete without a side of sour cream. This didn't taste like a taco. It had the flavor profile of some pita sandwich bought at 3am from a mysterious cart on a random European city street. Except it wasn't the meat that was the mystery, what the hell was up with the pita/tortilla that had the consistency of play-dough I'll never know. I'll also never have a valid idea as to how people eat these, not just the fact they're so damn scary but also because they're the equivalent of a medium supreme pizza, a heart attack waiting to happen. That said, I heard one girl order three and she didn't look like the type to share. If there is a next time it'll be when I find myself at the bar with the clock nearing Midnight and the bottle of moonshine in front of me nearing on empty. Despite all this, I'm glad we stopped in, never had anything like it and I try and experience most everything at least once.

I lived to tell it all

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Tasty Tacos
1418 E Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50316
(515) 266-4242

Rudy's Tacos
Multiple Locations

Obie's West
3610 173rd Ave
Maquoketa, IA 52060
(563) 652-9074

Mezquite Pollo Express

-Eating like a Mayan King in the Windy City

I've been waiting to post today's stop for a while now. I came across it while driving down 55th street last Spring and decided to stop in. Mexican grilled chicken stops aren't uncommon on the city's southside but not many of them are using charcoal like they do here. Mezquite Pollo Express is the second restaurant from the family behind Pollo Express in Pilsen.

a new S'C'&C favorite in Gage Park

The addition of Mezquite to the name is what caught my eye when riding by. After stepping inside and walking up the counter, it was the charcoal rig used to place burning mesquite onto that kept my attention. The man behind the counter was using a shovel to scoop red hot burning coals from one space and then layering them out into the extra large grill on wheels. It was a glorious day to be a food explorer. There's lots of spots that "grill" food in Chicago. I have to use quotation marks because most all of them use gas burning grills. They can still be effective for what's being sought but they will never replace the taste achieved when using real charcoal.

Grilling the chickens over charcoal

On my first visit I got a couple tacos, the meat for the chicken tacos comes from the charcoal grilled birds so they're actually pretty good as are the steak which had an extra black pepper kick to it. While not cooked to order they did cook it over the charcoal when it was made, if only they didn't let it sit and steam. Maybe on weekends they get a rush and cook and chop to order. Either way, this is a chicken movement I'll happily ride behind. Also of note is that all these Mexican chicken spots do a free half chicken deal with the purchase of a full chicken a few days a week. They make for one of the best bang for buck meals in Chicago.

Chicken and Steak Tacos

I haven't even had the chance to try their grilled chicken as a meal yet because for most of us that have been here the star of the show comes from a cow. The Charcoal Grilled Arrachera is one of my favorite plates of food in Chicago. As winter creeps up on us, I'll be creeping towards here. The plate comes with a beautifully marbled piece of steak which gets cooked on it's own personal grill, over live coals. As it cooks the grillman takes a fresh avacado, opens it up and then proceeds to make as fresh a batch of guacamole as you can encounter. Wait it gets better, accompanying your slab of juicy cooked to perfect medium rare beef you get creamy refried beans, perfectly plump rice and also a banana pepper stuffed with cheese and a couple charred knob onions to boot. We're still not done because on another plate you'll get some fresh pressed tortillas and also a beautiful dark red house salsa which as expected is made from charcoal roasted peppers.

Charcoal Grilled Arrachera (Marinated Skirt Steak) Plate

I forget the exact price but I can promise you it's a bargain. If you do like I did and make yourself some steak tacos using a little bit of each ingredient you can make it last for two meals. However that's not going to be easy. One of the simpler yet more satisfying plates of food I've ate all year. The true definition of a mom and pop roadfood stop. You can check out this cool little piece by Mike G. at Sky Full of Bacon from the old Chicago outpost of Serious Eats for more.

Self-Made Taco with beans spread onto the tortilla and topped with rice, steak and guacamole

Mezquite Pollo Express
2809 W 55th St
Chicago, IL 60632
(773) 424-8100

St. Charles Taco Tour

- On the Road w/ The Chicago Taco Tour

We've featured quite a few legit Mexican eating options from the Fox River Valley Region already. From the 'Tacos of Aurora' Part One and Two to the uber popular Bien Trucha in Geneva. Today we have a third entry into this region which has quite the selection of Mexican restaurants. St. Charles is a town more known for beautiful mansions along the river and being one of Chicagoland's most prestigious suburbs than for good Mexican food, but a little bit of time spent there and you'll find out they have a handful of wonderful options, both "authentic" and also "modern."

Main Street

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The Jalapeno Grille

First stop up is the locally loved Jalapeno Grille, generic name aside this place is pretty damn solid. I'd be very happy to have it as my neighborhood taqueria. It's a cute little spot where takeout and sitdown orders are about half and half. The outside of the building boasts some really nice artwork and the inside is nice and clean. One of the more popular taco options is the fish taco. I'm not a big fan of the chopped up variety but by adding a fresh pico de gallo on top, it really makes this one stand out. The ribeye taco comes with an extra tender piece of meat on a well griddled tortilla. The addition of sauteed slivers of onion take it up to "I'd order that again level." Also of note is one of the better burritos I've come across. Nice little stop.

Fish Taco

Rib-Eye Steak Taco

Tacho Burrito - Large flour tortilla stuffed with the chefs specially prepared steak that has been sautéed with onions & jalapenos, plus beans, sour cream, cheese & cilantro

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Poblano Pepper Grill

Another generic named place that's better than the name suggests. This is a stripmall spot run by a husband and wife team who were very welcoming as we sat at the bar ready to order the margaritas they get lots of love for. The drinks were pretty good, as good as cheap liquor can be and the cochinita pibil taco was also satisfying. My notes from the Tour - "The cochinita pibil taco came praised and I could see why. They make a really nice batch with medium to medium-hot heat. I liked the smear of refried black beans they add onto the tortilla. The fresh cucumber margarita was on point as well, just make sure to pay the $2 upgrade to avoid the standard Barcode brand tequila used"

Cochinita Pibil Taco

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Salsa Verde 

I chose to stop in here and check them out when I decided to put this post together, it's been a year in the making. these were my notes - "While I didn't think anything here blew me away its the type of place I wouldn't mind having in my neighborhood. The menu is pretty extensive and there were some tempting items on it. For example I tried their enchilada combo plate which featured four different enchiladas. It was a pretty plate of food and tasted pretty damn good too. I happened to visit on a Tuesday which is when they offer $1 tacos, your choice of shredded beef or chicken. I went with one of each and proceeded over to their salsa bar where they supply a couple hands worth of fresh made salsas as well as pickled onions and such. The tacos weren't bad but they weren't life changing. I actually preferred the juicier chicken than the dryer beef. I'd probably make them my cheap Tuesday snack if I lived near but I don't so not sure when I'll be back, got too many other spots to try."

Desabrada y Tinga Tacos

sea of salsa

Colorful Enchilada Plate

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El Puente

This restaurant located in the heart of downtown Main street is a popular stop with locals for both business lunches and also family dinners. It's been this way for over ten years. They have a full bar menu and offer specially priced plates for lunch. I'd wanted to try them for a while now after reading that they serve the popular in the area Longy Tacos which I've featured before. Local to the Western Suburbs they're made with a beef/bean mixture and then fried in a pan. These were a good example but I wouldn't order chicken in a Longy taco again, it's all about the creamy beef/bean combo. One of the great unknowns from out this way. 

Beef Longy Tacos

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Puebla Modern Mexican

a peak inside

Ever since Bien Trucha's opening a handful of places like this have spawned out from it. Just to give you an idea of Bien Trucha's popularity, it's one of the common mentions on Yelp when looking thru reviews of this place. Because of its small cozy space, there's room for more modern Mexican in these parts. The décor inside strives for a contemporary, urban feel and includes hand-painted Mexican tiles and elegant woodwork and counter tops with a menu that reflects it. One of our favorite things to eat at Bien Trucha is their amazing chicken flautas, I've never had better. These weren't quite on par but still hot the spot we were looking to itch.

Chicken Flautas

What caught my eye here were the the taco options, much in the same style of Bien Trucha. They come four to a plate and will set you back around $11 per. The two that got my attention were the less seen taco arabes option as well as the steak which many were saying was the best example of a steak taco they ever ate.

Tacos Arabes

The arabes were a complete miss. Chewy pork with an unpleasant sauce, the one little sprig of cilantro for fanciness sake wasnt going to save these tacos served on cold flour tortillas. The steak was much better but the tortillas they were served on were not. This stop was made months ago but I seem to remember something that made me realize these just sat at the counter for a good five minutes before the waiter brought them over. Unfortunately the fact they were cold killed what could of been a really nice steak taco option. 

Grilled Skirt Steak, Caramelized Onions, Avacado Salsa, Cilantro, Chihuahua Cheese

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Lupita's Cocina

This place at the other end of town has been on my radar for sometime. I finally made it there recently and loved my visit. Yet another modern Mexican stop slanging some legit cocktails and plates of tacos, they have many similarities to Bien Trucha but also their own identities. In the style of Bien Trucha they bring you out an excellent black bean dip with chips to start.

Complimentary Black Bean Dip

The steak tacos are what put this place on my list. They cook over wood and just like the last stop, the comparisons to Bien Trucha are inevitable. That said, the steak tacos at Bien Trucha aren't anywhere near as good, and I like them. But these are on another level. The kiss of smoke from the wood goes perfect with whatever marinade they use to cook the steak to medium rare before an excellent chopping job ensues. While they may be two bite tacos, they're worth all eight bites as the grilled red onions paired with the salsa works wonders on top of some the most tender steak I've ever ate. Cant wait to go back for these. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Outer Skirt Steak w/ Caramelized Red Onion, Queso Fresco, Cilantro, Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

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The Jalapeno Grille
602 Geneva Rd
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 587-1918

Poblano Pepper Grill
3677 E Main St
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 587-0304

Salsa Verde
1850 Lincoln Hwy
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 444-0673

El Puente
112 E Main St
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 377-8884

Puebla Modern Mexican
51 S 1st St
St Charles, IL 60174
(630) 945-3408

Lupita's Cocina
40W222 Lafox Rd
St Charles, IL 60175
(630) 377-0706