Huaraches - not just for breakfast anymore!

With a bout of jetlag that actually had me up before dawn on a Sunday morning and the confidence gained from bumbling through a week and half in Spain without speaking spanish, I finally ventured down to Maxwell Street armed with Dave Hammonds guide.

I really wanted to try a huarache, and was not disappointed. Absolutely delicious - if a little over the top for 8 in the morning. As I was leaving the stall, I was handed a flyer for what I would assume is the new permanent shop for the Huarache stand (the menu was about the same). I would assume the hours are better than the hours at Maxwell Street.

Tenochtitlan Restaurant
1140 18th St.
312 829 2596
Typical tacqueria menu plus huaraches and caldos and cockteles de mariscos

Grand Opening was October 2, 2004

Anyone been there?

vegmojo

As a child spending summers in Mexico City at my grandfathers house, I used to get up at the crack of dawn with my aunts on Saturdays for the weekly excursion to the Merced market to buy the weekly provisions. My mom came from a family of 12 so as a kid, there were still tons of people living at home so this was the most economical way to shop. My sole purpose for getting up at this ungodly hour was to eat breakfast there and my favorite breakfast was the huaraches. Once breakfast was consumed, the real work had to begin and this was the part that I hated but my huarache was worth it.

The only place that has ever come close to those Merced huaraches in Chicago is the Ricos Huaraches stand at the Maxwell market.

As far as strange breakfasts, another favorite of mine was sushi at the Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Sushi at 7 am? The best I have ever eaten.

Hi,

Just last week, I found I was by myself for dinner. I had plenty of work and not too interested in eating pie for dinner, I snuck out for Huaraches with (pork) al pastor on it. I heard the kitchen yell back, apparently they recognized me, to double check if I wasn't having my usual: Quesadilla Huitelacoche (corn smut or Mexican truffle). Infrequently, I will have the Quesadilla Flor de Calabaza. Always, I have the Mexican Coke.

Until this place opened, my only source for any of these dishes was a Sunday morning walk through Maxwell Street.

In fact, for the last Mushroom Club meeting I brought six Quesadilla Huitelacoches to my meeting. For almost everyone there, it was their first taste of the corn smut, which always shows up on our specimen tables every summer. Though most of us get Mushroom The Journal, where there were several recipes in the summer edition for huitlacoche. Nobody had attempted any of the recipes. So for a moment, my food and mushroom activities intertwined.

"Los Mogotes" de Michoacan
2069 Greenbay Road
Highland Park, IL
Tel: 847/432-5667

"Los Mogotes" de Michoacan
4959 N. Kedzie Avenue
Chicago, IL
Tel: 773/463-5612