El Gallo Toño - best in the neighborhood

I'll try to post some pictures on a follow up visit, but wanted to take a moment to note that a very good taqueria has opened in southeast Albany Park. This place is an example of why one should not judge a book by its cover. It's usually a bad sign when taquerias prominently advertise menu items such as gyros, cheeseburgers, and tuna melts - but in this case, behind that facade is an extremely friendly husband (Tony) and wife (name unknown) team cooking authentic Mexican food from scratch. From the 6-stool counter, I watched them hand press homemade tortillas, griddle homemade huaraches, and roast, peel, and strain a wide variety of deeply flavored homemade chile sauces. For a ridiculous bargain price of $3.50, I had a humongous huarache spread with a thin layer of salsa verde and topped with satisfyingly crispy chicharrones, fresh cilantro and a few sweet roasted spring onions.

At least on this day, El Gallo Toño was quite the convivial place, and my counter neighbors, upon learning that I speak some Spanish and was really interested in the food, offered me samples of what they were eating. Guy on the right had huaraches with 3 separate parts of the head: tongue, brains, and cheek. He described how his wife (still living in Mexico) cooks the cheek: a slow, loving, overnight simmer with beer and spices. He said these were almost as good. Guy on left let me try his menudo, with strict instructions on how to eat it (never without a pinch oregano, or indigestion will ensue. With the oregano and a bit of chile de arbol, a cure for all that ails you). The menudo sure tasted authentic, and those of you that love tripe are sure to be fans of it, as it was funky and tasted as intense as the wafting tripey aroma would have had you guess. I may still be too much of a gringo to claim that tripe is my favorite food, but I sure was glad to have been given a taste (and let him have the rest of the huge bowl).

Friendly, inexpensive place with good food and good people. I'll certainly be back.

El Gallo Toño
2925 W. Irving Park Road
773-539-5364
no alcohol served, byo policy unknown (various aguas frescas and licuados available)
Menudo, pozole, and caldo de res on weekends only

Kennyz wrote:For a ridiculous bargain price of $3.50, I had a humongous huarache spread with a thin layer of salsa verde and topped with satisfyingly crispy chicharrones, fresh cilantro and a few sweet roasted spring onions.

Kenny,

Followed in your footsteps, or should I say sandal steps, and was happy I did. Opted for Huarache w/hongos, picadillo and salsa verde and really dug the mix of beef with freshly sauteed mushrooms. Huarache was tasty, bit of crisp with nice chew, if not quite up to the thicker, crisper, more complex huarache offered at Dona Chio.

Huarache w/hongos, picadillo and salsa verde



Friendly, inexpensive, spotless, comfortable, with counter seating, tables and pool table tucked back in the far corner. Fellow two seats down polished off a terrific looking pollo en salsa verde in no time flat, it will be a toss between that and tampiquena next time I stop at El Gallo Tono.

Thanks for the post Kenny, it's nice to have a new option on a stretch of Irving I often travel.

El Gallo Tono



Enjoy,
Gary

I thought this place had been here for a while? I drive by it pretty frequently.... or is it a former restaurant recently change names and ownership or something? Or am I just completely unobservant about what goes on in my own neighborhood?

By the way, it's in Irving Park, not Albany Park.

Drover wrote:I thought this place had been here for a while? I drive by it pretty frequently.... or is it a former restaurant recently change names and ownership or something? Or am I just completely unobservant about what goes on in my own neighborhood?

By the way, it's in Irving Park, not Albany Park.

It was a hot dog/burger stand for quite a while and shut down last year, I think. El Gallo Toño had a "coming soon" sign for a while and I think they opened a few months ago. And yes, that is not Albany Park, it is Irving Park.

Thanks for the report Kennyz. It's close to my home and I've had it on my list of "neighborhood joints to try".

Best,
Michael

Drover wrote:I thought this place had been here for a while? I drive by it pretty frequently.... or is it a former restaurant recently change names and ownership or something?

In it's last life it was The Char House.

And Manny's Dog House before that.

Gary,

I'm glad to hear it was a worthy stop - I really root for people like Tony and family to succeed. They seem to be off to a nice start. I'll definitely return to el Gallo Toño when I come back from my couple of week stint L.A. and Las Vegas, where I've already had some darn good Mexican and thai meals thanks to LTH. I'll post about those when I get a chance.

Kennyz

Stopped in last night and enjoyed the Huarache con hongos. The hand pressed tortilla was tasty, but the salsa verde was a bit tame, so I asked in bad spanglish for "mas picante" and got a very good housemade version of pickled jalepenos and carrots. The vinegar picked up all of the flavors well.

Tony was very welcoming and very happy that I enjoyed the food, as was the cook. Tony confirmed that "all mexican" specialties were made on site. I mentioned that I had read about his place "on the internet", and he couldn't have been any more shocked and pleased. I plan to bring in a printed copy of this page soon.

Thanks, LTH, for another great tip.

On a side note, can anyone let me know if there is a trick to eating a Huarache without making a huge mess? I figure if this group has mastered the Maxwell St bone-in pork chop sandwich, the Huarache should be chlids play.

It was a hot dog/burger stand for quite a while and shut down last year, I think.

My boys and I stopped in there once or twice maybe six months ago? It was leaning Mexican then, even with The Char House still on the signage. I'm not sure they actually shut down ever, I think a Mexican family took it over and cooked both American and Mexican dishes for a while before, it appears, making the transition to full-fledged Mexican restaurant.

Mike G, I can confirm that. I just pulled out an old Char Broil House menu from the same address. I had picked it up sometime during the winter months when I stopped there and ordered a club sandwich (tasty enough). What I do remember was the Univision on the TV, a very welcoming Mexican proprietor, and thinking that I should have ordered the tacos, the only mexican food on the menu at that time.

Many of the items from the American menu remain, including some unique ones like the "Volcano Chicken" sandwich (looks like a seasoned, grilled chicken breast on garlic bread).

My wife and I both had places to go last night so we decided to try El Gallo Tono for some quick take-out. We ordered pastor and asada tacos and an asada torta to split. Got a couple Mexican Cokes and were on our way. The torta was the winner, but all were pretty good.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place and everyone working was extremely nice. Totally missed the pool table.

The take-out menu states they are open until 12am Sun-Thur and 4am Fri and Sat which insures its spot on my late night dining roster.

We stopped in for lunch yesterday. There were hits and misses.

Hits:
Sweet waitress - doted on baby.
Guacamole - monstrous portion for $4.50 - lettuce mixed in was different. All around delicious and well seasoned.
Green Table Salsa - Addictive
Chicken Quesadilla - Ordered this for the 5 yo, ended up being the hit - Tortilla was hand made - filled with a delicious chicken stew and cheese.

Miss:
Huarache - also a mano, the pastor was too fatty (and i like fatty) and lacked flavor. Huarache was tough
Tacos de asade - Commercial tortillas were fresh. steak was chopped into teeny tiny chiclets of beef. Meh.
Gordita - Eh. Chorizo was not crisp.

All this with 2 mexican cokes - Good Value for $21.88 before tip.

We'll be back for quesadillas, guac and good service. (place was dead at noon on saturday, but full by 1:15)

no alcohol served, byo policy unknown

El Gallo Toño now has a big banner outside, advertising "BYOB". Cheap, fresh, delicious huaraches. A juke box. A pool table. And byo 12-pack of Bohemia. I think I know what I'm doing this weekend.

best huarache yet during a recent lunch at el Gallo Toño. Grill man really crisped it up this time, and the toasty crunch was a great foil for good chorizo, onions, cilantro, salsa verde and cheese:



washed down with a huge glass of ruby-red, fresh-squeezed and delicious beet juice to which I added plenty of squeezes of lime. After several return trips to the cooler to get more, the friendly juice-maker seemed to require a dozen big beets to fill up this glass:




The owners of el Gallo Toño are trying to improve their English, and I'm trying to improve my Spanish. Our good-natured chats are always a tennis-game like battle of language switches, with me continuously trying to steer the conversation back to Spanish. The food's plenty good enough at el Gallo Toño to make it worth a visit, but the place has a certain vibe and charm which draws me in even more.

NB: they seem to have run out of el Gallo Toño menus, and have put the old Charcoal Grill menus out instead. Those menus don't even list huaraches on them. Rest assured, they still make them, and many other authentic Mexican dishes not listed. Just ask for what you want.

Another note: there was one occasion when - for whatever reason - they used a fresh-tasting but clearly factory-made huarache. They still crisped it expertly and it was good, but not on par with the handmade stuff I've come to enjoy. If it matters a lot to you, ask whether the huarache is hecho a mano before you order it.

I am sad to report that my favorite local taqueria has a for rent sign in the window, and the furniture has been cleared out.

I have been thinking about their huaraches lately and wishing they weren't so far from my office. That's a shame.

Noticed a new sign up already - Chi Cha's (?)

JSM wrote: In it's last life it was The Char House.

Aaron Deacon wrote:And Manny's Dog House before that.

gls wrote:Noticed a new sign up already - Chi Cha's (?)

Well the Chi Cha's thing must not have lasted very long either. Now it's another LP outpost and has been for about a year or so.