Coming for a Week -- Mexican, Indian, Thai, Other?

Coming to Chicago for a week. First priority is regional Mexican and Maxwell St. Market. Second priority is probably regional Thai and Indian. However, any other non-Americanized Latin American or non-Japanese Asian would be good to know, too. I will most likely be staying near the loop and taking public transit.

I'd recommend these restaurants, both with the same owner, as truly unique Mexican that you would not find in other places. Chilpancingo is the more upscale of the two, and closer to the loop; both have great moles.

Chilpancingo
358 W Ontario St
312-266-9525
http://www.chilpancingorestaurant.com

Ixcapulzalco
2919 N Milwaukee Ave
773-486-7340

extramsg wrote:Coming to Chicago for a week. First priority is regional Mexican and Maxwell St. Market... I will most likely be staying near the loop and taking public transit.

There's a free shuttle on the weekends that runs from 10 to 6 on Saturdays and Sundays, leaving from Roosevelt and Wabash (just a few blocks south of the hostel) that goes to Chinatown and the Mexican neighbourhood of Pilsen. There are many good destinations in Chinatown, including the place that ultimately gave its name to this site, the 'Little' Three Happiness restaurant (there's a bigger place also called Three Happiness across the street), but I think you may have already gotten the dope on that place and some other good choices. A further possibility that I think hasn't been mentioned in the responses on the other (CH) site is the Yunanese restaurant Spring World, 2109a South China Place (the mall along Archer Ave., right by the 'L' stop). Others can write with addresses and further suggestions for Chinatown.

In Pilsen, a stroll down 18th Street would be worth while, including a visit to one or more of the nice cafés, perhaps some carnitas at Don Pedro's (near Racine) or further west, Carnitas Uruapan. Nuevo Leon (between Laflin and Ashland on 18th) is perhaps not the sort of thing your looking for, insofar as it's just a very (very) solid norteño kind of restaurant. A pleasant little joint for lunch or breakfast is Polo (northside of 18th, just east of Laflin, i.e., half a block from Nuevo Leon) -- also northern Mexican, with great, lardy hand-made tortillas. A nice café with Mexican food and drinks, including good pork tortas and tamales, is right next door to Nuevo Leon, Mi Cafetal. If you haven't been to Pilsen, you should go if you want to soak up some nice atmosphere in a real Chicago Mexican neighbourhood (of course, there are several other intensely Mexican neighbourhoods here too).

Another (regional) Mexican place that is popular with Aztecaphiles here is Taqueria Puebla, which is pretty far west on North Avenue (3625 North to be exact; I think you have to go by bus)... Do a search on CH and here* for reports from this past spring on that place for more details and even photos of some of the specialties. It's very good and has offerings not easily found elsewhere, including the swell tacos arabes.

The 'L' (Red Line) is convenient for Chinatown but public transport and cab service to Pilsen is trickier and less direct. The weekend shuttle for that neighbourhood is a good (and free) option.

Antonius

* Check out this report on this same board by MikeG: "Thai Homemade, Hai Woon Dae, Taqueria Puebla cemita."

Here is the old Rene G post on 26th street from Chowhound that would be good to have as part of the database here, too. Sure, it's over three years old, but it seems still worthwhile. Granted, I haven't checked it out recently, so someone please say if half these places are no longer there.

On a somewhat separate note...actually, I'm going to start a new topic over here.

If you want a break from eating, consider the Mexican Fine Arts Museum, which is a real gem. A little further west from Pilsen in an old and totally rehabbed park district fieldhouse, it is great.

Here is their web site: http://www.mfacmchicago.org/

Continuing west and a little north, the Garfield Park Conservatory is also a gem. Old and gradually being improved, it is a public conservatory with rotating exhibitions. It is a little further out, though not too bad to get to on the El. The neighborhoods are a bit tougher, though.

Sounds like the food recs are covered, so I will leave it at that.

Although I wouldn't wander randomly in the greater vicinity of Garfield Park (though the neighborhood is greatly improved of late), I would certainly have no qualms about taking the Green Line El there, since you exit right at its corner (stop is now called Conservatory-Central Park Drive, according to its directions). The conservatory is a very cool thing, recently rehabbed after being a crumbling wreck (which had its own romantic charms) for decades, and you can still see the dinosaur show (as well as a few remnants of the previous Chihuly exhibit).

http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/directions.htm

Mike G wrote:Although I wouldn't wander randomly in the greater vicinity of Garfield Park (though the neighborhood is greatly improved of late), I would certainly have no qualms about taking the Green Line El there, since you exit right at its corner (stop is now called Conservatory-Central Park Drive, according to its directions). The conservatory is a very cool thing, recently rehabbed after being a crumbling wreck (which had its own romantic charms) for decades, and you can still see the dinosaur show (as well as a few remnants of the previous Chihuly exhibit).

http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/directions.htm

One thing, if wandering around and hoping to eat at the delicious Edna's, wait. They are currently on vacation and will not be back until August 17.

I'm re-posting a few things I've done in the past on other forums on regional Mexican. Here's one on pozole:

Pozole (sometimes spelled posole) is a dish served through out Mexico, and there are regional versions. It is especially considered a dish of New Mexico-Mex. Yet, pozole is also a dish very much associated with the state of Guererro and even the city of Acupulco. As feijoda is associated with Saturday (and red beans and rice with Monday), everyone in Acupulco eats pozole on Thursday. Pozole is a soup-stew made from a special kind of corn kernal. The stock is flavored with an assortment of pork parts. Again, like feijoda, it is a dish where EVERYONE is eating the parts.

Traditionally, in Guerrero, the pozole is green, but Asi es Guerrero offers a Mexican flag of pozole, red and white as well as the green. The red gets its color from mashed chili's, but the green can be sneaky hot. The green by the way, comes from a slurry of tomatillo's, jalepeno's, pumpkin seeds and other herbs and spices. At the table, you garnish your pozole with tostada rounds, flats of chicharron, shakers of ground Mexican oregano and red pepper and various bottled hot sauces. Like pho, everyone's pozole tastes different.

They eat pozole weekly in Acupulco, but it is not a dish I seek to eat that often. I believe pozole is the world's most filling dish. I enjoy all the competing flavors and textures, just not that often.

VI

Asi Es Guerrero
4114 W. North Avenue
Chicago, IL
Tel: (773) 276-2099

Here's another post on a regional Mexican thing:

When you eat in places not Frontera Grill, you run across dishes beyond the Bayless-Kennedy codification of Mexican food. I first discovered carne en su jugo at Los 3 Gallos, a specialist of the food of Guadalajara, and it has become one of my favorite Mexican food items. The other day, I noodled around Amazon, and I found not a single signficant reference for this dish in the major Mexican cookbooks. Then, a Chowhound poster, Christina, who lives in Guadalaraja echoed my thoughts, saying: "How serendipitous: yesterday I lunched at Karne Garibaldi in Guadalajara, famous for its carne en su jugo. It's the ONLY dish the restaurant serves, and it is absolutely fantastic...yet I've never seen another foreigner in the place, unless they happen to be my guests." [Now, I know you can get carne en su jugo in LA, NYC, etc. My point is not that it exists only in Chicago, just that it is a dish hardly known, yet is a classic in the Mexican idiom.]

So, I keep on meaning to try this place I pass on Cicero, advertising prominatingly, carne en su jugo. We finally went a few weeks ago. The owner of this place, Patricio, has a certain amount of confidence, no, to name is first location, El Paso #1. He makes a great host. He was (justly) proud of his grilled steak taco's, and gave complimentary ones to us while we waited for our carne en su jugo. After stalling us with these teasers, he went to work.

I really, hardly know anything about carne en su jugo. I thought it was, like a soup, sitting around like all restaurant soups, waiting to be laddled out. No! It is a fresh made dish. Steaks are grilled, then chopped, placed in bowls with crumbled bacon, whole beans, and then, then, the juice, the soup gets poured over. El Paso's bowl was very rich, a fatty broth almost like a classic petite marmite. It was already garnished with radishes, onions cilantro and avocado, but one could add to their taste, flash fried dried chili peppers.

I do not know anything else on the menu here, but I really liked what I had. There are some weekend only specialites including that other non-Bayless dish, birria. If you are looking to expand your Mexican vocabulary beyond, try some carne en su jugo, and El Paso is a good as place as any to try it.

El Paso #1
2567 N. Cicero
Chicago, IL
773-394-7088

Here's a post on Mexican sammy's:

Mexican food includes a lot of sandwiches, but these sandwiches were a late entry on most Mexican menu's in the USA. Up until recently, how many people even knew about the sandwich as part of the repetoire? Now, we see torta's and other Mexian sandwiches all over the place. Here are some good choices for sandwiches, Mexican style in Chicago.

Taqueria/Restaurant La Oaxaquena - The warm, generous owners of this place serve only a dabbling of actual Oaxacan food, fearing the Chicago market will not go whole hog for grasshoppers and other things. Regardless of the regionality, their kitchen produces some tasty food, and some of the tastiest are a group of sandwiches shown on their menu as "Super Torta's". One of the best Chowhounds for finding things, ReneG, first brought these sandwiches to wide aclaim. They are truly super. Each torta, a sandwich on a soft, almost superfulous, squishy roll, contains a stack of ingredients. One favorite smashes grilled chicken breast, grilled cesina, guacamole, onions, tomatoes, and cheese into the bun. Another favorite uses cactus and roasted jalepeno to join the cesina. An odd version throws in a gnarly fried hot dog. They make 3 outstanding salsa's that are practically my excuse to order the torta's.

Taqueria Puebla - The most intrepid and dedicated of all Chowhounds, RST found this stand on the NW side of Chicago. Owned by a former sports reporter for a Spanish radio station, the inside is plastered with posters and photo's of Mexican sports stars. It specializes in the street food of Puebla state, and a key part of this street food is the cemita sandwich. The cemita is much distinguished from the torta by roll. Crustier, egg washed and seeded, it has a flavor element that the torta roll, bollilo, does not. Flavor also comes from a spray of Mexican herbs, authentically, the soapy papalo, but they use whatever they can find. Olive oil dresses the sandwich instead of mayo.

Dona Lois - A bit of Mexico City on the far north side of Chicago. Most people get the quesadilla's made from scratch and filled with exotica like squash blossoms, but those with iron stomachs try the pambaso. In Mexico, the pambaso may refer also to a kind of bread, but in Chicago, it mostly refers to the act of drowning any sandwich roll in a vat of bloody chili sauce. It is served with soft cooked potatoes. A great combo!

Tortas USA (a/k/a Dona Torta) - Not so much a specialist in a regional style, but a restaurant selling 30 or so kinds of torta's. Beside a range of interesting fillings, the use a better torta roll, let you grab at will from a bowl of pickled jalepeno's and carrots (take that Rick Bayless!), and toss a few so-so french fries on your plate. Good fried fish, good breaded meat (milanesa), good pork leg, good roasted chili salsa, all finish the allure.

Taqueria Oaxaquena (2 locations)
3382 N. Milwaukee/6113 W. Diversy
Chicago
773-545-8585/773-637-8709

Taqueria Puebla-Mexico
3625 W. North
(773) 772-8435

Quesadillas Dona Lolis
6924 N Clark St
773-761-5677

Tortas USA
3057 N. Ashland Ave.
773-871-8999

One last one, this is about my favorite carnitas place:

RST wondered the other day why Pilsen cannot buzz anew the way say Chinatown has grown in recent years (especially the finally vibrant Chinatown mall), or remain an ethnic hotbed the way Greektown or Taylor street have stayed active with resturants and shops even as the areas have diminished as residential areas. I cannot fully answer that, but I think the big difference is shear amount of Mexicans in Chicago, and also the continued influx of Mexicans into Chicago. Essentially, Pilsen just does not hold that point of entry designation the way that Maxwell street does for Jews or Bridgeport has for Irish.

Anyway, a long introduction to the discovery of a very good Michoacan carnitas place outside of Pilsen in the Logan Square area. I was driving on eastbound on Fullerton yesterday and noticed the large Carnitas El Paisa sign. It seemed new. So I stopped on the way back. It turns out that Carnitas El Paisa as an establishment is well established, but they recently moved to a new storefront with bigger sign.

I asked for a menu. Not much too it, and in fact later when I again asked is she had a menu to take home, she told me, "What do I need a menu for, I make carnitas, cochinitas, and barbacoa." In other words, is that so hard to remember Mr. VI? Well, there are a few other things on the menu including pozole and chicharron en salsa.

She explained to me that cochintas was a pork in a sauce similiar but not quite like mole. The pozole, available daily, could be had with a varity of meats including lips (it sounded better in spanish). I just got the house speciality carnitas. It sits in a big pan near the window but protected by, like, mosquito netting. This pork cooked in its fat is a bit like a southern pig roast, there are chunks from all parts of the animal, including some of the more chewier parts. You can get things fattier or lean, with or without bones--like Mexican rib tips! For fifty cents extra, I got a big cup of salsa. She also threw in a giant piece of chicharron on the house.

It is one of those salsas that hardly looks moving because it is a dull, thick red. Until, you realize the dominant ingredient is a dried chili pepper, rehydrated and pulverized with a little cilantro and onion. The seeds are there too for more power. The stuff was strong, but the Condiment Queen accidently ate a chunck of pepper and that was really strong. She swore there was a hole in her tounge. The meat and pork skin had enough pork fat flavor, but the salsa married so well too.

I look forward to eating in, perhaps trying some of the other Michoacan specialities. The woman running the show, as you can probably tell, was warm and wonderfull. We traded language tips and she showed me how to pronounce Fullerton in spanish. Still, carnitas travels well, the meat stayed warm for about an hour in its wrapping. The meat also went as well with some leftover Italian bread as it would have done with tortillas.

VI

Carnitas El Paisa
3529 W. Fullerton
Chicago, IL
773-278-2062

Thanks for all the posts and reposts. I guess I may be spending a lot of time on the bus trying to get to Pilsen and Taqueria Puebla. I have spent a couple hours in Pilsen. Went to Nuevo Leon, Bombon, Dulceria Morelia, and Taqueria Cardonas. I'm definitely interested in going to the museum. I wanted to on my last trip, but didn't have time. btw, check out this link for a summary of my trip with photos:

http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?nam ... cle&sid=18

extramsg wrote:Thanks for all the posts and reposts. I guess I may be spending a lot of time on the bus trying to get to Pilsen and Taqueria Puebla. I have spent a couple hours in Pilsen. Went to Nuevo Leon, Bombon, Dulceria Morelia, and Taqueria Cardonas. I'm definitely interested in going to the museum. I wanted to on my last trip, but didn't have time...

Dicksond was right about the museum; Amata and I are members and go pretty often, getting also a discount on stuff from the gift shop. There's some nice stuff there; there's no admission and thery're closed on Mondays. Since you've been to Nuevo Leon, it might be a good idea to do the museum and, before or after, have a lunch at Carnitas Uruapan, which is very close to the museum. The museum is on 19th between Damen and Wood and CU is on 18th, one block to the east (so only about two or three blocks away). Remember too the free shuttle on the weekend to Pilsen, which is very convenient if you're staying in the Loop.

Have a good visit and let us know what you did and how it was...

Antonius

I don't think I'll have time on the weekend. My goal is the Maxwell St Market on Sunday, then I'll be leaving in the early afternoon on the following Saturday (I get in late at night on Saturday, August 28th). Unfortunately. So I'll be travelling around on weekdays mostly.

If anyone's a bored college student or housewife or on vacation with nothing better to do on a weekday, you're welcome to come eat with me. Warning, though: read my blog. I can eat at 6 or more places in a day.