Had the Egg & Chorizo taco today at Hyde Park. The chorizo was very mild but worked perfectly with the eggs. Definitely will be back to try other breakfast offerings.

Quality in HP has been very consistent with original North Ave. and current West Loop locations (I think I've had better luck in West Loop than some others here, probably due to more visits). Bread and the thick charred flaky flour tortillas for the arabe have been peak-fresh. The coffee and breakfast items are a plus. I hope Cemitas roll right on where the prior tenant Packed it in.

Ate a Cemita Arabe from the Armitage location today that I was very unhappy with.

Roll: dry, stale.
Pork: not very warmed up, flavorless. No discernible onion. Cut into too-large chunks and had significant proportion of gristly, chewy bits. I have hated gristly meat since childhood. [And the gristly-ness was most notable because of the large chop of the meat.]
Cheese: glopped on top of sandwich & had no melty-ness since the meat hadn't been warmed enough.
Avocado: some pasty green stuff that looked like it came from Chipotle's supplier
Papalao: they had it today. Was fresh & green.

Portion size: big.

I used to really enjoy the sandwiches from the North Ave. location. I know how good this sandwich should have been.

You can't go home again [or eat the sandwiches of the past].

Giovanna

hi, i know you've had these cemitas before, and i can't defend the stale bread and your other complaints, but i will say the squiggly threads of cheese they use are not supposed to melt, and never have in all the years i've been eating here.

justjoan wrote:hi, i know you've had these cemitas before, and i can't defend the stale bread and your other complaints, but i will say the squiggly threads of cheese they use are not supposed to melt, and never have in all the years i've been eating here.

I think you're right about that. It is a stringy cheese and I don't remember it melting before.

I guess my love of melty cheese betrayed me there.

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:Ate a Cemita Arabe from the Armitage location today that I was very unhappy with.

Roll: dry, stale.
Pork: not very warmed up, flavorless. No discernible onion. Cut into too-large chunks and had significant proportion of gristly, chewy bits. I have hated gristly meat since childhood. [And the gristly-ness was most notable because of the large chop of the meat.]
Cheese: glopped on top of sandwich & had no melty-ness since the meat hadn't been warmed enough.
Avocado: some pasty green stuff that looked like it came from Chipotle's supplier
Papalao: they had it today. Was fresh & green.

Portion size: big.

I used to really enjoy the sandwiches from the North Ave. location. I know how good this sandwich should have been.

You can't go home again [or eat the sandwiches of the past].

Giovanna

I had the same experience with the same sandwich on Fulton last week. It was terrible.

I was a bit worried to stop into the Fulton location today given the reports above, but my Cemita Atomica and taco arabe were both pretty excellent as usual. Went for an early lunch around 11.15, shortly after opening, and both items reminded me of the same old sandwich of yore. Bread was pretty fresh, cheese stringy, meats overwhelming. The taco arabe is really one of the best small bites around, ounce for ounce. Just a data point--perhaps timing has something to do with it?

My most recent sandwich (Atomica) at the Armitage location was as excellent as ever. Salsas were great, too.

=R=

mtgl wrote:I was a bit worried to stop into the Fulton location today given the reports above, but my Cemita Atomica and taco arabe were both pretty excellent as usual. Went for an early lunch around 11.15, shortly after opening, and both items reminded me of the same old sandwich of yore. Bread was pretty fresh, cheese stringy, meats overwhelming. The taco arabe is really one of the best small bites around, ounce for ounce. Just a data point--perhaps timing has something to do with it?

I was in at an off hour (2 pm). I should have ordered the Milanese or something that had to be made to order. I ordered badly but, still, it was awful.

We have really enjoyed CP since it opened in Hyde Park. Hadn’t been to other locations, so we couldn’t compare. The room is very nice, bright, spacious. Staff isn’t super polished, but genuinely friendly, welcoming, and trying hard. And everything we tried was freshly made and very tasty. Excellent ingredients all around. I think that house-baked cemitas bun is a perfect sandwich vehicle. I also like the house salsas a lot.
This morning, unfortunately, things were off. Previously, coffee (pretty darn good) had been a self-service affair off to the side, which I really liked, since one didn’t have to wait for, or trouble, a waitress to get it fresh and hot exactly when you needed it. Today, the coffee station was gone. The server brought it. But it was served in a cardboard to-go cup, with a plastic lid. Further, cream and sugar were served in 2 little plastic to-go salsa cuplets. Further still, the table settings don’t include spoons. All small stuff. But the green/sustainability fan in me really hated to see that much waste for every cup of coffee served. Why not invest in some decent mugs and creamers to put on those nice blond tables instead of littering them with fast-food plastic? Second, those little takeaway ramekins to not pour well if you’re not just dumping the whole measure of cream in at once, so it was a bit messy. But mostly, if breakfast for two at a nice table in a nice room is running over $30 with tip, I’d really like some crockery.
Then there was timing. It was just after 11:00, ‘twixt breakfast and lunch and we were the only people in the place. And yet Mrs. B’s cemita did not come out until I was at least halfway through my chilaquiles. Surely, when you have a total of one deuce in the house, you can time 2 plates to come out somewhere close to together, if not actually together. When I asked, I got a blissfully, innocently bemused look, as if to say, “Of course the second plate is coming, why would you ask?”
Food was as tasty as ever, but the young crew really needs a grownup there to make the overall experience worth the price point.

This sandwich, one of my all-time favorites in Chicagoland, remains as great as it ever was . . .


Cemita Atomica, Logan Square location

=R=

Cemitas Puebla
3129 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 486-8080

The greatness of the Atomica is beyond question. I'm usually suspicious of the various equivalents of a "meat lover's" pizza or "garbage salad," this whole thing works together beautifully, effortlessly supported by the great roll.

Mexican Sandwich Icon Cemitas Puebla Closes in Logan Square

https://chicago.eater.com/2017/9/28/163 ... g-humboldt

I hope the whole enterprise is not in trouble. I wish them well.

mrbarolo wrote:I hope the whole enterprise is not in trouble. I wish them well.

Since the now-closed location was always intended to be temporary, I'll presume that everything is a-ok. That said, I really do hope they can find a suitable location in Humboldt or Logan. However, with the current boom Logan is experiencing, it seems like a pretty lousy time to be looking for an affordable space there.

=R=

I do wish someone would goose the service in Hyde Park just a bit. It's amiable, but even after opening hiccups seems to have plateaued a little below where this curmudgeon would like. Just a small uptick on basics like getting plates out together would make a lot of difference. Likewise double-checking takeout orders instead of leaving that to the customer. We take out at least once a week, and they have literally never remembered to include the ordered drink without being prompted, and sometimes I forget, requiring a tiresome, hungry walk back.

mrbarolo wrote:I do wish someone would goose the service in Hyde Park just a bit. It's amiable, but even after opening hiccups seems to have plateaued a little below where this curmudgeon would like. Just a small uptick on basics like getting plates out together would make a lot of difference. Likewise double-checking takeout orders instead of leaving that to the customer. We take out at least once a week, and they have literally never remembered to include the ordered drink without being prompted, and sometimes I forget, requiring a tiresome, hungry walk back.

I agree entirely, though this is really par for the course in Hyde Park in my long experience, isn't it in yours? (Exception: The Nile). At Yusho the service was actually laughable - I would have preferred telling the kitchen what I wanted and picking the plates up for myself. The servers were just a confounding game of telephone.

All this said: I think the kitchen is awesome at the Hyde Park Cemitas Puebla. I've had some of the freshest tortillas and rolls and crispiest / most balanced meats there, and they do coffee well too.

Totally true about Nile. They have it together. Likewise the HP Taco Station, who get everything right and are both efficient and friendly, to boot.
Never got to Yushu, but Mrs. B. did, and she had exactly the same service report as you.
And the Cemitas kitchen is great. I think their cemita roll is maybe the greatest sandwich platform ever created.

Mexican Sandwich Stalwart Cemitas Puebla to Shutter in Hyde Park

https://chicago.eater.com/2018/3/7/1708 ... ions-intel

What is going on with these guys? So many openings and closings and relocations the past couple of years. I'm going to miss that location, I think my kids liked going there more than they liked going to the museums.

Dave148 wrote:

Mexican Sandwich Stalwart Cemitas Puebla to Shutter in Hyde Park

https://chicago.eater.com/2018/3/7/1708 ... ions-intel

Dang! Just spotted that location a month ago and never had a chance to visit.

I have trouble keeping track, I believe their only location is Fulton Market Area?

Panther in the Den wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Mexican Sandwich Stalwart Cemitas Puebla to Shutter in Hyde Park

https://chicago.eater.com/2018/3/7/1708 ... ions-intel

Dang! Just spotted that location a month ago and never had a chance to visit. :(

I have trouble keeping track, I believe their only location is Fulton Market Area?

i'm afraid so. i live right near the original location and the second logan square location, and keep hoping they'll come back to the west side....

Damn, I really liked it and it was part of my regular local rotation. Have to say, they never seemed to be doing enough business to be healthy, but I had hoped it was just because I was there at odd times. I hate to think that only the national chains choking 53rd St. will survive, while the local efforts dwindle.

My family and I love this place so much, how in the world did it go from four locations to just one?

Poorly run operation once they expanded. Should've just kept the Humboldt Park spot and killed it. New locations were all overly slick, and they couldn't recoup the money they laid out...

MikeL wrote:Poorly run operation once they expanded. Should've just kept the Humboldt Park spot and killed it. New locations were all overly slick, and they couldn't recoup the money they laid out...

well there's one completely unconfirmed theory

MikeL wrote:Poorly run operation once they expanded. Should've just kept the Humboldt Park spot and killed it. New locations were all overly slick, and they couldn't recoup the money they laid out...

Clarence Beeks wrote:well there's one completely unconfirmed theory

Clarence, don't be a poop. He heard it from the postman, what more do want, a message written in papalo leaves?

MikeL wrote:Poorly run operation once they expanded. Should've just kept the Humboldt Park spot and killed it. New locations were all overly slick, and they couldn't recoup the money they laid out...

I assume you mean "killed it" in the making lots of money sense. They couldn't keep the original location due to landlord issues (if the owner is to be believed):

https://chicago.eater.com/2015/5/27/8673861/cemitas-pueblas-shutter-humboldt-park

Anecdotal stories from the past 3 or so years: went to the logan square temporary location late once, and they had run out of bread for the day. Mentally made a joke they should change their name to just "puebla" for the day.

More recently (within the year), went to the west loop location and they were in the middle of a weird menu reboot... neither atomica nor milanesa were on the menu, but thankfully they made it for us on request. Double thankfully, it appears these are back on the menu, so no idea what as going on there.

This place still makes me sad. When I first moved to Chicago 8 years ago, this was one of the first places I went to consistently and would always bring people from out of town there to experience Cemitas Puebla (original Humboldt park location). From my experience, once the father was no longer involved, and they moved the food was NEVER the same. I would still visit the Logan Square 'pop-up' location on occasion and it would still just be OK, but never reaching the greatness of the original location. I really don't know what happened or why they never just moved back to a humble no frills Humboldt Park location again. That place was always filled up with locals and families, the prices were spot on and service was great. Now if i'm ever going to the west loop for food, it's certainly not going to be for Cemitas.

Why not? That's one of my (relatively) regular destinations in the West Loop. For sure it's what my kids ask about the most, and I've never had anything other than the quality I expect from that location, either.