Another happy strip mall in Aurora

The world of the Naperville-area sandwich is looking up. There is Schmaltz, where I have been working my way through their entire menu, mostly hits, some misses, while they have been upgrading their corned beef and pastrami, and they have promised there will be some better bread any day now. That will be a separate report.

Then there is Tango, home of the wonderful $7 Argentine steak sandwich, such a deal bubby, with all the chimichurri you could want.

And now there is the Meadow Lakes Plaza, Frontenac and Montgomery, across from the north entrance of White Eagle (so just west of route 59, where Montgomery becomes 83rd street on the east side), which offers Cocina Barro, a "Latin American" spot. I will come back to why the mall gets the headline in a moment.

Barro, which also has a location on Lake Street in the Loop, offers a number of sandwiches. After driving by it for a year, each time thinking I should really stop in, the mall reached critical mass with the arrival of the European Deli ("Best polish food around" or something like that, it proclaims) and a small Indian grocery. This mall has the right feel, and it was time to visit.

Barro was previously a sad outpost of Lindy/Gerties (sad only because it was slowly dying). It was my intention to just pop in and scope the place out, then head over to the deli for some polish to carry out, but while the prepared foods looked very good - pork, sausage that looks freshly made on site, cabbage rolls and more, it did not lend itself to eating on the run, and the sandwich lineup, including the jibarito (mentioned glowingly here), cubano and carnitas seemed very attractive. So back I went for a sammy. After a brief consultation, I went with the recommended Cubano, tho I admit that I would have sampled the Jibarito first even before reading Ann's post.

What I got was very good - a crusty roll, pressed if not really the proper Cuban roll, a thick slice of moist and flavorful roast pork, a thin slice of ham, and melted over all a whole bunch of what seemed to be mozzarella. Not really a Cubano, but rather a Cubano-inspired sammy. With the Plantain chips on the side (Tostones, really) and a drink for $7.95, just a very good sandwich and a good deal.

As a whole the menu leans mostly toward Cuba and Puerto Rica, with a nod to Mexico and parts of South America (they do have chimichurri). Will go back and report further on a dinner, but based on that sandwich, I am impressed.

Barro is over a year old, but the deli is quite new, not open more than a couple of months, and I cannot find anything on it online. So I am not 100% sure I have the right name. Will try it and post more here later. And I was on a schedule, so I did not even check out the Indian grocery. But the whole thing looks like a pretty good destination - dine at Barro, pick up some carryout at the Deli, and some Indian supplies at the grocery and go home happy. Good addition to the western foodscape.

Cocina Barro
3450 Montgomery Road(Meadow Lakes Plaza, west end)
Aurora
630-820-8800

HI,

You may want to check this lead on a pork tenderloin sandwich in North Aurora.

Harners Bakery & Restaurant
10 W State Street (between Rte 35 & 31 on Rte 56)
North Aurora, IL
630-892-4400

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

You may want to check this lead on a pork tenderloin sandwich in North Aurora.

Harners Bakery & Restaurant
10 W State Street (between Rte 35 & 31 on Rte 56)
North Aurora, IL
630-892-4400

Regards,

I was just at Harner's the day before and there was no sign of this on the menu although it does not surprise me. The Harner family raises their own pigs in the Kaneville area west of Batavia, anything they have of pork is home made. Once a month they have a pig roast and frequently feature pork chop dinners, their pork sausage patties are the size of hamburgers.