Los Gallos 2

As far as I can tell, GNR Los Gallos 2 doesn't have it's own thread, though it's featured prominently in Pigmon's epic CeSJ thread. I figured it's earned that honor by now, so I'm starting this one up. If I missed something, feel free to merge it.

I had lunch there the other day when the temps were below zero, and let me just say that a good bowl of Carne en Su Jugo is a great thing to have on a day like that.



Los Gallos is still serving up what I consider to be the best bowl of CeSJ in Chicago. The broth is clean and never greasy or over salted. In fact, by getting there right at opening time, the broth on this visit seemed a little thinner than usual. By the time I added some chile de arbol and a dollop of their excellent salsa mulata, it was a perfect bowl whose flavors only deepened as I got closer and closer to the bottom of the bowl.

Los Gallos 2 Salsa Mulata


I had been a while since I've visited Los Gallos 2 and it's great to see that they haven't missed a beat.

Los Gallos 2
4252 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60632
(773) 254-2081

stevez wrote:Los Gallos is still serving up what I consider to be the best bowl of CeSJ in Chicago. The broth is clean and never greasy or over salted. In fact, by getting there right at opening time, the broth on this visit seemed a little thinner than usual. By the time I added some chile de arbol and a dollop of their excellent salsa mulata, it was a perfect bowl whose flavors only deepened as I got closer and closer to the bottom of the bowl.

It is true that Los Gallos’s broth varies from visit to visit. But one thing that never changes, and I basically can’t say this about any other CESJ place I’ve visited more than once over the years, is that their bone-y/marrow-y beef broth is unadulterated and absolutely steely clean, being made with very little additives such as artificial seasonings (adobo, suizon, etc).) and/or buillion. Because they don’t use these common additives, Los Gallos’s CESJ is less salty than any other version I’m aware of in town…especially if you request less bacon.

If you’ve never bothered to try any of the number of good/great Mexican soups being offered on our city’s South Side (nice piece, Titus...aka Da Beef) and you’re an avid soup lover, you owe it to yourself to get a bowl of carne en su jugo at Los Gallos #2 (NOT #3, Sula! At a minimum, they don’t offer their lovely salsa mulata at either LG#1 on 26th St. or at LG#3 further south on Archer Ave. Mama & papa Los Gallos base themselves at LG#2.).




Frank Costanza: Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who's having sex with the hen?
George Costanza: Why don't we talk about it another time.
Frank: But you see my point here? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a chicken. Something's missing!
Mrs. Ross: Something's missing all right.

Can you give a flavor profile of the "salsa mulata?"
Looks like an oily bowl of earthy love.

seebee wrote:Can you give a flavor profile of the "salsa mulata?"
Looks like an oily bowl of earthy love.

Salsa mulata is very similar in taste and heat profile to the chile oil one might find in a Chinese restaurant. I've posted about it before in the Puerto Vallarta thread. It appears to be a type of salsa indigenous to the Jalisco/Nayarit area.

stevez wrote:By the time I added some chile de arbol and a dollop of their excellent salsa mulata, it was a perfect bowl whose flavors only deepened as I got closer and closer to the bottom of the bowl.

Los Gallos 2 Salsa Mulata

PIGMON wrote:At a minimum, they don’t offer their lovely salsa mulata at either LG#1 on 26th St. or at LG#3 further south on Archer Ave.

I'm curious why you both use the term salsa mulata (not that it's incorrect). Something you heard on your last trip to Puerto Vallarta? What they call it at Los Gallos? While salsa mulata is definitely used to refer to some Mexican oil-based salsas, it seems salsa macha is a more common term (it's referred to by other names as well). Perhaps the names are regional, I don't know. Recipe variations abound but it's usually made from toasted chile de árbol ground in oil, usually seasoned with garlic and other ingredients. It's easy to make but you can buy a made-in-Chicago version too. Going by the name salsa diabla, it can be found at Cremería La Ordeña (5958 S Pulaski).





La Lupita brand salsa diabla, made by La Guadalupana, contains chile de árbol, oil, garlic and salt. I'm quite fond of this stuff, more for kitchen use than at the table. It's extremely useful when you want to add a blast of árbol heat to a pot of something without introducing a lot of other flavors. Much more versatile than most Asian chile oils. If you want to save a bit of money, you can get it at the source, La Guadalupana (4647 S Archer), less than a mile from Los Gallos #2.



If you Google salsa macha (or salsa mulata, or chile en aciete) you'll find plenty of recipes. When I run out of my current supply I'll probably make a very simple version as well as some variation on this more elaborate recipe from Rick Bayless. Maybe more like this one from Zarela Martinez (who cleverly translates it as She-Man Sauce).

It's difficult to miss the similarities between Asian and Mexican chile oil. But if you compare the Martinez recipe with this peanut-containing chile oil from Lao Gan Ma (very interesting link, by the way), the similarities are even more striking.

Mulata seems to be common in PV and Nayarit for the oily stuff, for example at the Tino's chain. Diabla down there tends to get you typical hot sauce like Tapatio or Huichol with butter (like Buffalo sauce). The term macha seems more widespread here for the toasted chiles in oil, but also seems to come from Veracruz accoding to Mexican sites. Given the many Chicago folks and businesses tied to Jalisco and Nayarit, particularly mariscos spots, and the relatively few here with Gulf connections, that is a little surprising I guess.