Pipo's Argentinean Grill and Los Alambres

Note: for a period of some months I sent out reviews to the LTH list-serve which preceded this board, most of which have not appeared anywhere online though a few appeared at Vital Information's blog; I am now posting these here to add them into the LTHForum database, if I could slip them unobtrusively into the bottom of the board I would but alas, that's not possible and they must be posted like any other, new message, regardless of their age and odor of deja vu. So if you read these before, feel free to skip them this time, though hopefully one or two will spark some discussion on the places discussed...



Pipo's/Los Alambres (November 3, 2003)

...All this talk about steak made me want one, and then I remembered I had just seen a sign for a new Argentinean place called Pipo's in the strip mall by Lane Tech (a somewhat dubious location, I must say, since it's hard to see it making it on either the Lane kiddies at lunch, or the customers of the adjacent unemployment office). But it's closed Mondays anyway so it will have to wait. I decided to press the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button instead, and started driving down California.

Another strip mall, and this time a little Mexican restaurant called Las Alambres (or Los, I forget), 3053 N. California. I haven't written up many Mexican places because I've never made a stunning discovery and I'm not sure I'd even know one compared to other folks who can cite their chapter and verse from Diana Kennedy, but I will say that this place seems highly promising for a hole in the wall and made all the right moves. Menu, and for that matter even the window, had the kind of things you see at La Quebrada, not at El Taco Bandito Loco Fresh Buggy-- no Vienna Pizza Puffs signage or gyros, just tacos and arroz con leche, while the menu had Pechuga en chile de arbol and Lomo en Pasilla and so on. Interior is bright, colorful, clean, clearly indicative of some pride of ownership.

At the risk of embarassment I ordered both a full plate AND a gordita ("This is to go?" asked the waitress, ensuring embarassment) but what the hell, wanted to try the high and the low end of the menu. The gordita was entirely admirable and Maxwell-worthy-- freshly griddled masa, flavorful steak chopped with fresh cilantro and onion. Myself, I might have cranked up the stove a little and made a little more of a crust on the outside (a comment I'd apply to the freshly-grilled tortillas as well), but assuming it came out the way they wanted it to, it was just fine. The pechuga en chile de arbol was, if anything, hotter than Quebrada's, opened my sinuses way up, and the freshly made pico de gallo had generous chunks of avocado. Beans seemed hand-mashed, pleasantly lumpy, and had just enough but not too much lard flavor, I scooped them up happily with the tail end of my gordita.

The menu is quite large for such a small place and might have some signs of regional specialization to more learned eyes than mine. Anyway, for an unprepossessing taco place in a grade D strip mall, it's well above average, maybe even Slow Food worthy given that everything seemed to be freshly made, and I'll be curious what anyone else who tries it thinks.



Followup: I've been to Los Alambres a few more times, it's a decent enough place though it has been rather inconsistent-- piping-hot chips one time, cold and greasy the next, mediocre pollo en mole but some very good things like gorditas. I stick to the smaller items on the last page of the menu and have a pretty good track record.

I did make it to Pipo's the next day:

Tried the Argentinean place in the mall opposite Lane Tech, Pipo's. It's decent, had an all right steak sandwich on pretty good bread and a gooey corn empanada that looked factory made (but maybe not) with nicely garlicky chimmichurri; dinner might be more interesting though the choice of white rice or French fries as a side is not exactly inspiring. Plus you have the entertainment value of getting to watch unemployed people and/or people planning to join the Army fight for the few available parking spaces in this busy, tiny mall. (Parking is, incidentally, a problem, since the whole frickin' neighborhood is zoned to prevent the Lane kiddies from parking anywhere. I parked about as far away as my house is in the first place.)

MikeG,

I remember reading your listserve comments about Pipo's and thinking...”That place sounds good. I should try it.” (I also thought, “Jeez, this is good writing; too bad there’s no way to share it with more people.”)

Well, now Pipo’s is gone forever, replaced by Fierros, which offers a $12.95 prix fix, one of the great meal deals in the Chicagoland area. You get several courses (soup, antipasto, salad) and then three meats: marinated chicken, asado (short ribs) and entrana (skirt steak), all of which are grilled to order and very tasty. It’s BYO, so we brought some bottles of Argentinean red, and with the relatively simple food, excellent prepared, had quite a fine meal for a very reasonable price.

Of course, after eating all that meat (and this is an all-you-can-eat proposition), you may feel pumped up enough to go next door and join the Army (the location of Fierros is terrible; dingy, virtually signless, and next door to a “Join Now!” office, federal cubicle farm, and other strip-mall Stalinist structures).

Of some interest is the clear Italianate influence in many dishes: antipasto, Parmagiana on the tables, oregano in the salad. Lots of Italians (specifically from the North) have relocated to Argentina over the past century, and their influence is apparent.

Hammond