Cazadores. Authentic taquería 50 miles from Champaign

I was not hopeful about finding good eats on my way home from Champaign, but we stayed off the main highways anyway. Taking the more local Highway 45 instead of interstate 57, we meandered through a half dozen or more virtually identical Main Street, USA's - where the name on soybean elevator was about the only distinguishing characteristic from one to the other. Each town had it's own version of the closed-on-Sunday greasy spoon without much promise, and that was about it in the dining out compartment. Onarga was an exception.

Apparently, this is where all of the migrant workers from Mexico congregate to find food like home.



The husband and wife team running the kitchen spoke barely a word of English, and the very limited menu consisted only of items they knew they could do well. No gyro plates or cheeseburgers in this taqueria.



Cazadores is a tiny, clean place with 3 small tables and a box fan doing its best but struggling to keep out the summer heat. Not much to look at, except for some interesting signs on the wall. If you need to know where in Onarga to get some goat, employment during harvest time, or an attorney to help you deal with immigration issues, you can find your answer on this wall.



Don't let the lack of decor keep you away, though. The restaurant's backyard is a surprising oasis of calm, where you can sit on comfortable picnic tables in shade provided by fruiting peach trees.

peach tree in Cazadores' back yard:



How was the food, you ask? Well, apologies for failing to take a photo. But my torta de pastor was really delicious. Crispy bits of marinated pork on a soft, freshly buttered and grilled roll. A real treat was the salsa served on the side: a smoky mix of hand-ground anchos and chipotles with a good hit of lime and cilantro. Truly delicious. I didn't eat any tacos, but did try a fresh, homemade tortilla right off the griddle. It was terrific.

Cazadores Tacos
Onarga, IL

This is so strange. I swear to God I saw this place from the train to Memphis late at night. (It's located quite starkly by the tracks, if I'm recalling it correctly.) Of course, I thought-- that looks interesting, but I don't even know what town that was, I'll never know what it's like.

Mike G wrote:This is so strange. I swear to God I saw this place from the train to Memphis late at night. (It's located quite starkly by the tracks, if I'm recalling it correctly.) Of course, I thought-- that looks interesting, but I don't even know what town that was, I'll never know what it's like.

The place is indeed directly across from the train tracks, about 30 feet away.

One of the wonderful things about LTH is finding out about places like Cazadores. They are still going strong: the tacos were fresh and flavorful: pastor, lengua, and cabeza. Very nice people as well. And serving might what otherwise be a "food desert" between Chicago and Urbana.

Thank you, Kenny.

I saw this thread about 2 minutes before we passed the exit for Onarga on our way to Champaign yesterday. The timing was so perfect, we figured we had to stop, and I'm very glad we did.

We tried the tacos al pastor and the carnitas. Both were excellent. The salsas were very good, particularly the green. I wouldn't be surprised if the tomatillos came from his garden out back, which looked to be thriving. I washed it all down with a Mexican coke. Total for four tacos and three beverages was $12.50 - not bad for what is probably the best lunch you can get between Chicago and Champaign.

Inexplicably, this place does not show up on Google Maps. We were able to find it by calling the number in the picture above, but for future reference, the address is:

Cazadores Tacos
215 S. Oak Street
Onarga, IL
815-268-9880

Still there and still phenomenal. Either I have a heckuva memory or a sick obsession because when I saw the sign to exit for Onarga I remembered this thread. I pulled in right as the sun was setting on my way home from a biz trip I had to take down to Urbana. Seeing as how they've stayed in business it wasn't much of a surprise to see quite a few locals (Pop. 1,438) coming in and out for orders. They all knew the family and even though I was a newbie the guy in the kitchen treated me like a regular while the lady upfront took my order with a smile.


a peak inside where they have a small but stable selection of Mexican groceries to the side

I really wasn't all that hungry but wanted to stop because I had always wanted too after reading the OP. I went with an al pastor as I looked on here what was rec'd and that has been mentioned. This was damn near good enough to turn a purist like me into a who cares type guy. I've had al pastor from the cone that wasn't nearly as good. It actually reminded me of the panza taco at Big Star when they're on. Crispy bits of well seasoned pork. Fantastic. So good I had to try a carne asada. Same situation, as far as non-grilled steak goes, this was about as good as it gets. Not to mention they were stuffed with meat. Salsas were fantastic while the pepper garden off to the side of the building looked to be doing well. Gotta love it.


Al Pastor and Asada Tacos


The Onarga Theatre

Cazadore's Tacos
215 S. Oak Street
Onarga, IL 60955
815-268-9880

Please put another point in the LTH column. Coming back from Effingham today, my girlfriend and I mutually balked at the meager roadside pickings on the way north so I hit the forum. When I saw Cazadores come up, we punched Onarga into the maps app and kissed fastfoodland goodbye. Everything mentioned above is true - modest, family-run place, super small, very friendly. Perhaps because it was a Sunday, and a little slow, none of the more interesting taco offerings - tripas, cabasa, lengua - were available, which was a bit of a disappointment. But the asada and pastor made up for my dashed dreams of eating brains in central Illinois. This was great, satisfying stuff, very high quality, in an inviting setting a super-short drive from I-57. I'm grateful for the guidance from all here.

One item of note: Unusual for a place where you order and get your food at the counter, at Cazadores if you eat in you actually pay after your meal is done. By the time we were finished, I, of course, had forgotten this. I warmly thanked the woman who took my order and turned to open the door to leave. About to close the door, I heard her say, "you had six tacos, right"? I realized I was in the midst of an accidental dine-and-dash and did the mother of all mea culpas. She laughed. Great place.