Queso Dip??? Anyone..

Does anyone know of a mexican restaurant - anywhere in the chicago-land area - that has a white queso dip??? I don't mean the queso dip that they serve at Uncle Julios - but a white queso dip.
Thanks!!

Do you mean queso fondito? If you do, there are many Mexican restaurants that serve it. Do you have a particular location you prefer? Lincoln Park, etc.

No...I don't mean queso fondito. It is just a cheese dip - usually called chili con queso - but no meat just white cheese that you dip your chips in or pour over your food.

Well, not all queso fundido is made with meat. In fact, my impression is that meatless versions are actually more common, but I'm no expert on the subject. All queso fundido means is melted cheese... literally, I believe. If what you're looking for is a white version, then I suspect what you're looking for is a queso fundido that's made with some of the Mexican cheeses that aren't colored. In that case, Bryan's quite correct, you can find it in many different Mexican restaurants, and having a general area would help to steer you.

Yes, it sounds like a queso fundido to me, too, but I guess the question is: what's the texture like? Is it more soupy like the cheese sauce put on french fries, or more stringy?

If it is queso fundido, I'm very fond of the queso fundido con chorizo at La Casa de Samuel in little village. Excellent chorizo and hand-made corn tortillas make it stand out from the pack.

Queso fundido was one of the few standouts at my one visit to Maiz, too.

At both of these places you'll be able to order it with or without meat.

thanks everyone for the information, but I am not looking for queso fundido. I used to live in Southern Illinois and there was a mexican restaurant that had a thin, white cheese dip called "chili con queso" and it was great. I have never been able to find it in Chicago, but I did find a restaurant way out in Aurora called Friaco's that has a white cheese dip - but Aurora is too far to drive.

A few more details about the cheese dip itself, in case you're not
immediately familiar with it. It's hot, white, melted cheese dip,
typically served in a bowl of some sort, and often used for dipping
with chips and/or flour tortillas. Usually it contains very small
bits of jalapenos for flavor, though I've been a few places that offer
it with or without jalapenos (and they're usually *very* small bits,
not big chunks). I've read that it's typically made using Asadero
cheese, but don't hold me to that.

It's definitely not the same thing as Queso Fundido. From my experience, Queso Fundido is more of a dish than this dip, and tends to clump together and harden quickly as it cools. This white cheese dip is a very creamy, liquidy cheese dip that is offered separately as a dip for chips, etc., but also often comes on top of nachos, burittos, enchiladas, and other dishes where melted cheese is called for.

I think what is being referred to is a version of the Tex-Mex dish "chile con queso", except made with white cheese. Just as chile con queso is often simply called 'queso', this dish is called 'queso blanco'. It is made with melted jack cheese, half and half and some spices. It has the consistency of velveeta. It is served throughout the south, but I have never seen it in Chicago.

d4v3 wrote:I think what is being referred to is a version of the Tex-Mex dish "chile con queso", except made with white cheese. Just as chile con queso is often simply called 'queso', this dish is called 'queso blanco'. It is made with melted jack cheese, half and half and some spices. It has the consistency of velveeta. It is served throughout the south, but I have never seen it in Chicago.

It's popular in Arizona, too.

d4v3 wrote:I think what is being referred to is a version of the Tex-Mex dish "chile con queso", except made with white cheese. Just as chile con queso is often simply called 'queso', this dish is called 'queso blanco'. It is made with melted jack cheese, half and half and some spices. It has the consistency of velveeta. It is served throughout the south, but I have never seen it in Chicago.

The closest thing I have seen is the cheese dip at Uncle Julio's, but that's already been mentioned in the initial post. Mrs Fujisan always makes us get white cheese dip when we go back to Springdale, AR.

Someone with a similar dilemma has discussed this online:

White Cheese/Queso Blanco Dip

To iterate(tho' perhaps the link does as well) the upthread: chile con queso is most definitely a Tex Mex thing...the monterey jack description/recipe is apt.

It's also easily found in bastardized versions brought to you by our friends at Tostitos, etc: look for jars on your supermarket shelf in the taco shell and/or chip aisle. I believe I've even seen a white version.

Qdoba (fast food Mex owned by Jack-in-the-box) might be the closest you're gonna get here. Also a guilty pleasure of mine.

They don't have a white cheese dip like the one you are describing, but Fernando's in Lakeview/Roscoe Village has the closest queso I've had to the thin/pour on everything Tex-Mex Southern style. They use very little spices/tomatoes in their's - I usually add the house salsa to it to thin it out and make it more like Ro-tel.

Fernando's
3450 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 477-6930


A simple home version = white american cheese + cream to thin + chili powder to taste

(Arkansas is home to some good white queso )

dayzella wrote:

A simple home version = white american cheese + cream to thin + chili powder to taste

(Arkansas is home to some good white queso )

Very true. The first time I was introduced to white queso dip was at Jose's on Dickson St., followed by Casa Taco in Fayetteville.

Chile con queso is from the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Onions, tomatoes, Anaheim chiles, asadero, or Chihuahua cheese, and milk or heavy cream is used. Never really saw an example of that in Chicago, or even the Tex-Mex stuff, but people everywhere else seem to know about it. (Sorry-this doesn't help Tiffathey in the least.)