Vegetarian-friendly Mexican Food

I need to find a cheap Mexican food restaurant that my vegetarian friends can eat at.

The place itself doesn't have to have huge number of veggie-friendly items, just something tastier than a mediocre cheese enchilada or a massive veggie filled burrito. From experience, it's been very difficult to get beyond these two things at the more affordable neighborhood places.

The other constraint is that the restaurant has to be accessible using public transit. Also, as South Siders, our travel time goes up the further north we go... south of Belmont would be appreciated.

Perhaps I'm on a wild goose chase? Maybe I should start looking into dining solo... Thanks for your help.

Try this link, but note that one prominently featured spot, Nuevo Kappy's, has since closed.

I think some places like Xni-Pec (a board favorite at 5135 W. 25th St., Cicero) might modify some dishes to feature vegetables rather than meat, but I'm just curious: aside from variations on cheese or veg wrapped inside a tortilla, what kind of good vegetarian Mexican dishes have you been able to find in Chicago?

I have been to and really like El Faro on W. 31st. Street. JimInLoganSquire posted a link that has El Faro's menu on it. They have a variety of vegetarian dishes...my favorites are Queso Panela and Pico de Gallo de Soya. I'm not even vegetarian - and I was skeptical about soy in Pico de Gallo - but it is quite good.

Why not try Mundial? Admittedly, many of the dishes I've tried have been meat or seafood options, but I seem to remember their being vegetarian options. In the appetizer category, I've tried a couple vegetarian things including empanadas and a tapas plate that's wonderful. Plus, it's on the south side. It's BYOB. And, it's reasonably priced (not quite as cheap as the local taquerias).
Here's the link to a previous discussion and address info.

I'll second the recommendation of El Faro. They have quite a few vegetarian and vegan options on the menu. I had an soy chicken torta with soy cheese and avocado, etc. Its was very good and there were quite a few other choices on the menu.

El Cid in Logan Square has really good avocado sopes. Although I haven't tried it, I've noticed they have an vegetarian burrito on the menu too.

Joel Wanek wrote:El Cid in Logan Square has really good avocado sopes.

For vegetarians eating Mexican food: When ordering a masa-based item like a sope, be sure to ask if they're using lard. It might sound vegetarian, but there's a chance that it's not.

Best,
Michael

I totally agree with the Mundial suggestion. There's always several vegetarian options for appetizers and one could easily make a meal out of 2 or 3 of these. Last time I was there (February), they had a wintersquash/chard empanada that was particularly good.

Also, I just visited Los Nopales on Western this weekend and found it amazingly good. My companion had sopes rajas con queso (roasted poblano peppers, beans, chihuahua cheese), which he loved. There were also cactus sopes and cactus tacos in addition to the usual cheese enchilada/chiles rellenos/bean tostada vegetarian options.

However... much depends on how hardcore your vegetarian friends are. For example, will they eat beans (or masa, as Michael pointed out) made with lard or rice cooked in chicken broth? Some are willing to ignore these technicalities but others won't go near the stuff. This could severely limit your options (I'm not sure where to suggest if your friends are that hardcore).

I asked a similar question a couple years ago, and received very thoughtful responses. See http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=3695&highlight=mejor+plato

The thread title in spanish probably means that it's not too easy to search for

MJ

I'm a vegetarian, and a pretty strict one, so I never trust any chips, beans, rice, soup or masa based dishes at Mexican restaurants. I have even stopped asking if they use lard or cook in chicken stock because I always either get the feeling that the servers (1) don't understand what I'm asking about (this has mostly happened with servers for whom English is a second language) (2) tell me what they think I want to hear.

With that said, I did have a really delicious vegetarian dish at Tepatulco a few weeks ago. It was pasta with a chipotle sauce and little patty-pan squash and mushrooms. That is not a cheap restaurant, though.

There are only two true vegetarian friendly Mexican places I can think of right now, other than Frontera, Topolobampo and those other higher-end establishments.

One is Mamacita's on Clark, north of Fullerton. This is kind of a dive and it tends toward the more toward the Fresh-Mex kind of Mexican food, but it's not bad and it's dirt cheap. It's also BYO which is nice.

The other is Adobo Grill. Again, probably not the most authentic Mexican, but several veggie options are available and it's not too expensive. They have two locations, one in Old Town and one in Wicker Park.

Mamacita's
2439 N Clark
www.mamacitarestaurant.com

Adobo Grill
1610 N. Wells
2005 W. Division
www.adobogrill.com

Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I'm looking forward to eating at several of these places in the next few weeks.

Also, although it's certainly exactly Mexican food, I've been reading good things about Irazu (Costa Rican?) on the board and elsewhere. With their oatmeal milkshake and whatnot, is this restaurant still a good place for vegetarians and their friends?

Irazu is definitely vegetarian-friendly. I had the veggie tacos, which were maybe not ground-breaking, but I really enjoyed them. And The Boy and I absolutely loved the oatmeal shakes.