Oh, how I love thee, Irazu

Stopped at Irazu today for a late lunch with my husband and my alternately sleepy/cranky 6 month old. Yet again, I was reminded why I love this place as much as I do.
We had a very simple meal - husband had a plate of yuca and a Milanesa sandwich, I had the vegetarian salad and a chicken sandwich and we split an glorious oatmeal shake (truly, one of the greatest drinks available in Chicago, although their passion fruit with lime shake comes in a close second). Everything was perfect - the yuca was garlicky and hot, my salad was phenomenal, and the sandwiches were just right - the right bread, the right mix of meat and condiments, and just enough grease to make it all seem like a little guilty pleasure. The food here is simple, cheap, and great - I can't ask for much more in a restaurant (although more parking would be nice). Although I can't claim to be knowledgeable about Costa Rican food, I'd imagine this is pretty authentic, or at the very least, pretty acceptable (judging by the clientele).
As good as the food is, and as much as I believe I've developed a crack-like addiction to the oatmeal shake, the reason I truly love Irazu has nothing to do with the food. The owners are so genuinely nice, I almost can't get over it. I suppose that says more about other restaurants' staff and attitudes that I'm simply bowled over by the kindness at Irazu. I have never left Irazu feeling anything other than sated and happy.
What a gem.

Irazu
1865 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
Cross Street: Oakley Avenue
Phone: (773) 252-5687

Open Mon-Sat 10 am - 9 pm; closed Sunday.

I agree with you on the food end of things but I've always found the servers there extremely brusque and unfriendly.

I do find that I get better service if I mimic their bad attitude.

You know, it's pretty well understood that what they do at Irazu is bounds better than you are likely to find in Costa Rica. Irazu has really spiced up their food and "Mexicanized" it to great advantage.

CR is a beautiful country with wonderful Ticos. But this is one Latin country where the food generally stinks, save fresh fish. Lots of yuca, but no "corn culture," so no tortillas, arepas, pupusas, etc. That makes a big difference. The only national dish seems to be gallo pinto, which is not nearly as good as similar rice and bean dishes from other Carribean/Latin American countries.

I've been to CR a few times, I love it, but in spite of the food.

I agree with Anna. I love Irazu. I would be shocked, if there was a better vegetarian burrito anywhere than the the one (with hongos) at Irazu. I realize the competition for best vegetarian burrito is not exactly keen but Irazu's is stellar. The perfect mix of mushrooms, black beans, vinagary chiles, yellow rice -- salty, savory, hot and sour. Almost meaty. It has prevented from trying much of anything else on the menu, except for the occasional bite of whatever others are having.

I have no first hand experience, but I have heard from reliable sources the same thing that Jeff says about CR food. Irazu seems to end up somewhere between Mexico and the Carribean. A little Cuban, a little P.R., etc. Black beans here, yucca there, mushrooms, fruit shakes, and so on. It's kind of what one would imagine C.R. food to be like if C.R. food were good. It works.

I will also chime in. There is no better meal at Irazu than a veggie burrito (no mushrooms but with hot peppers for me), a side order of french fries and an oatmeal shake Actually there may be a better meal than that and it may very well be served at Irazu but I will probably never know as I always order that same meal. The fries are good because they are of the nice fat steak fry variety and are always served blisteringly hot and well salted
Now, can anyone point me out to a veggie burrito of similar quality in the general area?
Jamie

I have been going to Irazu for almost nine years now and have not eaten in the restaurant for quite some time. As I get primarily take out I have always opted for the burritos. In fact, it is the only place I ever order burritos (preferring tacos in Mexican reatuarants). Tonight, however, I called ahead and ordered the Bistec Encebollado, Onioned Steak, described on the menu as "Thin rib eye sauteed with TONS of onions seved with yellow rice, pinto beans, fried green plantains and cabbage salad". It was terrific, well seasoned meat, good beans and excellent rice ( which I normally don't think much of in a restaurant). I was particularly impressed with the accompanying tostones. They were covered in garlic and fried up golden and delicious. I have always been wary of plantains as I have had several sweeter versions and due to personal taste am not one who enjoys mixing sweet with savory. These were more on par with the yuca or potato and I regret not having tried them sooner. Could there lack of sweetness be due in part to their stage of ripeness? Rounding out the meal was a simple but tasty cabbage slad which had a nice tang.
Alas, prices have risen on the entrees over the years as this one tops the menu at $12.50. That said, it was more food than I could comfortably eat in one sitting and has me looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on the menu whena burrito just won't do.

You can do a search for tostones (what you had) versus maduros (the sweet ones) for an explanation. It's a little more complicated than the level of ripeness of the platano, but that is, in essence, it.

Picked up a steak sandwich here today for lunch. Fantastic! One of the best steak samiches I've ever had. Lots of beefy flavor with a chewable cut of meat (little stuck in my teeth or spit out) and some sauce I can't describe. The service was perfunctory but efficient.

I also like the looks of the dining room and will return with the family for dinner soon.

I share your love for this little gem! Burritos are wonderful indeed, especially with mushrooms added. The carne asada and the chicken breast are both excellent with the bountiful caramelized onions included. We usually bring a bottle of red wine, so I haven't tried the shakes.

I can see where some might call the service brusque; I'd call it efficient - and friendly. Just a hard working crew dishing up some great comfort food.

AnneVdV wrote: As good as the food is, and as much as I believe I've developed a crack-like addiction to the oatmeal shake

Anne - i so agree with you - i try to forget how much i love those oatmeal shakes. that way whenever i happen to go to irazu, i "rediscover" my love for them all over again! they're like drinking an oatmeal cookie....mmmm! regarding the food, i have to admit i have a hard time getting away from the Wednesday special potato tacos. they are those little tube-like fried shells stuffed with spiced mashed potatoes, served with the little "salad" and plantains.

now i can hardly wait for next wednesday

ciao
leesh

I love shakes, and Irazu's oatmeal shake probably ranks at the top of my list. I'm hoping to get my act together and organize some kind of LTH Shake-a-thon at some point this summer - featuring, of course, my #1 pick. My father, on his last visit to Chicago, tried to get the owners to give him the recipe for the shake; needless to say, they declined.

Shake-a-thon? Oh, definately count me in!

leesh

It's one of my favorite restaurants, and count myself fortunate to live ~2 blocks away. I'm impressed at how the waitstaff always seem to remain friendly and jovial while working in a restaurant that's packed until they start kicking them out.

Not that we were trying to test their patience or anything, but my dining party and I availed ourselves of their BYOB policy by bringing a bottle of tequila, a liter of Rose's Sweetened Lime, a couple bottles of orange juice and three pounds of kosher salt (this is sort of a liberal margarita interpretation, not up for splitting hairs, but it tastes good at a proportion of 1:1:1.5). Not really sure how they might react, the staff was only too happy to bring us pitchers of ice and additional cups, even when we started accidentally spilling stuff all over the place and covering everything with a thin layer of salt. Our server even made a point to recommend a tequila that would spare one a hangover the next day (I feel great, by the way).

oo whee!

i'm gonna try irazu tonight for my 3rd anniversarry dinner with the boyfriend! i first saw the place featured on the food network show "the secret life of..." when the topic was shakes! i'm gonna get an oatmeal shake! yay!

m~

Irazu fans and regulars, be warned. The "Check Please Effect" will take hold sometime in the near future. petit pois and I had dinner there a little while back and we were witness to a "Check, Please" taping (sorry for the delay in posting, but I just plain forgot about it).

I'm not sure when they're gonna run it, but that place is pretty small and I'm willing to bet that it'll be overrun for a while after it airs.

Best,
Michael

How bad is a typical "check please effect"? and how long does it last?

laikom wrote:How bad is a typical "check please effect"? and how long does it last?

Interesting question, but I don't think that there is a typical answer.

Some restaurants rocket to a new level of popularity, and regulars say it is forever changed (e.g. Noon O Kebab), some see a bump in traffic for a few weeks/months and then go back to a more moderate level (e.g. Kabul House, Healthy Food Lithuanian), some don't see any difference since they're already plenty busy (e.g. Sabatino's, Gibson's).

A key question is, will Irazu be in the first group or the second? My guess is #2. I have a feeling that they'll be a little busier for a few weeks, maybe months, after it airs, and then life will return to relative normal there.

Just my two cents.

Best,
Michael

Shall we start a pool? I'm putting my money on "crowd" levels down to 20% above normal (with a peak at 300% above normal) within 3 weeks.

all this talk about the burritos (which are great) and non about the chicken and rice? moist, flavourful chicken, great flavored rice, served with a side of tostones. The rice is full of peas and corn and some other veggies if i remember correctly.

oh, and don't forget their guac which is unique and excellent

Is Irazu still BYOB? Any corkage fee?

TIA

ab

I just saw the Food Network special on milk shakes, which included a feature on Irazu. I also just noticed this place recently when over in the neighborhood. So, it's time for me to go check it out.

It seems the burritos are well liked, but I'd like to be a bit more adventurous and get something more usual and less Mexican-like. I read through the suggestions above, any other ideas for what to order? I guess the oatmeal shake is a must. Any other advice?

On our recent visit, we liked the ceviche, which was full of bright citrus and zesty pepper flavors and the cheese empanadas, flat, delightfully crunchy half-moons of nut-brown fried corn masa with a thin filling of nicely stringy, slightly salty, melted white cheese.

I love the salad that comes with the dinners: crisp green cabbage, shredded to slaw and tossed with chopped cilantro, sliced fresh cucumber and tomato, snappy radishes and mellow, cooked beets in sprightly lime vinaigrette.

None of the entrees is very exotic. The "chef's favorite," bistec tico, features thinly sliced ribeye sauteed with sliced onion, green bell peppers and tomatoes. It comes with the cabbage salad, sauteed sweet plantains, a mound of white rice and a bowl of excellent, black beans, simmered to a chocolate-like appearance. (A similar dish, casado, pairs the steak with onions and adds an egg, cooked over easy.)

I enjoyed the pork chops, a pair of meaty, juicy loin chops smothered in sauteed onion served with wedges of lemon.

My friend picked me from work in the Loop to drive us there for lunch. In anticipation of our lunch at Irazu, we had developed a taste for their steak sandwich with lizano sauce, potato tacos and horchata......sadly, as we approached the building, there was a big white sign posted that they would be on vacation until 1/3/07. So sad.......

Oh well, we still enjoyed our sandwiches at Milk & Honey instead.

Irazu hasn't had any love here for a while, but in hot weather there's nothing better than their fruit shakes. I like them best made just with fruit and water, though when I got an extra-hot mouthful of jalapeno I was glad Himself had ordered a milk-based version.

Great chips, zesty table sauces (smoky red and sprightly green) and good ceviche -- get it with the patacones (tostones). My grilled skirt steak was flavorful and tender. Himself wolfed down all of his shrimp and rice, so I didn't even get a forkful.




Two-flavored mora-guanabana (blackberry and soursop) water shake




Ceviche with patacones, chopped jalapenos and garlic sauce




Grilled steak dinner




Shrimp and rice

Irazu
1865 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
(773) 252-5687
BYOB

oh, an Irazu tamarind licuado (water) on a hot summer day is just the best thing ever! like a super tart apple cider slushy!

I love their oatmeal shakes- it's like a step up from horchata, my other favorite [non-alcoholic] Latin drink. I don't think I've ever had a dish there I didn't like.

[Edited: Thanks to the mods for moving this!]

I went there tonight for dinner (had the shrimp and veggie platter, which is a special...very good, but a little heavy on the zucchini for me) and I noticed something about the guacamole. I think they put banana or plantains in it. There's a very slight banana flavor to it, and it has a stickiness to the texture that reminds me of what happens when I add a banana to a smoothie. I could have sworn I heard another table's waiter give a heads-up to a vegetarian that the guacamole contained chicken broth also.

Has anyone else heard of either of these ingredients being put in guacamole? Our discussion at the table was about how different guacamole is everywhere you go; not just the prominent flavors in one vs. another but the vast differences in texture and consistency. When my dad, BuddyRoadhouse, makes guac at home, it's very liquid-y. Not thin or soupy- still very thick, but he includes all of the juice from the tomatoes (I think- not sure what else would cause it to be more liquidy- maybe lime juice) and other places I've had it, it's drier. For instance, at El Norte at Ridge/Broadway/Bryn Mawr, it's on the drier, more concentrated side, and I think it's my favorite restaurant guacamole. It's thick, heavy on the cilantro. You can really feel its weight on a tortilla chip.

Irazu
1865 North Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 252-5687
http://www.irazuchicago.com/

El Norte
5600 North Ridge Avenue
Chicago, IL 60660-3483
(773) 728-0182

abe_froeman wrote:I don't think there's an dedicated thread for Irazu, and it certainly deserves one.

there are several, including this one in which yours is the last post .

Does anyone have any experience with Irazu's catering services, which are mentioned but not explained on their site? I'm not sure what kinds of events they're equipped to handle, but the prospect of having steaming trays of casado at my wedding is attractive enough to inspire some research.