Darren72steak wrote:But, would you go so far as to say you can't be friends with someone who prefers Chipolte?

I actually have a very good friend who sometimes prefers chipotle over Las Asadas (he does not prefer the steak, but sometimes he would rather have a carnitas or barbacoa burrito, and considers this mexican food)

He also really likes hot dogs
---with ketchup only
He also likes hamburgers
---with ketchup only
He also likes taco bell
---with ketchup only
He also went into a taqueria with me one time
---and asked if they had pizza puffs.

I would really question if someone actually HAD char grilled skirt steak from a good taqueria if they said that they preferred Chipotle's steak. It would seem to me that someone who said they preferred Chipotle's steak might be the same person who would say "I don't like fish" but when you give them a decent piece of fresh fish they gobble it up like they haven't eaten in a week, and procaim it to be the best fish they've ever had when in fact, it's just so-so to you. I really think that many people think a burrito HAS to contain rubbery, chewy, salty, cheap cuts of steak, so it's just the status quo. Sorry, but that just isn't true. If you go to your market, and pick up piece of chuck steak, and think to yourself, man, I can't wait to get home, and put this on a griddle, then my suggestions for steak burritos/tacos may not be for you. If you think a piece of skirt steak over charcoal is more appetizing, then I recommend trying these places. I'd still be going to Chipotle if I lived in Podunk, Montana somewhere, but in Chicago, it just doesn't make any sense to me. There is much better food avail, for a much better price.

Could we be friends? Absolutely.
Can we eat lunch together? Absolutely.
You get your steak from chipotle, and I'll get my char grilled steak from somewhere else, and then we can meet somewhere. I'll bring you a taco from my place to try, and you will never eat steak from Chipotle again.

The above scenario has happened four times. (Out of four attempts)
Why pay for, and eat, bad, chewy steak? It is totally not necessary in this city.

Ron A wrote: I also used to enjoy a place called Las Americas, just west of Southport on Belmont. Back in the day, they had some excellent chargrilled steak burritos. I'm not sure if they're still there, but I'd heard the place went downhill a few years ago.

Las Am was THE SH*T. Best place (imo) of all time. Kicked Pasadita's butt!
And yes, the last time I was there, it was a horrendous shell of its former self. I have friends who still lament over the loss of that place...I guess I'm lamenting right now too.

seebee wrote:

Ron A wrote: I also used to enjoy a place called Las Americas, just west of Southport on Belmont. Back in the day, they had some excellent chargrilled steak burritos. I'm not sure if they're still there, but I'd heard the place went downhill a few years ago.

Las Am was THE SH*T. Best place (imo) of all time. Kicked Pasadita's butt!
And yes, the last time I was there, it was a horrendous shell of its former self. I have friends who still lament over the loss of that place...I guess I'm lamenting right now too.

Yea, it's been horrible the last few years. Doing drunk times the quality was downright terrible, the meat was so overcooked it was bone dry and nearly impossible to chew. It's currently "closed for remodeling" though it has been in this state for quite some time.

That hasn't been Las Americas for years. Note the sign. Las Am was very good, though. I liked the showy chopping of the arrachera with cleaver on a section of log.

Let me dust off a name that I have long thrown around in this area, one that has now caught on: Carniceria Leon.

JeffB wrote:That hasn't been Las Americas for years. Note the sign. Las Am was very good, though. I liked the showy chopping of the arrachera with cleaver on a section of log.

Let me dust off a name that I have long thrown around in this area, one that has now caught on: Carniceria Leon.

C. Leon has been on my "to-do" list for a while now. Thanks for the reminder!!

Cant believe theres not a single mention of Garcias in here. Grilled skirt steak in one of the biggest and best burritos ive ever eaten.

Commbrkdwn wrote:Cant believe theres not a single mention of Garcias in here.

Address?

I will second the rec. for Garcia's, as I was driving down Western last week I was stopped at a red light when a whiff of what reminded me of my vacations in Mexico hit me hard. The smell was amazing and as I looked around I saw a packed Garcia's at about 10:30 pm on a Wednesday, I knew it had to be tried right then and there so I turned around and went in to try some very good taco's al pastor (from the spit) and some above average steak tacos, which I saw the cook chopping after bringing the steak off the grill. Let it be known I have not had a burrito there but see no reason as to why the burrito would'nt be as tasty as the tacos.

Garcia's
4749 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60625-2012
Phone: (773) 769-5600
(There is also an entrance on Lincoln Ave.)

Tried Las Asadas today, got the steak burrito and a couple of steak taco's, all I can say is THANKS SEEBEE! I WILL NEVER EAT AT CHIPOTLE again! The skirt steak char grilled cannot be beat as you said, and like many others sadly, I just didnt know any better until I took my first bite out of a Las Asadas burrito. Since it comes from the same ownership as La Pasadita I wonder if it is even worth it to try them out when Las Asadas was the best I've ever had but I might as well try them as well as Garcia's. Thanks again, I will now convert all my other friends who don't know any better. Without your recommendation I would have never known, because the las asadas off western is a tiny little shack that is indistinguishable from the many other tons of mexican joints on that part of fullerton.

FoodSnob77 wrote: Since it comes from the same ownership as La Pasadita I wonder if it is even worth it to try them out when Las Asadas was the best I've ever had but I might as well try them as well as Garcia's.

The reason to try La Pasadita would be their late night hours. I believe the Las Asadas locations close VERY early in relation to most taquerias. Please also give Garcia's a shot and report back if you get there before me. Another thing: you will probably never ever be satisfied with a pan fried or griddle fried steak burrito or taco again, so a word of advice - don't even order them. There will be no point. Once you have steak the way it was meant to be, most of the other taquerias in the Chicagoland area become useless when it comes to steak offerings. For example, the aforementioned taco burrito palace - might have decent chicken or carnitas, barbacoa etc., but you will probably find their steak a waste of time and money.

JeffB wrote:Let me dust off a name that I have long thrown around in this area, one that has now caught on: Carniceria Leon.

Yes, absolutely a real JeffB RBI.* My current favorite carne asada and al pastor in Chicago. Though, keep in mind, at least as it applies to Carniceria Leon, al pastor is best when traffic is slow, carne asada when they are getting slammed.

Enjoy,
Gary

*Recommended, but ignored

Carniceria Leon
1402 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
773-772-9804

JeffB wrote:As previously suggested, the city's huge "hispanic" population has little to do with your search for a great burrito. You might be interested in looking at the links to articles/TV news stories documenting the local burrito king's formula for success in hawking quasi-Mex to the masses.

I think the proportions of nearly all burritos are sort of vulgar, in a strictly culinary sense. A big sloppy wet mess is just fine for lots of other foods, but the burrito is the "Mexican" equivalent of the bucket of pasta with cream sauce, chicken strips and vegetable chunks. Beyond my personal problem with most burritos as a form, I think Chipotle's are particularly contemptible, owing to the almost soup-like meats (though soup tends to have more flavorful broth) and insipid, gummy tortillas. Damn expensive, too, for a burrito.

But I know and love those who are both "hispanic" and eat burritos. Having endured their burrito binges, I can pass on a preference for Pasadita, Burrito Buggy, and Dona Torta (yes, someone doesn't get tortas at D Torta). If you nix the lechuga y arroz, it's more like food.

J.,

Some very good points made here. In particular, I find the analogy to Italianoid dishes that are popular in these parts quite apt. I'd add, though, that the average burrito is not only comparable to the sort of pasta disaster you describe but also to the average sort of 'thin crust' pizza in the local style, with the crappy crust analogous to the gummy tortillas de harina de trigo and the parallel reliance on on overabundance of multiple mediocre 'toppings' or 'fillings', as the case may be.

All that said, I do not at all ascribe to the particular escuela de esnobismo (perhaps others, but not this one) that regards all tortillas de harina de trigo with horror. On the contrary, I believe a proper flour tortilla is one of the glories of pre-post-modern fusional cookery. Now, admittedly, the run of the mill gummy-disks one encounters here are often really bad and at best okay but if one were to judge the concept of the pizza crust by what one gets from the average Chicago pizza-purveyor, one would have a skewed vision of what the thing is supposed to be like, a skewed vision much as one would have if one's only experience with flour tortillas was from the average Chicago taco-and-burrito purveyor. But good flour tortillas exist and in different sorts -- the dense, lardy ones, as one gets at Nuevo Leon or got formerly at my beloved and much missed Polo, or the lighter style ones I've enjoyed in New Mexico...

Anyway, I agree whole-heartedly with you, Jeff, that part of the problem of the average burrito is that the mediocre quality is compounded by Mericano-style excess -- lots of ingredients and often too much of them. Given that, if one can find a place with good meat and okay over-sized flour tortillas, one can have a good burrito by custom ordering. Meat, a smear of beans, some cilantro and/or onion or meat and a smear of crema or some pico de gallo... less is more...

I eat a burrito once in a blue moon and the last couple of times the moon was blue I got mine from Papi's Tacos on Western at Polk. Why? 'Cause they were proclaimed by Fox News to have the best burrito in Chicago?...
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=40529#40529
... Uh... no... 'Cause they're a block and a half from my house and it was lunch time and I was bored with all the other options in the neighbourhood (Oh why did Café Frida and those tortas go away?)... Anyway, they offer burritos with all the usual meats but also with cecina and that's what I had those last couple of times. Pretty cheap, pretty large, and if not overloaded with all the cheese-goo and guac-goo and crema and beans and rice and dragged through the huerta, pretty good. But not nearly so good as the very simple (and typically much smaller) burritos I've had in the part of Mexico currently under US occupation...†

Antonius


* Papi's used to feature hand-made corn tortillas -- I have the impression that that is no longer the case. I have never been able to verify the presence of hand-made flour tortillas there, currently or in previous historical stages.
†In diesem kulinarischen und welthistorischen Zusammenhang habe ich mich schon geäussert; sehet:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=85449#85449

Antonius wrote: Anyway, I agree whole-heartedly with you, Jeff, that part of the problem of the average burrito is that the mediocre quality is compounded by Mericano-style excess -- lots of ingredients and often too much of them. Given that, if one can find a place with good meat and okay over-sized flour tortillas, one can have a good burrito by custom ordering. Meat, a smear of beans, some cilantro and/or onion or meat and a smear of crema or some pico de gallo... less is more...

A quick note on this: I agree wholeheartedly w the less is more theory. I only order steak, cilantro, onion, pico, and avocado. The whole beans, cheese, rice thing is not for me. By default, a Las Asadas burrito is beans, meat, cilantro, onion, and crema. For me, the beans are the most offensive part of the "big gloppy burrito" concoction. To me, beans always mask the other flavors, and why would you want to mask the flavor of the meat - especially if it's good meat?

Why don't I like Chipotle? Let me count the ways:

1. Rice does not belong in a burrito. I like rice quite a bit, but I would not have it on a sandwich, a taco, or a burrito. Too much relatively flavorless starch. If you have to get that extra starch kick, potatoes are a better option.
2. Most of the other stuff they put into it actually does not belong in a burrito either, so you end up with something that is really a gringo wrap starch salad, called a burrito. Not bad if you want a wrap, I suppose. Me, I am a tortilla, meat, onions, cilantro, maybe a little lettuce and cheese if I am in that mood, guy when it comes to burritos. La Pasadita is my standard, usually hold the cheese.
3. Except for the chicken, I find the meat generally cooked beyond recognition (flavorless, denatured animal protein anyone?).
4. The fact that there is this honking, long lunchtime line for a fairly expensive (in my neck of the woods anyway), not so good product offends me.
5. So what you end up with is the wrap (or bowl) riff on a salad, except it is a wildly unhealthy salad without much interesting flavor or texture.

Why I do still eat at Chipotle sometimes, tho not so often any more:

1. Their hot salsa is okay.
2. They always have lots of lemon and lime slices.
3. If you get a taco you can avoid all the other c**p they put on it. And a chicken taco with pdg, hot salsa, and a bunch of lime squeezed on it does not taste so bad and is not an unhealthy lunch. So I treat it as an option when I want a light lunch.

Jeff, I love your comment about burritos being vulgar. Those "wet" burritos that tex mex places favor are definitely that, and I can't say I have ever found much else to recommend them. Physically messy, and a jumble of flavors and textures that never have done it for me, not to mention the fact that they are an obscene amount of food. Then if you take some of it home, you are left with something that is inedible cold, and becomes a pile of muck if you try to reheat it. Eccchhh. Probably really meant as something to be ingested while drinking heavily.

Vulgar, maybe even obscene, but of course some of my favorite things, including many foods, could fairly be described that way.

Can you eat at las asadas, or do you have to do takeout/eat in parking lot?

you can eat inside, as there are about 4-5 stools by the counter but it's not a place where you could "dine in." It's literally a smallsh shack but there is a huge Las Asadas sign above so u can't miss it.

The Las Asadas on Lee St. in Des Plaines right by the McDonalds first store museum has 5 or 6 tables.

My old school choice is El Famous...they have multiple locations...I have been going to the Summit El Famous for 20+ years. There may be better but it is my fav...

chipolte...bleh...very bland imo...

ChicagoTRS wrote:My old school choice is El Famous...There may be better but it is my fav...

chipolte...bleh...very bland imo...

Um. Ok, I'll bite. What do you like at El Famous?

ChicagoTRS wrote:My old school choice is El Famous...they have multiple locations...I have been going to the Summit El Famous for 20+ years. There may be better but it is my fav...

Either the Downers Grove El Famous has declined significantly in the last year, or my tastes have been refined as I try more places. An El Famous dumped out of its tortilla casing and into a bowl at home, with a chili relleno taco on the side had been my traditional noon Sunday Bears home game meal for years, since I lived in Elmhurst.

But my last few times there, I've been incredibly underwhelmed. Granted, it's not as bad as either El Burrito Loco near me, but it's not particularly good either. The meats have more gristle, the tamales have totally changed, even the rice seems blander. I still stop in for a chili relleno taco from time to time, but that's about it.

Best Burritto: El Burrito Mexicano
936 W Addison St
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 327-6991
Definitely a grab-and-go type joint. Delicious hot sauce and salsas.

Best Fish (Tilapia) Tacos: El Cid
2115 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL
773-252-4747
This place is great because of the friendly and attentive service, nice ambiance, and authentic food.

threadkiller wrote:

But my last few times there, I've been incredibly underwhelmed. Granted, it's not as bad as either El Burrito Loco near me, but it's not particularly good either. The meats have more gristle, the tamales have totally changed, even the rice seems blander. I still stop in for a chili relleno taco from time to time, but that's about it.

Sounds like you really need to investigate some other places.
Maybe:
Taco Grill and/or Taco Express in Westmont?
Why PAY FOR and eat bad food when you don't have to?
I have never been to either place above, but both have gotten some form of love on lth. MY closest rec for you would be the Las Asadas in Brookfield on Ogden avenue. If you are a fan of El Famous, and you try Las Asadas, be prepared to drive back to Brookfield for your taco/burrito fixes, because El Famous will certainly no longer do once you've had char grilled skirt steak. I've seen the Mount Prospect El Famous kitchen staff eating at the Las Asadas on Lee st in Des Plaines on numerous occasions.
Please refer to the post from FoodSnob77 above after trying Las Asadas.
Tacos and burritos do not HAVE to be chewy, sinewy, salty, garbage meat.
Why would anyone pay for something like that when they don't have to?

dicksond wrote:3. Except for the chicken, I find the meat generally cooked beyond recognition (flavorless, denatured animal protein anyone?).

5. So what you end up with is the wrap (or bowl) riff on a salad, except it is a wildly unhealthy salad without much interesting flavor or texture.:

I think you guys are being too hard on Chipolte, given that it can practically be all things to all people. Compare it to Subway, which is also everywhere and also costs about the same. When I go to Chipolte I *only* get the chicken bowl, with *only* the supposedly hormone-free chicken, the various salsa's, the black beans and cilantro. It is about 600 quality calories but practically NO carbs. Try doing that at Subway or any other fast food.

OTOH, I have had LOTS of crappy lard filled chicken thigh meat tacos and burritos at neighborhood places. Even most of the better places in Lakeview, the various T+B houses # infinity, have fallen down to the lowest common denominator. The one on Broadway across from Windy City Gyros used to be better, for sure. So UNLESS you are eating ONLY a steak taco at one of the FEW really good places, I do not see how the average taco place is better than Chipolte.

The REAL unfortunate effect of Chipolte is to convince those indie taco stands that the yuppie gringo WILL pay $5-6 for a burrito. I can recall just a few years ago, pre-Chipolte, when the big burrito was $3 and the jr. $2.

Marco wrote:Compare it to Subway...

Well, there's your first mistake

Incidentally, there are two schools of thought when it comes to chicken at these places... those who consider thigh meat to be fatty and low quality, and those who consider it to be far more flavorful. Ne'er the twain shall meet, it would seem.

(Latter camp, myself.)

Marco wrote:OTOH, I have had LOTS of crappy lard filled chicken thigh meat tacos and burritos at neighborhood places.

You might be in the minority when describing chicken thigh meat as crappy and lardy amongst "foodie" circles. I consider it the ribeye of the bird. It's more prized to me BECAUSE it is fatty (flavorful.) Keep your bland, dry-ish, one-dimensional breast meat. I SEEK the taquerias that use the moist, juicy, flavorful thigh / dark meat.

seebee wrote:

Marco wrote:OTOH, I have had LOTS of crappy lard filled chicken thigh meat tacos and burritos at neighborhood places.

You might be in the minority when describing chicken thigh meat as crappy and lardy amongst "foodie" circles. I consider it the ribeye of the bird. It's more prized to me BECAUSE it is fatty (flavorful.) Keep your bland, dry-ish, one-dimensional breast meat. I SEEK the taquerias that use the moist, juicy, flavorful thigh / dark meat.

Seconded. Give me thighs and lard any day!

(Speaking of lard, it amazes me how difficult it is to find sometimes. I was visiting a friend in Hoboken and wanted to make chicken paprikash. The traditional recipe calls for lard. I went to Whole Foods and they looked at me like I was asking them if they stocked cyanide. I went to an A&P and no luck either. Unfortunately, all the small local places had been closed by then and I had to settle on flavorless vegetable oil. For that matter, my friend, Northwestern educated and otherwise very much intelligent, didn't even know what lard was exactly.)

seebee wrote:

ChicagoTRS wrote:My old school choice is El Famous...There may be better but it is my fav...

chipolte...bleh...very bland imo...

Um. Ok, I'll bite. What do you like at El Famous?

I like the steak tacos...steak tostadas...the red hot sauce...a large horchata. I have graduated away from the burritos.

I am sure there are better than El Famous but it is is kind of one of those things...I have been going to the original in Summit since I was 16 years old (20+ years now...uggh...I am getting old) and so it is probably part nostalgic...part familiarity...guilty pleasure type thing.

I will try Las Asadas in Brookfield...I know exactly where it is...as that is my old stomping grounds. I miss Jimmy's Hot Dogs on Ogden...used to go there every day for lunch when I was in grade school...well sometimes I would hit Bambinos but I always hung with the Jimmy's crowd.

I also grew up around this area, and started my taqueria quest at the joints in summit:
El Farol, El famous et al. By your math, we are virtually the same age - may have even crossed paths sometime 20 years ago at the wee hours on Archer. I'd be surprised if you wound up preferring EL Famous steak to Las Asadas, but, to each his own.

Dmnkly wrote:

Marco wrote:Compare it to Subway...

Well, there's your first mistake

But as a chain it has LOTS more in common with Subway than any given indie taco stand. The mistake is to view a certain regional Mexican type of taco as the ONLY valid riff on the food. Which you are not going to find within 2 blocks of your office downtown. Chipolte is competing with Panera and Noodles and Co. and on the lower end, Subway. In that category, I think it is healthier and faster.

Incidentally, there are two schools of thought when it comes to chicken at these places... those who consider thigh meat to be fatty and low quality, and those who consider it to be far more flavorful. Ne'er the twain shall meet, it would seem.

Perhaps. But we were discussing how healthy Chipolte is, and supposedly there chicken is hormone free.

You know who has *freaky* hormone-filled chicken? Ever get the roast chicken dinner at the What's Cooking? on Lincoln? The pieces are the size of dinosaur parts.

(Latter camp, myself.)