Sabor Michoacan, Rogers Park

I went in search of dinner tonight on foot down North Clark Street. I decided to try Sabor Michoacan, a determinedly "cute" restaurant that's been briefly mentioned by a couple of LTHers.

I don't mean to mock the decor -- in fact, by the time I was done I decided I liked it a lot -- but it is the kind of quaintness that can be really grating if it's done without soul. There are lots of bright colors, a hand painted sign, and a counter with stool seating.


To start, they bring chips with both red and green salsa, as well as a small dish of refried beans. Both salsas were thicker than most places I go, and the red had a very slightly creamy color as well.

The special tonight was chicken en mole, which is usually one of my favorites. I almost didn't order it, because I wasn't in the mood for quite such a heavy meal, but I decided if it's the special and something I usually like, I ought to give it a shot. I also decided to have one taco al pastor, just to see how they hit it.

The taco was hot and fresh tasting, although the heat seemed to me suspiciously even, as if it had probably just gotten a quick griddle, and there wasn't a whole lot of char either. Satisfying, but not legendary.

The mole was also well prepared--perhaps almost too much, as one of the drumstick bones literally pulled right out of the meat, it had stewed so long. I might have liked a little more give to the meat. The mole was dark and thick, but a little "one-note" compared to the best.

I also ordered a big mango water (they have watermelon on the menu, but I was told that tonight was mango). It was excellent: I'm so accustomed to mango flavored things really laying it on, and the relatively refined flavor in the "water" was a nice change.

Overall, my take is that my meal was made with care from reasonable quality ingredients. My personal taste would call for a little more fireworks in the seasonings all around, but the server was very nice and the room was after all quaint and not cheesy, so I would basically recommend anyone in Rogers Park giving this place a shot. It's definitely a step up in aspiration from most of the taquerias, more in the vein of La Cazuela and Cuetzala (but cuter )

(They advertise a mixed seafood grill for two, four, or six that includes octopus and shrimp, a few other things I can't recall, and also steak and a few kinds of vegetables, presumably grilled. It costs about $38 for two, but I have a hunch it could be pretty good. Could be a good anchor order for an LTH outing!)

Sabor Michoacan
7021 N. Clark Street
(773) 465-1122‎

germuska wrote:Could be a good anchor order for an LTH outing!

Such as the Evanston lunch group. Any idea whether they're open for lunch?

According to Center Stage Chicago, their hours are "10 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday-Saturday."

I was remembering the mole fondly today, so I guess that's a good sign

My wife and I have eaten at Sabor Michoacan four or five times by now. Much like germuska, we stumbled in one day just because it seemed to somehow be a "cuter" place than some of the other options within a few blocks radius.

Since we're vegetarian and we always seem to stop in at brunch time, we've ordered mostly Huevos Rancheros Estilo Michoacan and Chilaquiles con Huevos. We find both dishes very satisfying: the sauce on the Huevos Rancheros always tastes very fresh, and the tortillas in the Chilaquiles are always cooked to perfection. However, we have detected some considerable variation in the spiciness of the dishes from one visit to the next.

The same cook -- a guy in his late 20s or 30s -- prepared our food every time we were there. One time he came out to ask how we liked the food, and he seemed like a genuinely nice and interested person. My impression is that he puts much more care into his food than cooks at most of the neighboring restaurants and joints on Clark. If I was to recommend one place to the folks on lthforum from all the Mexican options on Clark, Sabor Michoacan would probably be the one.

I have been to Sabor Michoacan several times over the past couple of months, and I think the place is really getting into its groove. The wait times, while not the fastest, are now tolerable, and the food has gotten noticably better. The sauces have taken on a much deeper complexity. The last two times I ate there, there was a new female chef. I don't know if that is a permanent change.

Last night, I had the cecina, which was sublime. The attractively presented dish consisted of a huge portion of slightly chewy (as cecina should be), flavorfully marinated meat topped with melted cheese and nopalitos in a spicy (arbol?) chile sauce with nice earthy and smoky undertones. The cecina was accompanied by rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado, orange slices and piping hot tortillas. Not bad for less than $12. For a beverage, I enjoyed a humongous cup of their refreshing home-made agua fresca de mango.

On my previous visit, I asked for a skirt steak topped with their mole negro (not on the menu, but they were happy to oblige). The combination was tasty. The mole negro was much more complex than I remember from previous visits, with warm flavors of chocolate, cinnamon and cumin with a slightly bitter finish. The shrimp ceviche tostada is still a great deal, and the chicken tinga is among the best I have had (although it is only listed as a tostada topping, they will gladly put it in tacos or burritos or any other form factor).

Anyhow, Sabor Michoacan may not be the best regional Mexican restaurant in the city, but it does strive to go beyond the typical taqueria fare, and does a pretty good job of it for a very reasonable price. Certainly worth a visit if you are in the area.

We just came back from Sabor Michoacan. We enjoyed the pollo en mole, shrimp ceviche tostada and chicken tinga tacos. The ceviche was the best that I have had in the city, I am used to very fresh seafood in ceviche and the shrimp was not to shrimpy tasting and the flavor was not overwhelming of acid (they probably used a lemon vinegar mix).

Also, the cook was not a 20 something Hispanic man but rather a 30 something Hispanic woman with short hair wearing a baseball cap.

Sabor Michoacan is closed.

The GP wrote:Sabor Michoacan is closed.

Looks like another restaurant will be opening in that space fairly soon. I hope it will be better than Sabor Michoacan, whose dishes I found decidedly mediocre on the handful of occasions I tried them.