El Paisita: Berwyn Pollo al Carbon

The best pollo al carbon I've had in Chicago, and perhaps one of the top three plates of chicken I've had this calendar year, is at newly-opened El Paisita in Berwyn. Whether this magical serving turns out to have been a gold coin among the brass like you get once in a while at frustrating Smokin' M's, or a consistent pleaser like a Bari sub, remains to be seen, but when the rags start to jump on it, remember you read it at LTH first.



Doesn't look like much from the outside, but they have rockin' scorpions as a central motif, and a very slick interior design with industrial-pop menus and board, and it's so clean you can eat off the floor. The couple that run it are very sweet - from Durango, and this is their first restaurant. In addition to their charred bird, they are proud of their weekend stews (NB to Hammond: handmade tortillas on Saturdays and Sundays, and spit-pastor "when they have the prep time" - I've not tried it off the spit, but griddled was very promising).



That's a half-chicken plate ($8.95), which takes about 15 minutes to put together, so call in advance or be prepared to nosh on a gordita and chips while you wait. The cebollitas asadas were dynamite, and the rice with coarse-chopped fresh carrot and jalapenos was textbook delicious. The weak link was the beans, but only compared to the lardy goodness of Nuevo Leon.

The fowl - Khan-like charred perfection, with a very flavorful dry chili rub and a rewardingly moist interior with no off-flavors near the bone. I liked the leg best, followed by the wing, thigh, and breast (most of the skin from the breast was attached to the wing, to be fair). Limes and two solid table salsas (the smoky chipotle-laced red tasted homemade and was highly reminiscent of Cemitas Puebla) can be used quite sparingly to round out the meatier portions. Finger-licking good, and, in a mid-leg bite, richly evocative of a smoky firepit outside of a Sierra Madre goldmine. Honest and humble Durango. I'll be back for the stews next weekend.

El Paisita
1547 Oak Park Ave.
Berwyn, IL
(708) 749-1281

Santander wrote:The fowl - Khan-like charred perfection, with a very flavorful dry chili rub and a rewardingly moist interior with no off-flavors near the bone.

Santander,

Chicken looks and sounds terrific, though you had me at Khan-like. High on my must try list, thanks for highlight.

Enjoy,
Gary

You beat me to the punch. I was REALLY close to doing take out on Fri, but the s/o had an issue at work, and it just didn't work out. After reading this, we'll be here in the next few days without question. Hopefully today so I can try a chix plate, and a guisado - homemade tortillas might seal the deal for us to get there today.

Santander wrote:Whether this magical serving turns out to have been a gold coin among the brass like you get once in a while at frustrating Smokin' M's, or a consistent pleaser like a Bari sub, remains to be seen, but when the rags start to jump on it, remember you read it at LTH first.

I definitely got the brass tonight.
To be fair, I didn't get there until 7:45pm, it IS Sunday, maybe it was just not meant to be as stellar as I was hoping. Nothing BAD, mind you, just nothing great. Didn't get to order one of their guisados, but I did go with a 1/2 chix dinner. My chicky turned out to be of the drier variety. Sides were pretty much congruent with what's been stated - (beans = meh; rice = pretty good; grilled onions = pretty good.) But, in my case, the little bird was kinda dried out. I won't hold it against them for now, and I'll give them another chance, but there's no way I got the same kinda prep you did. It happens. I'll try at a "busier" time next time.

Also tried a steak taco. Meh. Probably decent at peak times, but they use the smaller tortillas, and the taco was a buck-eighty. I can do better pretty close by (Zacatacos on Harlem -twice the taco for the same $, and better meat than what I tried at El Paisita tonight.)

I really wanna like this place, but it just wasn't my night tonight. Again, it wasn't BAD, but just really not great. I was starvin like Marvin too, and usually in a hungered state, most everything is really good to me. Maybe I just got the "Slow Sunday Night" food that was pretty much made earlier, and just sitting around. Got my fingers crossed that next time will be better.

As I've been out working out of town over the last 4 months, I've not had the opportunity to try a handful of new places mentioned that have piqued my interest. Friday's construction delay with possible hurricane approaching was my ticket to sneak back to town Saturday for a few days and this among a few others were/are on my list.

"Khan like" to me is throwing down a gauntlet and I believe in this case, a very undeserved association. While it wasn't bad it certainly did not on any level approach "Khan like". Strong words. Sorry, I find that statement somewhere between wishful thinking and blasphemous.

Walking through the door I was overwhelmed with the smell of cleaning solution (Senor Limpio I believe, or one of his friends). When I'm smelling pine, or cigarettes or whatever, it's as if someone put a pea under my mattress. For me at least, the wafting of pungent cleaning supplies is a deal breaker. Hard for my delicate constitution to taste anything else through that rank stench... but for other less sensitive souls, maybe not.

We placed our order and sat down to two serviceable salsas of the arbol and milder green variety, They were both good. Great? Hardly. The arbol actually had hints of Tino's of PV but none of the seductive brilliance. Pretty much one note, with that note played out on near stale Fritoesque chips.

The "Khan like" chicken was good. Moist and charred well? Yes. Great? Not really. If you're in the hood that's one thing, but worth a trip as sole destination? No. Worthy the Khan analogy? Nada. It was good. Period. The sides, forgettable.

The handmade tortillas we found to be a bit odd and lacking any affiliation with maize. Soft, warm and fluffy like a puppy, but devoid of flavor. Bland would be a step up. When we inquired, we were told it was an instant mix, add water and so on and so forth... no surprise there.

All and all a decent to good effort. Worthy of the hyperbole? I found it more of a tease. The only excellent thing about it was the company I was in.

Jazzfood wrote:Soft, warm and fluffy like a puppy, but devoid of flavor.

Quote of the day for me.

Jazzfood wrote:All and all a decent to good effort. Worthy of the hyperbole? I found it more of a tease. The only excellent thing about it was the company I was in.

Jazzfood,

Chicken was juicy, including breast meat, with bits of char and I really liked the accompanying knob onions, though a few more would have been nice. Chile de Arbol sauce was my pick of the two and the house made tortillas were oddly bland, as you mention, softly puffed with a watery finish. The very pleasant young lady said they use Maseca instant corn flour mix. I was appreciative of the fact they served limes without us asking.

El Paisita Grilled Chicken



El Paisita Tortillas



Complimentary Chips and Salsa



We, there were three of us, shared Sincronizadas (quesadillas with sliced ham) as an appetizer. Fine, but we should have opted for one of the weekend specials of carnitas, barbacoa or gorditas with chile verde and chile pasado. Menudo is available on weekends as well.

Sincronizadas



All in all I quite liked El Paisita's grilled chicken, would put in my standard rotation if in my neighborhood, but it falls shy of Destination Chicken for me.

A sincere thank you to Santander for the post, El Paisita, in combination with a few other stops, made for a terrific Sunday afternoon with good, if not ethereal, chicken.

Enjoy,
Gary

"Khan like" to me is throwing down a gauntlet and I believe in this case, a very undeserved association. While it wasn't bad it certainly did not on any level approach "Khan like". Strong words. Sorry, I find that statement somewhere between wishful thinking and blasphemous.

The "Khan like" chicken was good. Moist and charred well? Yes. Great? Not really. If you're in the hood that's one thing, but worth a trip as sole destination? No. Worthy the Khan analogy? Nada. It was good. Period. The sides, forgettable.

Worthy of the hyperbole? I found it more of a tease

Jazzfood,

This is laughably sanctimonious. I didn't realize Khan was a religion, or that misappropriating its holy name meant that its avatars walk into a restaurant waiting to tear it apart or do battle with it, or I wouldn't have used it at all.

I don't make a habit of visiting restaurants on the warpath, with the stated intent of challenging a reviewer's metaphor, but rather, hoping to share in some of the joy of their story and their meal. So my reviews, and my journeys, are not for the bellicose.

Still, I am happy that you tried El Paisita, and found it "good." I should have expected that the Light Brigade was going to visit my recommendation within the first 48 hours of its existence on the board (and first weeks of its existence in general), and pronounce its fate, 30% on the merits of its cuisine, and 70% on the inexcusable hyperbole of the individual who took the time to take the pictures, talk to the owners, load the images, and write the review.

I could not be more pleased to stand by my original comments. After two meals there, I have been impressed and delighted twice. At the same time, I realize that this type of product (like our sacred cow / pig "barbecue") is hard to deliver consistently even for skilled second- and third-time restaurateurs. I noted as much in my opening statements, and will continue to work through their menu, praising and challenging, giving Berwyn some additional attention and public record here, and enjoying some damn good chicken.

Santander wrote:I could not be more pleased to stand by my original comments. After two meals there, I have been impressed and delighted twice.

Santander,

The three of us who ate at El Paisita thought the grilled chicken good, I may have liked it a bit more than Jazzfood and m'th'su as I am a sucker for crisp charred chicken skin, though we were all in agreement that El Paisita is not destination chicken, ie going more than 20 or so minutes out of ones way.

This is not a put down of El Paisita, it kicks, for example, Fulton's Chicken toothless beak by a landslide.

Enjoy,
Gary

Santander,

I have no bone to pick and am not on any warpath. You chose big words which in this case didn't live up to my expectations. That's all this is about. I didn't go there with an agenda or thinking to trash it, and truth is, I have not.

Thanks for the detente, Jazzfood. I personally think 'gauntlet' and 'hyperbole' are stronger / bigger than 'solid' and 'promising,' but again, this seems to have hinged on 'Khan.' My other four-letter restaurant hopeful invocation, Bari (a beacon for consistency, not at all proved at El Paisita), has fallen by the wayside. My prayer: that every restaurant could aspire to bring such places to mind, even just for one plate.

G Wiv wrote:A sincere thank you to Santander for the post, El Paisita, in combination with a few other stops, made for a terrific Sunday afternoon with good, if not ethereal, chicken.

Enjoy,
Gary

I do hope that anyone deciding to try this place out realizes that Flamingo's Paleteria is a stone's throw away.
Gelato Uno is pretty close as well, but I'd rather go to Flamingo's for their coco cremoso (creamy coconut - no flakes) every time. Anyway - the Flamingo's folks will let you taste as many flavors as you want - couldn't be nicer, and they have quite a few interesting (prune, fig, jalapeno, cornbread) flavors - tried to search for a dedicated thread, but not enough time, and not trying to derail. Coco cremoso. Try it. I really think it's made with coconut milk. I asked once, the counter person said no, but I'm not sure she was the best person to ask - it wasn't the owner. I'm just saying that I LOVE coconut milk, and it seems like ice cream made with coconut milk. I dream about this stuff.
[/pimpingflamingo's]
Flamingos Ice Cream
6733 Cermak Rd (just E of Oak Park Avenue on South side of Cermak)
Berwyn, IL

seebee wrote:I do hope that anyone deciding to try this place out realizes that Flamingo's Paleteria is a stone's throw away.

Now you tell us.............

Sorry.

Flamingo's is 6 scant blocks due south, and truly a great place (imo.) The "ice cream" is not Oberweis, or Edy's or Ben&Jerry creamy, but it is not SUPPOSED to be. If you let it gain some temperature, it smooths it out a lot, but this is not New Hampshire, or America's heartland Ice cream - it's Mexican Ice Cream. If you go in looking for Haagen Dazs smooth, you ain't gonna find it. If you go in expecting to try something DIFFERENT, you will find something you absosmurfly love. I'm not a big ice cream eater, but I find myself jonesing for this stuff every so often. They also have a nice selection of Diablos. if you are not familiar, it's like an Italian Ice on steroids - salty, hot&spicy, only a tad sweet. They come off as angry tasting if you ask me, but "diablo" don't mean nice. Anyway, they always have a huge selection of flavors of ice cream at all times, and they will let you taste them all if you want. Such nice people, and such great stuff (in that hood.)

Jazzfood wrote:Walking through the door I was overwhelmed with the smell of cleaning solution (Senor Limpio I believe, or one of his friends). When I'm smelling pine, or cigarettes or whatever, it's as if someone put a pea under my mattress. For me at least, the wafting of pungent cleaning supplies is a deal breaker.

Off topic to the food at El Paisa, but I just had to chime in that I couldn't agree more with the above. I'm amazed how common an occurrence this is. In addition to the eager beaver spritzers are the establishments that utilize bathroom deodorizers on steroids. There are several places off my list because of the fear of a table within the wafting hinterlands.

Off topic to the food at El Paisa, but I just had to chime in that I couldn't agree more with the above. I'm amazed how common an occurrence this is. In addition to the eager beaver spritzers are the establishments that utilize bathroom deodorizers on steroids. There are several places off my list because of the fear of a table within the wafting hinterlands.

I mentioned "eat off the floor" in my original post, and that's been my experience there so far, but it is obviously due to some serious and frequent cleaning with solvents, and I definitely did detect that aroma (though not as strong as the visits this weekend, obviously). I must say, however, that my best friend growing up was from Durango, and his house always smelled like Pine Sol. His family cooked similar cuisine, so for me, the suggestion of cleaner in the air before rice and beans might actually be operating subconsciously as a positive. Different cultures clean and maintain in different ways, and the fact that this one was a match with my experiences with the cuisine made it more home-y - I can think of a few other places where this type of effect contributes to the atmosphere as well. But I agree that it's easy to be over-done.

Knowing I was not going to eat dinner until 9:00 pm I broke down and actually ate lunch. I had been running errands to the south and heading up Oak Park Ave I noticed a place that had been there for a year but I have never checked out.

El Paisita
1547 Oak Park Ave, Berwyn
(708) 749-1281



They always have had signs up in the windows proudly proclaiming that they serve Pollo el Carbon and with the demise of several area and close by places it was time to check it out.

The owners hail from the city of El Pueblo Chilero in the state of Durango which is located north central.



Scanning the menu (larger version)...



I noticed that they have a lunch special (11 to 3) that consists of a chicken and a half along with all of the sides. Tortillas, rice and beans, a lime and something unexpected.



A Roasted Onion! Mmmm...

The chicken is partially cooked, refrigerated and then reheated on the gas broiler. It took about 10 minutes to get my order. The chicken was on the greasy side instead of juicy. Plenty of great char flavor and a pretty big chicken! I had wolfed down several pieces before I remembered to grab a pic.



I was hoping for a detectable marinade flavor (there was evidence of spices and color in the creases) similar to the El Pollo Loco but there was not much flavor there. A dash of the supplied lime should do the trick.

Not dry and full of flavor. A great deal for $13 with all of the sides.

The Lunch Special was supposed to only be available as carryout (packaged to go) but since I had ordered a steak taco (meh) while I was waiting they allowed me to give the chicken a try while it was still hot from the grill. It also was nice that they gave me a bowl of chips and salsa to go along with the taco.



They also have some daily as well as weekend specials that I am eager to give a try.



Fun Interior Graphics!

Cool, Panther - I dig this place and it's nice to have some backup. I get a whole chicken and sides once every few weeks. Here's an existing thread (maybe a merge is in order?)

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20638&hilit=paisita

Doh! I was in a rush and never checked. Jus' got home.

I should of known that a place a year old could of slipped under the radar.

Thanks for the heads up! Mods, merge away.

(What a great deal! $13!)

We stopped @ El Paisita for some carry-out on the way down to Venetian night last summer. It was a good hour before we made it to a nice spot on the lakefront & having enjoyed the aroma coming from the bag for that hour, we were quite ready to eat as soon as the blanket was laid out on the ground & the bottle of vino opened. I know we ordered the chicken & some guacamole and recall enjoying it immensely. The service was very helpful & friendly.... they packed everything up very well along with plates, utensils & plenty of napkins. The chicken was moist and could've used just a little more flavor, but it tasted great while watching the boat parade & fireworks.

Thanks for the reminder... we'll have to stop by again and not wait until Venetian night this time!!

Stopped by for a carry out lunch today. Great chicken and sides, griddled onion with nicely browned and very good griddled tortillas. I ordered a whole chicken and was happily told that from 11:00am-3:00pm Monday through Friday: "Buy a whole chicken, get another half free!"

The coming soon sign for that taqueria has been up for over 6 months, with no indications whatsoever of anything actually going in there any time soon. El Paisita has been gone even longer, alas.

True dat, ucjames. I've been thinking it's been a long time. There used to be a Taqueria Al Palenque on Kimball and Palmer that I'm hoping might have some relation. They had a "cream" salsa that was fantastic. The food was mediocre, but if you caught their kitchen on a good day, coupled with that fantastic salsa, it made a nice little meal.