good Mexican food near Lakeview

I'm looking for a Mexican food recommendation near Lakeview. Any favorites near by?

What type of food?

We have food restrictions, so we tend to eat where the owners and workers take care to ensure Mr Views doesn't get sick. To that end, we often eat Mexican at El Presidente on the corner of Ashland and Wrightwood. He eats the same thing everytime, the chiliquiles, and prefers them there to anyplace else he's tried them. The beans have that porky lard goodness, the chicken soup is a bargain, and the carnitas are usually good, though not the absolute best around. My BIL loves the burritos.

My friend, however, loves El Tapatio on the corner of Ashland and Roscoe. She won't go anywhere else. I haven't been, but it seems busy when I go by.

If you like tamales, there is a Guatamalan place on Roscoe in Roscoe Village. We ate there once several years ago and I still remember the tamales. Oh, they were good. Alas, the next time we went back, the people weren't nearly as helpful with ingredients so we didn't stay and eat and haven't gone back.

I grew up in Lakeview. Not the greatest destination for Mexican, but there are some decent options:

Tops I think is Dona Torta on Ashland and Barry. Great variety of tortas, excellent horchata, and decent plates. I think they may also do menudo/pozole on weekends. Whatever the case the tortas are excellent.

I second El Tapatio, slightly more expensive but they do decent tacos and have outdoor seating.

Caminos de Michoacan on Sheridan and Iriving has some things you won't find elsewhere and does a pretty good job at them - cabeza and barbacoa de chivo (don't see that too often, its more like steamed birria I think) for example. The also make their quesadillas with corn tortillas, which is always a plus.

Ummm thats all I can think of for now.

Ciao!

The only one I've been to is El Tapatio which really is pretty good.

I was hoping to check out El Millagro but it's been closed since I moved to Lakeview.

Thanks for the recs!

I second the recommendation for Dona Torta. I have had everything there, except their breakfast and its all been pretty good . I recommend the carne asada and chorizo torta(la 26?) and they make a good veggie burrito. Plates can be hit or miss depending on who is cooking.

Don't forget Ostioneria Playa Azul at Broadway and Irving Park. They really excel in excellent seafood there - really great fresh cocktails and ceviches in the $6 range. Stay away from the non-seafood items. They are clearly inferior to the seafood.

My go to place in Lakeview is also either Dona Torta or El Tapatio, however plan to wait if you go to the latter, especially on weekends. El Tapatio does not take reservations, however you can wait at their sister bar across the street (with free chips and hot hot salsa), and receive a call on your cell phone when your table is ready.

Further north is El Palmar on Irving Park, near Sheridan, which also does pretty good Mexican food, at very low prices.

YourPalWill wrote:Don't forget Ostioneria Playa Azul at Broadway and Irving Park. They really excel in excellent seafood there - really great fresh cocktails and ceviches in the $6 range. Stay away from the non-seafood items. They are clearly inferior to the seafood.

They closed a few months ago.

I'd recommend Nuevo Mexicano (2914 N Clark St). Lots of interesting dishes on the regular menu, plus an extensive specials menu with many more. Great seafood, like mahi w/ garlic and guajillo which is just like what I get when we go down to Puerto Vallarta every year. Sadly, it's never too full because people seem to be more interested in the giant margaritas at Cesar's down the road rather than a very good Mexican meal.

rhinopias wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:Don't forget Ostioneria Playa Azul at Broadway and Irving Park. They really excel in excellent seafood there - really great fresh cocktails and ceviches in the $6 range. Stay away from the non-seafood items. They are clearly inferior to the seafood.

They closed a few months ago.

Sorry. Thanks for the update on it.

Mixteco on Ashland and Montrose is not in Lakeview but not far, and probably the best within miles.

Third the Dona Torta!

Great quesadillas, tortas, and breakfast dishes. Extremely friendly staff as well.

Eaten at Tapatio as well and would throw a nod that way as well as it has a little more atmosphere.

I would say Dona Torta for a lunch or easy dinner and Tapatio more of a dinner spot.

Lakeview has a northward portion running up to Montrose from Clark to the UP North Line tracks. Mixteco is on the south side of Montrose and so is barely in Lakeview.

Went to Dona Torta and I was very impressed. Great food all around. Thanks for the recommendation, I will definitely be going back.

I've been in West Lakeview for the past 6 years. First of all, I have to 100% disagree with both Presidente and Dona Torta. I have tried both multiple times and really wanted to like both but thought the food was terrible. Presidente's ground meat and potato mixture in tacos for me resembles canned cat food and Dona Torta's whole menu is like an Encore Family Meal. I commented just the other day that I couldn't understand how the place has been there for so long and why people continue to go there. I'm sure I'll catch hell for that but......

For every day authentic small scale Mexican yes to Tapatio. Great food, hot salsas friendly service. For a bit more upscale Contemporary Mexican, Agave on Lincoln just north of Barry. The chef is Brian Garcia who was formerly at Cuatro on south Wabash. Agave has a fantastic Tequila program with something like 160 different varieties (my favorite margarita in the city). The staff is very knowlegable about both the booze and the menu items. The food is top notch but a bit pricey compared to a regular mom and papi restaurant. For a great taco/ burrito stop, Tony's Burrito Mex on Damen and Belmont. Prices are great and I have never had anything that has been less than the shiznit. My only complaint about Tony's is that they don't deliver.

CG,

Catch a fire. Cause you're gonna get burned.

First, the only "encore" I've ever associated with Dona Torta is repeated requests for re-fills on the chips and salsa. Occasionally my family was involved, so lets call it a family encore meal.

Also, Dona Torta has a more extensive torta menu than anyone else on the North Side, and possibly, all of Chicago. They even serve fries with their tortas on request!

More:

The lengua is exemplary.

Vegetarians who eat there are consistently impressed by the freshness of the avocado and the quality of the beans.

Lot's of Mexicans eat there. But maybe they don't know Mexican food.

The place on Belmont and Damen is an average taqueria - greasy meat, watery salsas, absolutely indistinguishable from that place in the strip mall on Addison and Western (Taco Burrito King #2?) or many of the other average taquerias in west lakeview.

Again, this is all in my humble opinion.

Oh and I don't know what kind of authority the statement "6 years in Lakeview" is meant to convey. But if we are counting, I've got a quarter century and I am about that old.

Peace in the Mil' East!

I haven't been to Doña Torta in a while, but when I used to live closer, I always found their carne asada torta to be great, and their french fries (while food service style) perfectly fried. Their menu and style always seems to be evolving, but at some point they started having a little more focus on burritos in a kind of "one from column a, one from column b" menu with a few unusual options like corn. The couple of times I had those they were very tasty and an interesting change from the standard.

I have to agree with ya Habibi!
Dona Torta's is a great deal in Lakeview. I love there Torta's, the Carne Asada is usually grilled to order and very tasty. My wife loves the build your own Burrito's. Try adding some bacon to one! Sometimes for lunch we split one of the torta's and get a taco each with the free chips and salsa it makes for a cheap and tasty lunch that almost Requires a siesta! Cg I agree with you on Agave, great tequila selection and margarita's, we live a few doors down and we have even went there and had a few of there great Margarita's and then walked over to Dona Torta's for dinner! To get to the washroom at Dona Torta's you have to go through the prep kitchen and it is alway's spotless this is worth a few points as well. At lunchtime it is alway's packed with Mexican worker's chowing down which is a good sign in my book!