Low cost mexican supermarket in the city/Chipotle rant

Yes I realize this question is very vague but I have no idea where to start. After realizing that eating at chipotle (yes, one of my sins as a foodie) for lunch everyday in the loop will lead to my early death, (yes, even without the sour creme and cheese the sodium content will kill you!) I've decided to take the plunge and make my own burrito bowl, and found a great site which has decent copy kat recipes http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=recipes
and I wanted to try to re create their hot salsa and also their marinade for their chicken, so I needed to find a decent low cost mexican grocery that has dried arbol and ancho chillies, as well as mexican oregano. Shouldn't be too hard and they probably even have these in the hispanic section at my local dominicks, but figured I might as well ask. I'd prefer somewhere easy to get to as I live downtown and don't want to drive way out west on 18th or in some traffic heavy spot on the northside. Thanks in advance to any replies. Thank god I read over the nutritional info on that site and realized that even a seemingly harmless burrito bowl at chipotle provides you with your entire day's rda of sodium, sat fat, etc! Some of their burritos if created without remorse could arguably be some of the worst fast food health choices one could make!

I'd suggest that you bite the bullet and make one trip out of the downtown area to a Mexican grocer. Sounds like you'll be making the stuff pretty frequently, and dried chiles last nearly forever, so you can stock up. Trips to grocers that serve largely Mexican populations are fun, educational, and way cheaper than trying to locate similar products downtown. The Carniceria Guanajato in Wicker Park isn't too far, and just a couple of blocks from the blue line:

Carniceria Guanajato
1436 N Ashland Ave
Wicker Park, IL 60622
(773) 772-5266

Yes, go to Guanajuato (a short jaunt from the Division stop on the Blue line); you could get all those dried chiles and the Mexican oregano there for a song and a dance. (I think a packet of Mexican oregano is like .99 cents.) It's also a good place for the meat and cheese component of your Chipotle bowl as well.

Or, much simpler - head to Maxwell St. Market on Sunday, just a bit south and west of downtown. I assume they still have a spice/chile guy?

Mhays wrote:Or, much simpler - head to Maxwell St. Market on Sunday, just a bit south and west of downtown. I assume they still have a spice/chile guy?

Eh, I'm not sure that Maxwell St. is simpler. I like MSM as much as the next person, but in all honesty, he's got to go on a Sunday morning and only a Sunday morning, wade through several blocks of junk and socks in order to, maybe, get to a spice guy. Guanajuato is open 'til 8 every day except Sunday (open 'til 6). Easy peasy.

Or jump on the L to Pilsen and go bananas. Seriously.

If Ashland is too far west, then none of the above are going to work.

If you live downtown Pilsen isn't exactly far away.

La Casa Del Pueblo
1810 S Blue Island Ave
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 421-4640

Agreed. From downtown, Pilsen is super easy to reach by cta pink line or even by car. You might even find other delights such as cactus, papalo, and other produce at rock bottom prices. Good luck!