What to eat on Jury Duty - 26th and California

HI

OK folks, I've got Jury Duty at Criminal Court tomorrow. Help me find good chow within walking distance. I think we get an hour (or maybe plus 1/2 hour?).

26th and California... Got to be something fine near there

Cermak is 6-7 blocks away. La Casa de Samuel rocks.

Da Beef highly recommended the tamales at Taqueria El Milagro, which is two blocks west of the Criminal Court at 26th & Sacramento.

Khaopaat wrote:Da Beef highly recommended the tamales at Taqueria El Milagro, which is two blocks west of the Criminal Court at 26th & Sacramento.

It's going to be freezing tomorrow & those blocks are really, really, really long for walking at lunch time to get food & get back.

Leek if you are driving just plan on driving to your lunch destination & back. See if you can get in & out privileges at the parking lot. I think it's $12 or $16 for the day.

Nope, taking public transit

Be careful...

Khaopaat wrote:Da Beef highly recommended the tamales at Taqueria El Milagro, which is two blocks west of the Criminal Court at 26th & Sacramento.

If the location is two blocks away, and is cafeteria style like the Blue Island location, I'd bee line it there, and convince them to make me a platillo with spoonfuls of whatever guisados look interesting to you on the line, plus a couple of tamales. Then linger until you have to waddle back.

With a grain of salt, I overheard a few of the peeps who work in the bldg say that the roach coach stationed near the walkway between the parking lot to the E of the bldg had some really stellar breakfast burritos / breakfast sammiches.

I really like the El Milagro idea though. Brisk two block walk followed by (hopefully) some good n spicy stew offerings and a few tamales would be high on my list.

leek wrote:Nope, taking public transit

Pad your time even more. I did that 1 time & would never do it again, unless I had not a care about getting there or back in a timely manner. The pink line & the California bus both suck.

Good luck. When I had jury duty a couple years ago, I went down there assuming there would be more food options...not so much. It was spring and I ended up walking up 26th street to the first taqueria I could find. Maybe it was El Milagro- it was fairly sizable, had a faux brick interior and the horchata was pink, which was a little strange. The escabeche on the tables had garlic in them. I ate a lot of that garlic and I credit it for getting me out of jury duty!

Heading west on 26th, the first place worth considering is La Kermes at 3002 W 26th, a large taqueria with table service and a fairly large menu. Not La Villita's finest but not a bad choice either.



About a block more and you'll be at El Milagro (3050 W 26th) for cafeteria-style service—just point to whatever looks good. Can be a bit chaotic at peak hours.



Going another block will take you to Carniceria Aguascalientes (3132 W 26th). The taqueria in the west side of the grocery is known for excellent made-to-order gorditas.



You could also head north on California to Cermak and choose between Casa de Samuel (2834 W Cermak) or Los Corrales (2881 W Cermak). If you choose Cermak, it probably would be faster to take the bus. It's not clear to me if you plan to walk or ride (if bus, CTA's Bustracker should come in handy).

After your day of meting out justice is over you should consider a leisurely visit a little farther west on 26th. I believe January 6 is Dia de Reyes, or Epiphany, so there should be plenty of Roscas de Reyes in La Villita's bakeries (La Baguette, Rosy's, El Nopal, Bombon, Panaderia Nuevo Leon).

Rene G wrote:Heading west on 26th, the first place worth considering is La Kermes at 3002 W 26th, a large taqueria with table service and a fairly large menu. Not La Villita's finest but not a bad choice either.

This looks like the place I ate at- other than the weird pink horchata, it was pretty good. Loved that pickled garlic!

I would really, really, really recommend brown bagging it. You may be there not long, you may be there a long time, there's really no telling. For that matter, they may not even let you leave! So bring your lunch and a good book is my opinion.

Vitesse98 wrote:I would really, really, really recommend brown bagging it. You may be there not long, you may be there a long time, there's really no telling. For that matter, they may not even let you leave! So bring your lunch and a good book is my opinion.

This is good advise. I was called for jury duty once and we were not let out for a lunch and we could not leave the building until a jury was finally selected. That was at 7 pm! Couldn't even call our families.

LikestoEatout wrote:

Vitesse98 wrote:I would really, really, really recommend brown bagging it. You may be there not long, you may be there a long time, there's really no telling. For that matter, they may not even let you leave! So bring your lunch and a good book is my opinion.

This is good advise. I was called for jury duty once and we were not let out for a lunch and we could not leave the building until a jury was finally selected. That was at 7 pm! Couldn't even call our families.

Wow, when I was there, my group hadn't been screened yet and they let us take a generous 90 minute lunch, so I was able to walk down to La Kermes. After lunch, my group went in and I was lucky enough to not get picked and was out of there by 4:30 or so.

Bringing your lunch to jury duty is very sensible advice but I personally wouldn't consider it for a minute. Getting out for a brisk walk and some good food may be the day's only bright spot. If you think being cooped up all morning in the waiting room is boring, just wait until the afternoon!

Enchiladas Potosinas at La Kermes


Tamal de Camaron at El Milagro ($1 each, Friday only)


Gorditas at Carniceria Aguascalientes


The pickled veggies at Aguascalientes, gratis at every table, are a real highlight, one of the better versions in the city.

For those heading out on foot, be aware there are no restaurants whatsoever on 26th between California & Western or on California between 26th & 31st. Also the choices are extremely sparse on California between 26th & Cermak. In other words, I'd suggest walking west on 26th.

I'll add another rec for El Milagro, been going there as long as I can remember. Probably my dad spending a lot of time at 26th and Cal [as a State's Attorney and then a defense lawyer] first got our family going there.

Went to El Milagro with a like-minded fellow citizen, we shared This was my plate before we started splitting things up -

We got 90 mins for lunch, they allowed laptops in the jury waiting room (and cell phones, no one asked about cell cameras). At 2 pm they let us all go, no one had been called, all the cases "cancelled" they told us.

I ended up taking the Damen bus south to Blue Island, and then the BI bus over to California. Really an easy trip. It was in the 20s, so not the bone-chilling cold we've been experiencing. Not bad at all.

Thanks for all the advice!

I am at 26th street every day and generally eat lunch in my office. The cafeteria scares me. El Milagro is great. I like the toungue and the pork in green sauce but that food always puts me to sleep. Not so good if you are on a jury. It is. after all, your civic duty to stay awake. If you eat at El Milagro, I recommend the coffee at the truck parked across from the parking garage. It tastes terrible but, boy, does it have the caffeine. I hope you have/had a good experience.

Well done. I'm really glad it was balmy today for the walk & you got enough time to get there, eat, & get back.

We got 90 mins for lunch, they allowed laptops in the jury waiting room (and cell phones, no one asked about cell cameras).

They'll take your camera away from you for the day, but they pretend like there is no such thing as a cell phone camera and let them go by. (I was tempted to snap images of all my notes before they were confiscated at the end of the trial.)

Oh, they said if we had cell phones and we got called into interview for a jury that the phones would have to be turned off, and newspapers and laptops stowed in bags.

leek -
Any chance you could elaborate on what you had for lunch?
Looks like sometihng in a red sauce, and a tamal of some sort? What did your d/c opt for? How was it?

I had Beef Guisado (beef stew in special sauce) and got two tamales - chicken and pork. My companion had some sort of chicken breast, pounded thin with what seemed like chopped onion and cilantro salsa.

I liked the flavor of the chicken better than the beef, there was some sort of herb or spice that wasn't to my taste (not that it was off or anything, just didn't like it)

my two favorite things to eat at El Milagro are the pork in green sauce (a guisado) a totally rocking combo of tart and garlicky and not too sweet or spicy and the chile relleno taco which is pretty much a meal in itself. Even if you are meat eater, do try the rajas con queso tamale (cheese and green chile) very very good flavor.

bjt

OH - that cafeteria? In the building? I got a coffee there in the morning (couldn't figure anywhere else close to go). GAH! PUTRID! Must have been from the day before, at least.

This posting came along at the right time.

Had jury duty today so I hit El Milagro for lunch. I had an hour and a half, but could have easily done it in an hour. The pork stew in green sauce was extremely good. Wanted to get some tamales but I was stuffed. Also had time to hit up the bakery further west on California. Looked good, but I just grabbed a cup of coffee.

Since I got selected as a juror, I hope to be back tomorrow to get some tamales.

La Chaparrita is the place to go when in the area.

25th Street (not 25th Place) and Whipple is about a 10 minute leisurely stroll when heading northwest from criminal court. The 90 minute lunch period that is allotted for jurors in the assembly room is more than enough time to go there, get lunch and come back.

If one is pressed for time, phoning in a take out order would be a possibility. Prospective jurors heading to the assembly room can bring food there.

--
edc

I hit El Milagro on 26th on Jury Duty lunch break, and didn't love it. Perhaps I didn't order well?
I ordered two tamales and the pollo en mole from the "Tacos" section. At $3.50, I thought that would mean tacos, plural, but it's one big taco, with onions, cabbage, rice, and a whole freakin' chicken leg, bone and all (making me think slightly of the BBQ 'sandwiches' I've had, where the bread is just there to soak up sauce and grease). The chicken itself was tender and juicy, but the mole kind of flat.

The tamales weren't any better: the puerco one was a little dry, the rajas one a little soggy.

The little tub of salsa they served was just awful: bland, bitter, below what I've mistakenly picked up at a supermarket as fresh salsa with February tomatoes.

At least I got out of jury duty at 2PM - not a single panel was called.

For anyone unlucky enough to have to go to the seventh circle of hell that is 26th and Cal, there's at least one diamond to be found in that neighborhood. Run, don't walk to the best taqueria in Chicago - La Chaparrita at 25th and Whipple. Lengua, tripas (crujiente, por favor), longaniza, asada... They're small-ish, so order at least one more than usual. The salsas are tremendous. The pineapple tempache is lights-out great.

I agree that the food offerings near 26th and Cal are week. What is weaker are the county provided breakfast and lunches lunches for jurors. See the example below.

I do take issue with calling those who serve as jurors or my colleagues who sat for a whole month as a grand juror me as unlucky. Jury service is, besides voting one of the very few things you are asked to do as a citizen. Perhaps if more folks felt that way about our government and its institutions we would not have elected the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. There, I'm done. Back to food...