Taco Grill and Salsa Bar: Al Pastor

Based on recommendation from Wimperoo I made the trip to Taco Grill and Salsa Bar. Once I was in the door I immediately ordered 2 Al Pastor tacos with cilantro and onion. They brought chips and I tried a bunch of the really amazing salsas from the bar. What a rich variety!

The Al Pastor tacos were good. They were not up to the standard of Tierra Grill, or La Cocina. When you ate the Al Pastor tacos from Tierra Grill they were so delicious that putting the red or green salsa they gave you on them felt, well, unnecessary.

These were good, but did not melt in your mouth. Maybe I am a snob about Al Pastor, but Tierra Grill spoiled me.

I do not understand the Al Pastor on the spit. Never saw that at Tierra Grill or La Cocina. But it does seem to be the way it is done, according to Wikipedia. Maybe I am just uneducated.

(side note: I went to Flaco's Tacos downtown to get the Fish Tacos recommended by Steve Dolinsky (very good, but, as he says, not as good as Chicks n Salsa's deep fried ones) and ordered on or their Al Pastor tacos. In short: not good at all. First of all, they put cheese on them, and them they just don't have that Al Pastor flavor, or even La Cocina.

I would go back to Taco Grill, would be interested in trying their Tongue Tacos and trying their many salsaa. It;s a quality place.

Taco Grill & Salsa Bar
111 W Ogden Ave
Westmont, IL 60559
630-353-0964

And yes, al pastor is traditionally cooked on a shwarma-style spit. Like you I'm more concerned about the overall flavor than the prep method. But I've come to find that restaurants' ideas of "al pastor" vary widely; and if you want a good bet that it will be at least reasonably authentic variation and not just some randomly seasoned pork globules, make sure it comes off a spit, particularly one with a chunk of pineapple on top.