La Lagartija Taqueria

La Lagartija Taqueria

We're headed to La Lagartija Taqueria tonight. If you've been, would appreciate any thoughts. Looking over what's been written elsewhere (yes, I do read Yelp now and again), it seems rather generic, though it's run by two School of Rick alums, so I got to believe there's more going on there than tacos, burritos and quesadillas.

Also, seems to be no website for the place, which is an oversight any restaurant (be it ever so humble) should avoid.

La Lagartija Taqueria
132 S. Ashland
Chicago, IL 60607

Tamarkin gave it a shout-out in the NYT's rather random listing last week of near-Pitchfork dining options:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/pitchforked-where-to-eat-in-chicago-this-weekend/?scp=4&sq=pitchfork&st=cse

This place confuses me. It looks sharp and designed, and walking in from last night’s monsoon, our expectations were high. Take a look at the room. Not your standard taqueria; could be interesting, we thought.



The menu deflated those high hopes, presenting just a bunch of typical stuff, most of which we found acceptable though entirely unexciting…except for the shrimp taco, which MJN has twittered positively about, and his praise is well placed.



The Wife liked the shrimp taco so much we got another order; “That’s the best shrimp taco I can remember, “ she said. The shrimp taco is $2.50 and features two high-quality shrimp, lightly breaded and fried and served with crema and chipotle salsa. A pretty simple dish….but it’s not served on a dish, it’s served in a basket. I have no problem with baskets, but at a place featuring two Bayless alums (Luis Perea and Laura Cid-Perea, neither of whom seemed to be there Friday), we were expecting more fine-dining elements, but that clearly is not what they’re going for a La Lagartija. Not that they should: we’ve all had outstanding meals at taquerias all over the city, but this place seems to aspire to more…so it confused me why in this relatively handsome room, they’d have one flat screen monitor devoted to a snowy screen featuring the Home Shopping Network. Why, in the shot above of the dining room, they’d drape a cook's towel and apron over the back of the brushed aluminum Vie-type chairs, making the customer area an extension of the break room. This is careless.

Also difficult to understand is how, on a Friday night around 8:00PM, they could be out of their tres leches cake, one of the more well-known offerings from Bonbon right down the street, which is also owned by the Pereas, who you’d think would be more on-top of things like this. That shows lack of attention.

While we were eating, a group of hipsters came in, found out the place didn’t serve alcohol and left, presumably to go in search of the local CVS where they were told they could get some beers. They never came back. Now, BYO can be an advantage, and if I were the owners, I’d splash the acronym on the menu, on the front of the building, on the website (if such a website existed, which as noted in the OP it does not), and make it a strength rather than a weakness. If people drive by and see BYO in the window, they can go get booze and come back; however, if they have to park and come in only to discover no drinks are available, they may very well leave, unhappy. Our server told us it’s going to be months before they’ll get a liquor license. Not capitalizing on the BYO angle seems an error; heck, they didn’t charge a corkage fee for the Heinekens we brought in – why not advertise that, too? “BYO – no corkage!” An opportunity lost.

Overall, there’s a sloppiness at this place that confuses me. It seems like it could be much more than it is, and it wouldn’t take much effort to make it a better customer experience. I’ve been addressing the easy stuff, of course, and for me the really big challenge is making the food as good as it seems it should be (I'm working on a more food-centric review for the Reader). If, as Tamarkin observed, "Perea is one of the most talented Mexican chefs in the city,” expecting more seems fully justified.

I think this is a great addition to the neighborhood. While I'm a big fan of Bom Bon Cafe down the block, it can get pricey to eat there on a regular basis. The quality at Lagartija is more than adequate, while delivering at a very reasonable price point. My co-workers love the Fish and Shrimp Taco's and I was thoroughly satisfied with both the Steak and the Chorizo ones. Nice atmosphere, very clean and pretty attentive service for the lunchtime crowds they tend to draw.

Count me as a fan. While I'll agree there isn't much terribly new on the menu, most of what I've had is really good.

Pros:
nice, bright, very clean room with friendly staff
fast--for someone on a lunch break that's a definite plus
reasonably priced food (burritos perhaps a bit pricey and the entrees really should come with rice & beans or the like)
quessadillas--I've had the steak and the ones with mushrooms, peppers and chiles. both very good.
tacos--the shrimp tacos are the BOMB! they're like shrimp versions of the Cali style fish taco. steak tacos very good. my vegetarian friend likes the veggie one a lot.
queso fumido (sp?)--with corn & poblano chiles, very rich and very yummy served with fresh tortillas
chips & guacamole-simple but nice. I prefer chunky guac to this smooth as butter version but it's still nice
strawberry water and the strawberry horchata--both really nice

Cons:
confusing ordering setup. they have a menu with tick marks (like a sushi bar menu) but sometimes (most) they just come get your order at the table. they never seem to bring the check --even after you are obviously done eating--you have to go up and ask them to total you up.
the Volcan--al pastor and cheese on a tostada, the tostada was like wood. the topping was great but the tostado was terrible
queso fumido (sp?) with chorizo. not nearly as good as the other one I tried this version seemed like two distinct ingredients that never, ever blended: the melted cheese layer on top and underneath a somewhat dry, tasty, chorizo. you didn't get chorizo with melted cheese you got chorizo with a side of cheese that just happened to come ontop.

Except for the lack of beer this place has now replaced Big Star for us as the quick lunch taco/Mexican snack place. That's what I would compare it to as well, not Frontera Grill or the like. It's definitely NOT in that league.

--Dirk--

groovedirk wrote:they never seem to bring the check --even after you are obviously done eating--you have to go up and ask them to total you up.

I had the same confusing experience but was thinking maybe it was just a just a random oversight. Clearly, it's S.O.P. Odd that this place, which for all appearances aspires to being more than a taco joint, has a do-it-yourself service attitude.

I believe that not bringing the check until asked is standard restaurant etiquette in Mexico -- on the view that bringing the check to the table rudely rushes your customers out.

Amata wrote:I believe that not bringing the check until asked is standard restaurant etiquette in Mexico -- on the view that bringing the check to the table rudely rushes your customers out.

It seems the procedure at La Lagartija, though, is to not bring the check at all; rather, when you're done, you walk to the register to find out how much is owed. This is not a big thing, but if you're going to eat there, you should know that you may wait a long time before you figure out that after eating, it's (probably) your move.

After having read about this place a number of times over the past couple months, my craving for Mexican food last night got me to persuade my wife to pull her nose out of her studies and check it out. We both love fish tacos, and shrimp are her favorite food, so the raves we'd seen about their shrimp tacos were the main reason for the visit.

The place was pretty empty when we arrived, around 8pm on a Saturday. There were never more than three or four tables filled. Service was extremely attentive and friendly, and we had none of the confusion others mentioned.

We started out with chips and guac, which was good but nothing out of the ordinary. I ordered a steak taco, a pastor taco and a shrimp taco while my wife had a steak and shrimp. The steak, which is my taqueria benchmark, came with a generous amount of tender grilled meat, not too greasy, on a homemade tortilla. They had a nice looking trompo going, and the meat that came off it was nice and moist. They served it with some shreds of the pineapple on the top. Among the best pastor tacos I've had. And the shrimp tacos, lightly fried and crisp, certainly lived up to the hype (including their inclusion on Chicago Magazine's top 30 Mexican dishes in their current issue).

Definitely one we'll be visiting again soon.

blipsman wrote:we had none of the confusion others mentioned.

That's a good thing. Maybe they've heard from customers and modified their approach.

Went 2 weeks ago, the food is between good and great based on what we had (Chips and Salsa, Shrimp Tacos, and the Jarongo) and I live in the hood, so great addition to the neighborhood. Casual, pretty fun place, but kind of all by itself at night on that part of Ashland (which makes for easy parking)

2 observations though. 1. Both dishes and and all three salsa's were spicy. I love spicy food so worked out great, but I've never had spicy shrimp tacos. Made me wonder if everything is spicy (just something to be aware of if you are sensitive to that type of thing) 2. Wife wanted rice and beans, acknowldging it wasn't on the menu, just a craving she was having she asked if there would be someway they could accomodate. The answer is no, fine, makes perfect sense...except I later realize they have Frijoles Charro on the menu and the special of the night written on the board comes with a side of rice. Again no biggie when making an off the menu request, but i prefer it when my server thinks of these things instead of me having to cobble together the clues. That small suggestion could have taken my experience from an A minus to an A plus, that's all.

Stopped by last week and had a great meal, this place will be in my rotation! Had the mole enchiladas and 3 tacos (shrimp/al pastor and steak), along with the tres leches cake and horchata.

1) best shrimp taco in all of chicagoland.
2) Daily specials, (I had the mole enchiladas, which were supurb)
3) Nice clean interior (not a hole in the wall) and friendly service, food came out fast.
4) Reasonable prices
5) Amazing desserts and horchata

Mixed-to-positive recent experience at LLT, all quite consistent with the above notes: shrimp taco was excellent (some canela in the batter?), Volcan tostada was petrified, and everything else was in between. Each item was artfully presented and I thought very reasonably priced, especially the mushroom quesadilla on homemade tortillas, very filling.

Except for the chorizo taco, though, everything seemed undersalted and a little sedate, including the salsas, which were spicy but not very flavorful. The choco-banana shake was smooth, fresh, and balanced but served at room temperature, and the good chop salad ingredients deserved a better dressing than the pretty but bland mango sauce. I will return soon to grab another shrimp taco and maybe a cazuelita, which are enticing.

"Sedate" is apposite.

I went back to La Lagartija Taqueria yesterday after work, and was surprised to see very few people inside. I really hope this place survives, as I mentioned they have amazing shrimp tacos as well as their specials. Yesterday besides the mole they had a fish taco! It was excellent, rivals their shrimp taco and very similar to the ones I had out in San Diego which has some of the best fish taco's anywhere in the US. I told them they should leave it on their permanent menu, and so if you stop in try the fish taco! It's hard to find decent seafood taco places, besides of course, Big and Littles so I really hope this place does well! Stop in and try the shrimp taco and fish (if it's available) and tell me where you can find a better mexican seafood taco anywhere in this city? I doubt one exists!

Stopped by today for lunch. Service was warm and attentive. Waitress took the order, brought the bill at the appropriate time, and cashed us out promptly.

Taco were very good, especially the often mentioned shrimp taco. We each had an additional one for "dessert." The al pastor was also good with a little dollop of the very flavorful and spicy morita salsa as a counterpoint to the sweet pineapple. We will be back.

Was overalled impressed by a recent lunch here (if yr reading this, sorry happy_stomach for going w/o you). Standout items were the salsas and garnishes- the gratis table offerings included a deeply smoky and thick chipotle salsa, bright and aggressively spiced pickled red onions, and that avocado-fortified, creamy version of salsa verde. All awesome, we dispatched any remaining drops with the nice tortillas (seemingly handmade and if not procured fresh for a reputable source) after we'd finished our main dishes. We also ordered the chiles toreados which were grilled serranos with deeply caramelized onions, really rich flavor though oddly not so hot to my taste.
We split the Alambre La Patrona. I love Alambres and have only seen them on a few taqueria menus around town (El Potosi has them I believe). What's not to love about a riot of greasy meats, grilled chilies and onions, blanketed in gooey Chihuahua. This version, which was marked on the menu with their house specialty gecko logo had chopped pork chop, bacon, poblano, onion, and Chihuahua. It was a relatively modest portion, yielding about four small tacos. Very nice, the pork was juicy, though under seasoned perhaps. No matter though, the bacon and chilies more than enough elevated the assertive nature of the dish. Definitely also perked up with the amazing, piquant salsa de chile de arbol and guac accompaniments.
We each ordered two tacos to supplement. The shrimp was battered and served with mayo and shredded lettuce in addition to salsa verde and cilantro. Shrimp were plump and seemed pretty fresh buried inside all that other business. I don't think I'm a fan in general of battered- things- in- taco- form, I'd rather eat that stuff on a sturdy roll in poor boy fashion. I even prefer a grilled fish taco.
And lastly I tried a "volcan" another gecko-ized menu item. This was a cheesy al pastor taco served up in an oddly toasted crisp tortilla, which to my taste was overly toasted and distracted from the fillings. Al pastor was pretty good (their trompo looked pretty glorious in the back, plump, charring up, and spattering orange grease). I'd like to try their pure al pastor taco without the overpowering carbonized flavor of the tortilla and the blanket of cheese.
I dig this place, its great to have a new Mexican option not-too-far-from-home serving up freshly made and off-the-beaten path offerings.

First post here!

Anyway, wanted to comment on how I have headed to La Lagartija at least once a week for lunch over the past several months. It doesn't get any better than:

3 Tacos (2 Al Pastor and 1 Shrimp)
1 Mexican Coke
1 Tres leches cake

Sometimes they pile on too much cilantro and onions on the Pastor but overall a reliable lunch spot. The Shrimp taco is pretty amazing...

Just wanted to bump this thread back to relevance, I'm a big fan of this place and can't understand why it's not busy every time I come here. They have the best shrimp taco in Chicagoland and have desserts from BomBom cafe, what more could you ask for?

Thanks to a tip from blipsman we've added La Lagartija to our pre-Bulls game rotation. The shrimp taco is obviously the main draw here, but both the skirt steak and al pastor can range from good to outstanding. The skirt steak in particular seems to have a very high ceiling. They also usually have a couple of specials, with cecina the most common (although I haven't tried it yet). I had the chicharron one night and I thought it was excellent.

Anyway, reading back through earlier posts I'd say this place has gotten its act together. Service is friendly and efficient (you don't have to wait around endlessly for your check when you're ready for it) and they have a full bar (they make a pretty solid michelada).

While I've really only been at around 5:30 or 6pm, they've generally been pretty empty. If you've written them off, or just decided not to go based on earlier reports, I'd urge you to give them another shot.

jesteinf wrote:Thanks to a tip from blipsman we've added La Lagartija to our pre-Bulls game rotation. The shrimp taco is obviously the main draw here, but both the skirt steak and al pastor can range from good to outstanding. The skirt steak in particular seems to have a very high ceiling. They also usually have a couple of specials, with cecina the most common (although I haven't tried it yet). I had the chicharron one night and I thought it was excellent.

Anyway, reading back through earlier posts I'd say this place has gotten its act together. Service is friendly and efficient (you don't have to wait around endlessly for your check when you're ready for it) and they have a full bar (they make a pretty solid michelada).

While I've really only been at around 5:30 or 6pm, they've generally been pretty empty. If you've written them off, or just decided not to go based on earlier reports, I'd urge you to give them another shot.

Thanks for bumping this up, Josh. We're always looking for pre-Bulls dining options. We'll have to check this out.

No problem. Parking is actually a little easier than you might expect before games, either on Ashland in front of the restaurant or just around the corner.

David Hammond wrote:La Lagartija Taqueria

....

Also, seems to be no website for the place, which is an oversight any restaurant (be it ever so humble) should avoid.

La Lagartija Taqueria
132 S. Ashland
Chicago, IL 60607

They have one now.

http://lalagartijataqueria.com/

We hit up La Lagartija recently. I had a shrimp taco and a fish taco. Mr. X went with a steak burrito. The shrimp taco was better than I remembered. It was very well prepared. The fish taco was fine. The bite of burrito I was allowed was good. I had a michelada. It might have been that I was at the start of a cold, but I wasn't impressed with it. Next time, I'll have a margarita. Parking was plentiful and the Bulls won that night. It was a good night.

Another data point for La Lagartija. The shrimp taco continues to be one of my favorites, but I have to give a shout-out for the rajas de poblano with corn tacos. I had them recently and really loved the balance of flavor and texture. The house margarita went down well with the tacos. And the Bulls won. Again, a good night.

I eat here and its sister spot down the street at least 1-2 times a week and love them. Lagartija has recently been having some really good specials to augment the regular menu. I think it's one of my favorite and most consistent spots. If only you got some free chips to go with the three salsas placed on your table when you sit down.

Popped my lagartija cherry this afternoon with an al pastor taco and a nortena quesadilla. Very simple order, but man, was it awesome. I've lived down the street for two years, and am kicking myself for not trying it sooner.

They had a pork tip in green sauce special that was very tempting...FYI

And thanks for the tips on the shrimp taco here. Went back and it was one of the most satisfying tacos I've ever eaten. And the house margaritas are a steal at $7. Great 1-2 punch.

Made my first visit here yesterday. Between my wife and I we had the following taco variants: fried shrimp, grilled fish, al pastor and rajas de poblano with corn. Shrimp is truly outstanding. Very light batter that doesn't obscure the perfectly cooked, plump shrimp. I could have done with a little lighter application of the two sauces but, to counter that, my wife wouldn't change a thing. So next time (and there will be a next time) I'll just ask for a lighter hand on mine. Of the 3 salsas provided I thought the green (nice sneaky heat yet not overpowering and extremely flavorful) made the best accompaniment to the "naked" portion of my shrimp taco. The al pastor was good but didn't stand out from the pack. I didn't try my wife's grilled fish taco and she wasn't wowed by it but, in fairness, she ate the shrimp one first and I think pretty much anything after that was going to be a letdown. We both like the rajas very much. When we return for more I'd see us just ordering the shrimp and rajas tacos. I did see a gentleman at the bar wolf down a large steaming bowl of some type of soup; I don't know exactly what it was but it smelled good when the server walked it past us. It must have been a daily special which I didn't realize they had as therewas just a hand written sign tacked to the wall to the right of the kitchen and our view of it was obscured. Would have been nice to know that there *were* specials available but we were only there for the tacos yesterday so it didn't really matter. Next time I will know to search/inquire.

So, basically, to echo what others have said - kick ass shrimp tacos. Since it's relatively close to me and there's easy street parking we will definitely be putting La Lagartija into our rotation. Made for a great pre-movie lunch.

So glad to see this place pop up on the board. I was tipped off by a colleague who lives near by and had them cater a work function. It's now in my regular rotation! I usually order one or two of the alambres to share and some truly outstanding margaritas. I'm never disappointed!