Maxwell Street Market Guide, 2010-2011

Maxwell Street Market Guide, 2010-2011

As part of Greater Midwest Foodways “Midwest Eats! Foodways of the Great Depression” to be held at Kendall College (4/29-5/1), food historian Bruce Kraig are I will be doing a tour of the Maxwell Street Market. To support that tour, I revised the Maxwell Street Market Guide, which can be found here:

http://www.greatermidwestfoodways.com/data/files/images/events/2011/MidwestEats/Maxwell%20Street%20Market%20Guide,%202011-12,%20test.pdf

For those inclined, I’d love to get your input and revise this free guide so that it’s as useful as possible to all who wish to venture forth into this continually fascinating food zone.

C2 previously posted about this three-day event; in addition to myself and C2, LTHers Mike Gebert and Peter Engler will also be participating.

If you have a chance to review the guide, post feedback here or PM me – we would like to get this printed in the next few days.

Thanks.

The PDF file for the Market is great. Loaded with great photos, write ups of some vendor there, tips of all kinds, Eye ball tacos , clean bathroom locations and parking spots.
GREAT work THANKS!

I'll echo Cbot's sentiments.

Could you perhaps include the hours of operation or recommended time to visit?

bean wrote:I'll echo Cbot's sentiments.

Could you perhaps include the hours of operation or recommended time to visit?

Thanks, I'm making some adjustments now and will post or link to the final version when it's completed.

There's still time for other comments/corrections, if anyone is so inclined.

Apologies if I'm being stupid, but is this link currently down? I'm heading to the market in a few hours, so an updated guide would be great...

It looks like the 2011 version is here:

http://greatermidwestfoodways.com/data/files/images/events/2011/MidwestEats/MaxwellStreetMarketGuide2011-12.pdf

Thanks! Had a great trip to the market, lots of good tacos and quesadilas from Manolo's and Rubi's.

The guide was fantastic - it made a big difference to our trip. Two small typos: on p16, "the second by wom man", and on p5, "a not entirely though certainly understandable trend at the market".

tsg20 wrote:Thanks! Had a great trip to the market, lots of good tacos and quesadilas from Manolo's and Rubi's.

The guide was fantastic - it made a big difference to our trip. Two small typos: on p16, "the second by wom man", and on p5, "a not entirely though certainly understandable trend at the market".

Thank you very much.

We had some quesadillas from Rubi's today: flor de calabaza, al pastor, carne asada and nopales, and mole rojo. Very good. Bruce Kraig thought the mole was prepackaged, and he may very well have been correct; It was quite reminiscent of Teloloapan brand.

Hi,

I'm sorry about the link above. I had updated it on Greater Midwest Foodways webpage and apparently created a new url. I forgot to update it on this page.

Regards,

Does anyone know what time on a Sunday morning the food stalls are open for business?

tsg20 wrote:Does anyone know what time on a Sunday morning the food stalls are open for business?

Round 7-ish.

David Hammond wrote:

tsg20 wrote:Does anyone know what time on a Sunday morning the food stalls are open for business?

Round 7-ish.

Thanks! Went there at 7:15 this morning for an excellent breakfast.

Beautiful day at the market. Some new items:



Gentleman selling these told us they were soligram, a rock from Nepal, that is prefered by those seeking enlightenment. The one on the left goes for $300. I held it in my hand, so I got that going for me.



This white block is candied bisnaga, a type of barrel cactus. It tasted like sugar.

My son and i made our first foray to Maxwell st yesterday and I must say i was impressed by the food we ate and the people we met.
Not single burrito in sight!
We followed our usual habit of looking for where the people were eating and the preparation looked good and we were not disappointed. Since I'm still in the analog photography world, pics will have to wait. (I do have a digital Nikon scanner)
Suffice it say we had Quesadillas with queso and pablano filling that was awesome. i ordered two for me and one would have been enough. These were not your ordinary small ones. Made right as you watched and brought right to you. Great with an ice cold horchata.
found a little lady making queso enchiladas in a mole sauce on a little comal. Ordered two for $2. Came with potatoes, carrots and garnishes. The mole was not distinguishing but it was fresh and hot off the comal.
Lastly we had cups of consomé de barbacoa. Served with tortillas, lime and garnish. A great pick me up. The churros looked good but not on my diet.
Very easy to get to for us taking the Roosevelt/Talyor St Exit and going east on Taylor Street to the Tents. Metered Parking was expensive!
We have eaten a lot in Milwaukee Mexican places but the food was not up to these standards. There are no local Mexican Restaurants near us around the Kenosha area that I would eat at.
My simple dogma is that the best ethnic food is found where the population supports and demands authenticity. Maxwell St in Chicago proved that true once again.-Dick

budrichard wrote:Metered Parking was expensive!

Shockingly so. We paid $3/hr on the meter.

However, that outlay was compensated for by a case of perfect yellow mangos, about 24 for $6, a huge value.

Last Sunday found the market featuring not one but two BBQ places. There was Mr. Bill's, which has been mentioned before and another place, sorry I've forgotten the place. That "other" place was handing out ample samples of their rib tips. The sample I tried showed much tip tenderness but way too much use of an MSG-ish rub. I did not like. Mr. Bill samples too, but I did not need a slice of brisket to know I wanted it. It's probably the best commercially available brisket I know of in the Chicago area--having not tried Wiviot's restaurant work yet. Mr. Bill's equally skilled at long cooked green beans and jerk chicken. On the downside, there is no shade, at all, at his stand.

As good as the BBQ was, I always like Maxwell St best when I find local produce.

Vital Information wrote:Last Sunday found the market featuring not one but two BBQ places. There was Mr. Bill's, which has been mentioned before and another place, sorry I've forgotten the place.

Thanks!

Have you tried?

Vital Information wrote:Thanks!

Have you tried?

I had sample tips. The Wife really liked them. For some reason, they didn't move me. I could have been biased: I'm not sure they're actually cooking there; seems like they might be just re-heating. I have not confirmed that.

My wife reminded me last night that in addition to his way with Q, Mr. B has a way with sides too. He did about as much as you can do with canned green beans, but he really did a lot something with his dirty rice. I'd say vegetarians have their chance to try Mr. Bill's stuff too, but none of his veg are vegetarian friendly. Sorry.

Made another foray to Maxwell St Market this morning. Rain squalls kept blowing in off Lake Michigan so it got a bit damp but I did have a light jacket. Light was very dim, so photography under the tent awnings of most places was iffy with color reversal film. But the food was again excellent!
Went back to Cavillo's to again have the Quesadilla with Queso and Pablano Chile. Out of this world, fresh hot tortilla, handmade while you wait. Noticed the spit for Al Pastor, so it was a Sope also for me. About 6" diameter, it was excellent as well with queso fresco and other fixings. Washed down by a cup of Horchata.
Went to Rubi's to try the Tacos I have read so much about. Ordered one Nopalitas Carne Asada.
Huge hot handmade corn tortilla, again made while you wait. Most places in Wisconsin give you two factory corn tortilla's warmed over a griddle for a Taco, not even in the same league!
The Carne ASADA was a little tough with not a lot of flavor so next time it will be something else, the tortilla's were that good. Stuffed, I eventually toddled off back to the car as the meter was breaking my bank account. I got to find a cheaper place to park!-Dick

Bump!
After perusing the City of Chicago Parking website, found that south of Roosevelt, rates are $1.50/hr or half of further North. Found parking on Jefferson, south of Roosevelt. Quick walk to Des Plaines.
Went back to Rubi's and ordered a Taco with Al Pastor. Again great tortilla but tough almost inedible meat off the spit. The spitmaster has a great vocal about what he is selling but after this version of Al Pastor, i will not be back to Rubi's despite what anyone says about the quality of the food.
The Al Pastor at Cavillo's is flavorful, tender and great! My favorite place! Had a Sope with Pablano's, excellent.
Did purchase some Tabsaco peppers that looked very good but at what i felt was an exorbitant price!-Dick

budrichard wrote:Did purchase some Tabsaco peppers that looked very good but at what i felt was an exorbitant price!-Dick

Dick, you might consider bargaining. It's firmly within the MSM tradition.

I did, from $5/# to $4/#. I thought $3/# was the right price but they looked so good and I never see them in the markets in Wisconsin! Last year I had to have my local farmer plant and raise the plants for me. Of course, I had to pick the plants to get the Tabascos I wanted. Strange little plants as the peppers are so light, they stay upright instead of bending down under the weight of the pepper. Had about 20 plants that required picking every few days. Quite an undertaking! Lot easier to buy them picked!
Made a Jamaican style marinade for 'Shark Bake' with them. Used beautiful Mako I got from Fresh Farms. -Dick