Any updates on this? I've been craving carne asada recently and realized I don't have a go to joint. I'm particularly interested in places that are on the north side since it'd be easier for me to get to.

Might want to check out Asadero on Montrose--I thought it was pretty good but I'm by no means an expert. It's close enough anyway if you haven't been...

Taco counter at Carniceria Guanajuato #3, California just south of Belmont. Carne asada is best at peak lunch or dinner hours, when they are moving enough meat so that it doesn't get held very long.

boudreaulicious wrote:Might want to check out Asadero on Montrose--I thought it was pretty good but I'm by no means an expert. It's close enough anyway if you haven't been...

I agree. especially if you get the carne asada torta - really an outstanding sandwich.

RAB wrote:Taco counter at Carniceria Guanajuato #3, California just south of Belmont. Carne asada is best at peak lunch or dinner hours, when they are moving enough meat so that it doesn't get held very long.

Any idea if the location on Ashland is any good?

It's pretty good. Leon (was Tierra Caliente), basically next door, is better in my opinion.

turkob wrote:

RAB wrote:Taco counter at Carniceria Guanajuato #3, California just south of Belmont. Carne asada is best at peak lunch or dinner hours, when they are moving enough meat so that it doesn't get held very long.

Any idea if the location on Ashland is any good?

IMO, that location is not nearly as good as #3. It's better than TC for carne asada, but you might as well just get TC's pastor if you are on that block.

Asadero on montrose is my favorite asada in the city. It is almost always hot off the charcoal when served. There's the added bonus that I can walk over to join you!

RAB wrote:Taco counter at Carniceria Guanajuato #3, California just south of Belmont. Carne asada is best at peak lunch or dinner hours, when they are moving enough meat so that it doesn't get held very long.

Working on an XXX Hot BBQ sauce and stopped at Carniceria Guanajuato California/Belmont to pick up a few things. I've long been a fan of the in-house taqueria, but todays carne asada and lengua were particularly tasty. Also picked up a sheet of chicaronne and a bottle of valentina to bring to Barn & Co, made the line cooks smile.

If you're tired of La Pasadita take a small trip north on Ashland to Tierra Caliente (1402 N. Ashland Ave.)

Full disclosure - this a small grocery store first and taqueria second. But the tacos are absolutely outstanding, particularly Al Pastor tacos.

rdstoll wrote:If you're tired of La Pasadita take a small trip north on Ashland to Tierra Caliente (1402 N. Ashland Ave.)

Full disclosure - this a small grocery store first and taqueria second. But the tacos are absolutely outstanding, particularly Al Pastor tacos.

Good call. Dedicated thread here.

=R=

I'm still in love with Las Asadas for carne asada (and nothing else.) I think I've had two clunkers (once too salty, one bad, chewy cow) in my past 15 visits.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=259936

http://www.lasasadas.com/chicago-il-locations.htm
I really love good carne asada tacos, but as mentioned in this thread, if you haven't tried Tierra C's pastor, or campechanos if you're in the area, you owe it to yourself if you dig on pig. Their carne asada is good too, and can be great, but it's usually good.

I'm gonna pull a Rene G here, although these places are nowhere even remotely close to having the cool factor that Rene G can pull a picture out of in a moment's notice:

Las Asada's carne asada with their salsa negra:


Tierra Caliente's Campechano (mix of carne asada, and killer al pastor:)


Tierra Caliente's Pastor:

RAB wrote:Taco counter at Carniceria Guanajuato #3, California just south of Belmont. Carne asada is best at peak lunch or dinner hours, when they are moving enough meat so that it doesn't get held very long.

I made it there on a Saturday morning and there was a line stretching into the grocery aisles. Carne asada was very good but the crispy tripe stole the show. Thanks for the recommendation!

El Asadero for sure on Montrose. They're from Mexico City, and their steak is superb. Not expensive either.

trpt2345 wrote:El Asadero for sure on Montrose. They're from Mexico City, and their steak is superb. Not expensive either.

So is their asada the one standout? I stopped in here to pick up dinner around 8:30-9pm on a weeknight a few weeks ago after hearing raves on this board and elsewhere... they were out of steak, so I ended up with pastor, chile relleno and chicken tacos -- all of which were subpar.

blipsman wrote:

trpt2345 wrote:El Asadero for sure on Montrose. They're from Mexico City, and their steak is superb. Not expensive either.

So is their asada the one standout? I stopped in here to pick up dinner around 8:30-9pm on a weeknight a few weeks ago after hearing raves on this board and elsewhere... they were out of steak, so I ended up with pastor, chile relleno and chicken tacos -- all of which were subpar.

I'm not sure if it wasn't obvious, the name basically translates "steakhouse". The asada is the only thing anyone should go out of their way to get there. If you are in the place on a normal day at least 95% of the orders are for asada, and it's literally flying off the grill to the cutting board non-stop.

As far as the other food goes, I have never had a chile rellano taco in the city that I have liked, and I've never ordered a chicken taco in my life (excepting chicken tinga). For what it is the al pastor is probably my favorite non-trompo pastor I've had, but that isn't saying much at all, real al pastor needs to come from the trompo.

El Asadero's chorizo is good enough, though greasy. Lengua is pretty good also. But, yes, the carne asada is the star.

Darren72 wrote:El Asadero's chorizo is good enough, though greasy. Lengua is pretty good also. But, yes, the carne asada is the star.

OH yeah, you did remind me that I do like their lengua as well. I'm not sure if I have had their chorizo.

Twitter is abuzz with the talk of tacos since Friday is National Taco Day. I know, I know, another fabricated food holiday...but a fun one! I don't know if any of these three can hold a bottle of salsa to the top tacos of NYC But as far as the headline in this thread goes it's not "besides" for these recent offerings tried, you can switch that to "better than". That goes for both before and after the East side location of Pasadita closed. Overrated. Here's three highly underrated ones, spread out so folks have a choice.


Cilantro Taco Grill (Stone Park) - Corny name but a nice place for steak and cecina tacos. They grill the steak and then chop it up and crisp it again on the griddle. I dont mind that bc of the crunchy bits and excellent creamy green salsa.


Los Dos (Downers Grove) - You wont get that upset next time you have to go to Downers Grove for something, not after after trying a tender steak taco from here made w/ their homemade tortillas. Great place overall, everything's good.


Taqueria La Zacatecana - Rarely mentioned when best carne asada taco in the city is discussed and I don't know why. Been going here over Asadero alot lately but proximity plays a part in that. So does the fact it's one of the best.

Cilantro Taco Grill
500 N Mannheim Rd
Stone Park, IL 60165
(708) 223-8443

Los Dos
2251 Maple Ave
Downers Grove, IL 60515
(630) 297-8337

Taqueria La Zacatacana
3024 N California Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 279-8260

I'll add another endorsement of Las Asadas. Really stellar, and pretty hard to hit that place not slinging it's best product at lunch and dinner times.

Another place I really like, which others may or may not, is Dona Naty's on Chicago Ave. Something about that steak tastes extra "steaky, meaty" if that makes any sense. It's overly seared, finely chopped on the griddle, and a bit drier and marinated, but I find that is part of it's strange appeal to me and what differentiates it. That may sound like a meat bubble gum, but it is really tender. I just find it to be strangely addicting for what it is. If your in the mood to load your taco up like a burrito with onions, cilantro, tomatoes, sour cream, avocado slices and cheese, this is the right kind of steak to accompany that. Not that it isn't still good with the usual onions, cilantro, and lime.

-B



Dona Naty's
1815 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
Phone number (312) 243-2209

You know I think Las Asadas is pretty good, but their salsas (esp. the "black" salsa) are way too watery.

Well it was a good run for Asadero where nothing has changed but I have a new best steak taco in Chicago. La Iguanita sits on a part of Kedzie that's usually reserved for driving by. It seems like a spot that neighborhood locals only know about and while they might want to keep it secret I will spread the good word. These are the best carne asada tacos in the city. They're well charred (to order) while not being too chewy and chopped into nice sized chunks. The most popular way to eat them is with the house special avocado cream salsa which is a fantastic batch. People come in and order the sauce in and of itself to take home and eat with chips. My go-to spot when going to or from Midway these days.

Steak Tacos at La Iguanita

Another spot I was surprised by is a place my buddy told me had the best steak burrito in Chicago. I'd driven by Torta Haus near the Diversey brown line a few times but never really thought of stopping in until he made his claim. I do tacos so I got a carne asada one of those as well as a Baja Fish. Both of them were really well made and I now look forward to trying the San Diego style carne asada fries. The steak tacos here aren't cheap ($4) but they're using as quality of a product as anywhere as far as the beef.

Steak Taco at Torta Haus

La Iguanita
3733 S Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60632
(773) 254-5064

Torta Haus
926 W Diversey Pkwy
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 880-8052

Many years ago in this thread I was pretty hard on the since-closed La Palapita in Portage Park, but I've had much better luck with Mini Palapita, a former Pasadita outpost, on Elston up in North Mayfair. The cuts are good quality (occasionally a bit fatty but better than occasionally a bit stringy IMO), soft, perfectly seasoned, and served with just the right amount of chopped onion and cilantro. My lament about La Palapita having only salsa verde carries over to this place, but I've learned to make peace with that fact.

As a bonus, their spit-roasted, pineapple-basted al pastor is a solid choice too. Final bonus: a homey, covered outdoor seating area. I just wish it were overlooking something more interesting than Elston Avenue.

Mini Palapita
4968 N Elston Ave
(312) 730-0639

It’s been much documented in this thread (no devoted thread that I could find) but thought I’d throw in a more recent endorsement for El Asadero, which was pretty perfect today around Noon. Not sure why it’s taken me so long to get there but it was my maiden voyage - this thread thankfully popped into my head after dropping my kids at the Ninja place just west of California on Montrose and after some searching for “Montrose” and “taco”, five minutes later I was placing my lunch order (it was very busy - I sat at the only open table).

Steak was hacked up in front of me right off the grill and was the best I’ve had in recent memory, just the right beefiness/saltiness with some crispy bits. I also had a Chile relleno and thought it was good, and maybe even recently cooked (I love even a bad Chile relleno taco and they are usually unceremoniously pulled from a fridge and microwaved when I get them at Pasadita, Las Asadas, other places). Also love that Asadero hasn’t been hit as hard as some others by asado-flation (I can’t believe burritos at pasadita are >$10), as $2.70 for a well-filled tortilla with this quality of steak is fantastic. Chips were fresh, though my only complaint would be that the salsas were boring/not very good. Didn’t matter good much as the steak was delicious as is.

Based on today’s experience, this has to be one of the best in the city.

Big fan of El asadero but find the carne asada too chewy on occasion.

I prefer Taqueria la zacatecana on California and Nelson. Block south of where urban belly used to be. They have their steak precooked in a warming dish but that hasn't been a problem for me. And that green salsa is great