La Donita, sort of oaxacan, potter road

I'm not sure if his is niles/morton grove/des plaines but on potter just north of dempster in the location of a previously pretty bad indian cabby joint (chilli's) La Donita has oaxacan items on the menu (and maybe in the window - something must have drawn me in)

specifically tlacoyo's and the sort of torta's on offer at la oaxaquena - I didn't eat my torta till much later so i can't legitimately judge that, but the tlacoyo was not what i've seen or heard of in tlaes of oaxaca eating (crispyish large sorta mexican pizza thingy) but rather more of an oversized huarache in the vein of dona chio's though not quite as large. that being said everything we had was in the above average to good range and given family food preferences and its location on my route to the airport I'll probably return.

i wonder if anyone has tried it out, and if so if there's anything on the menu that I didn't notice that stands out

zim wrote:I'm not sure if his is niles/morton grove/des plaines but on potter just north of dempster in the location of a previously pretty bad indian cabby joint (chilli's) La Donita has oaxacan items on the menu (and maybe in the window - something must have drawn me in)

A web search on Chilli's shows its address as Des Plaines (8971 Potter Rd).

Sounds interesting! I'd love to hear more.

zim wrote:specifically tlacoyo's and the sort of torta's on offer at la oaxaquena - I didn't eat my torta till much later so i can't legitimately judge that, but the tlacoyo was not what i've seen or heard of in tlaes of oaxaca eating (crispyish large sorta mexican pizza thingy) but rather more of an oversized huarache in the vein of dona chio's though not quite as large. that being said everything we had was in the above average to good range and given family food preferences and its location on my route to the airport I'll probably return.

Not to be know-it-allish but tlacoyos are precisely as you describe them, huarache like, oval shaped griddled masa discs. It sounds like what you are imagining it should look like is a tlayuda, which is a large crispy tortilla topped with a range of stuff like pizza. I, personally, lament the fact that no where in town makes a tlayuda. I did have a real nice one in LA recently though.

Jefe wrote: I, personally, lament the fact that no where in town makes a tlayuda. I did have a real nice one in LA recently though.

Lament no more. La Fonda del Gusto - the new place from Dudley Nieto that made some publication's Top 10 Mexican list in 2010 - has a tlayuda with duck carnitas. I didn't order it when I was there, but I asked about it since I'd never heard of it. Sounded tasty. The rest of the meal was mixed, but good enough that I've wanted to find time to go back.

I doubt Nieto's is the only tlayuda in the area. With Mexican regional cuisine in Chicago, there's a whole lot of great stuff that hasn't made it to the internet. I would be willing to bet that there are tlayudas besides this one available in our area.

La Fonda Del Gusto
1408 N Milwaukee Ave
(773) 278-6100

update - some of the area's additional tlayugas (aka clayugas) are on the internet.

Sandungas
1160 Dundee Rd.
Palatine, IL 60074
(847) 358-4053

Sandungas

nsxtasy wrote:Sandungas

Thanks, I liked the rhyme with tlayugas, but probably better to just post the correct name, so I've edited. There's an LTH thread too. Sounds like a good place.

Jefe wrote:
Not to be know-it-allish but tlacoyos are precisely as you describe them, huarache like, oval shaped griddled masa discs. It sounds like what you are imagining it should look like is a tlayuda, which is a large crispy tortilla topped with a range of stuff like pizza. I, personally, lament the fact that no where in town makes a tlayuda. I did have a real nice one in LA recently though.

Know it all!
actually that's nice to hear, I'd rather be mistaken in my knowledge of masa-based snacks than think they are passing off perfectly good tlacoyos as tlayuda's. So. . .do tlacoyo's have any specific regional origin?

Though recently inactive, this thread is fairly short, so I think I'll append here rather than start a new one. The more I learn, the more ignorant I realize I am. The above discussion about the finer points of Mexican regional food is ancient Greek (or maybe even neutrino scribbling) to me.

I thought I had been to a Oaxan regional restaurant (Kie Gol Lanee), but the food seemed largely different except both having Cactus.

I do know I greatly enjoyed the meal I had with Panther last Friday, and while it sounds like I should try at least one place mentioned above (or does anybody have any new suggestions for me???), I may bring the group I lead here.

To recap: La Donita, 586 Potter Road, Des Plaines (pretty sure that's a postal address in unincorporated Maine township). Corner of Ballard, about 1/4 mile north of Dempster. No website that I could find, but photos which include the menu here: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/la-donita-des-plaines

No free refill on chips (and they aren't cheap either). When we begged they brought the other 3 kinds of salsa, the chipotle one I would have loved a 12-16 oz glass of.

I think the tortillas were freshly made, and slightly toasted, which I love.
I ordered :

Molcajete Me Pueblo: sizzling stone pot with marinated pork, skirt steak (dried?), guacamole, grilled onions (knobs), jalopeno, and cactus. The white square is a cheeselike block not listed on the menu.

Pambaza: Telura bread dipped in homemade salsa and filled with chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, cheese, avocado and sour cream--a mexican version of italian beef?

I guess standard sides, though I used some of the salsa as a salad dressing...

As we were getting ready to leave, I discovered they had chocolate mole, so begged a taste in a tiny bowl. Not as good as the best I ever had, but in the running for second place (and the best I have been able to make at home is a poor third or fourth). Best was at a long closed Pepe's on the south side of the U of I circle in the 1970s.

Kennyz wrote:update - some of the area's additional tlayugas (aka clayugas) are on the internet.

Sandungas
1160 Dundee Rd.
Palatine, IL 60074
(847) 358-4053

Expletive deleted, Google maps says it is permantly closed, and the website is "not found".

Any more suggestions for regional (i.e. different) Mexican food? Not in the city unless there is an ample free parking lot, street parking probably not good enough, in case there is fresh snow.

diversedancer wrote:Any more suggestions for regional (i.e. different) Mexican food? Not in the city unless there is an ample free parking lot, street parking probably not good enough, in case there is fresh snow.

Well, you're really missing something if you haven't been to Dos Urban Cantina, which for my money is the very best, most creative, most delicious Mexican in Chicagoland right now. Quiote is pretty good too. Not to mention the Rick Bayless originals downtown. But all of these are in the city and none have parking lots.

There are several choices in the burbs that offer much more than the typical enchiladas and tacos. I'm a big fan of Salsa 17 in Arlington Heights. They offer at least half a dozen kinds of mole, for example. They have street parking, but right around the corner (south on Vail) is a gigantic parking garage with free parking for the first three hours. Libertad in Skokie is also consistently great. It can be loud but in nice weather they have a patio in the rear that's not so bad. There's free on-street parking as well as free parking in six different city lots within a one block radius (click here for map). Two blocks from Libertad is Yolo (website down), which I liked but haven't been to in a while. A couple of miles from downtown Skokie is Wholly Frijoles in Lincolnwood, although it's the least "different" (from conventional Mexican) of this group; they have a very small free parking lot but it's in a more residential area than downtown Skokie so street parking is easy. I've heard good things about Bien Trucha in Geneva but haven't been.

nsxtasy wrote:

diversedancer wrote:Any more suggestions for regional (i.e. different) Mexican food? Not in the city unless there is an ample free parking lot, street parking probably not good enough, in case there is fresh snow.

Well, you're really missing something if you haven't been to Dos Urban Cantina, which for my money is the very best, most creative, most delicious Mexican in Chicagoland right now. Quiote is pretty good too. Not to mention the Rick Bayless originals downtown. But all of these are in the city and none have parking lots.

There are several choices in the burbs that offer much more than the typical enchiladas and tacos. I'm a big fan of Salsa 17 in Arlington Heights. They offer at least half a dozen kinds of mole, for example. They have street parking, but right around the corner (south on Vail) is a gigantic parking garage with free parking for the first three hours. Libertad in Skokie is also consistently great. It can be loud but in nice weather they have a patio in the rear that's not so bad. There's free on-street parking as well as free parking in six different city lots within a one block radius (click here for map). Two blocks from Libertad is Yolo (website down), which I liked but haven't been to in a while. A couple of miles from downtown Skokie is Wholly Frijoles in Lincolnwood, although it's the least "different" (from conventional Mexican) of this group; they have a very small free parking lot but it's in a more residential area than downtown Skokie so street parking is easy. I've heard good things about Bien Trucha in Geneva but haven't been.

Modern Mexican
Dos Urban Cantina
Quiote
Salsa 17
Yolo
Bien Trucha

Latin American
Libertad

Mexican
Wholly Frijoles

Thanks for the leads but they all still seem standard Mexican albeit upscale. The exception might be Libertad which is self proclaimed Latin American.

There are some wonderfully creative items on their menus!

I think the goal was to find more regional cuisine like La Donita with Oaxacan.

Panther in the Den wrote:Thanks for the leads but they all still seem standard Mexican albeit upscale.

There's nothing "standard" about them. They all offer creative, contemporary spins on Mexican cuisine. Including Salsa 17 and their selection of moles.

Panther in the Den wrote:The exception might be Libertad which is self proclaimed Latin American.

Libertad can call themselves Latin American, but the menu is strictly contemporary Mexican. Contrast with, for example, Latin fusion places like Nacional 27 or Carnivale, or South American like John Manion's places or Tanta.

Panther in the Den wrote:I think the goal was to find more regional cuisine like La Donita with Oaxacan.

Carey can decide for himself what he's looking for. He's already ruled out the only other Oaxacan restaurant in the area (Kie Gol Lanee), and I'm not aware of any other restaurants specializing in a particular region of Mexican cuisine here since the Yucatecan restaurant Xni Pec closed.

One more place offering a variety of moles, along with numerous dishes from various regions of Mexico, is Sol De Mexico in Belmont-Cragin; it has only on-street parking.

nsxtasy wrote:I'm not aware of any other regions of Mexican cuisine here since the Yucatecan restaurant Xni Pec closed.

There we go.

There is a taco stand labeling themselves as Mayan serving grasshoppers...

Xelva Mayan Kitchen
8819 Ogden Ave, Brookfield

I can't recommend them though. Just a mention.

I miss Xni Pec
3755 Grand Blvd, Brookfield
(and previously at 25th and Laramie)

Panther in the Den wrote:There is a taco stand labeling themselves as Mayan serving grasshoppers...

So appropriate that they are located in a town known for its diverse animals...

Thank you nsxtasy and panther for your suggestions. Partly I'm always looking for the "Bizarre Food (local version)" restaurants for myself, and partly I search for places to take a private group that I lead, and I've taken them to KGL already, although I found it quite different from La Donita.

Panther, we already had the grasshoppers at KGL.

To explain the parking: It's fine for me, but some members of the group won't go into the city at all, or at least not without confidence in free parking. In the bad weather two weeks ago, two people drove to the River Road CTA stop, but parked on the street and walked additional distance to get free parking. I live 2 blocks from a commuter train, but then had to walk 3/4 mile downtown to the event we were all going to (not a restaurant).

Thank you, nsxtasy, for the mole restaurants. Am I mistaken, but to some extent, isn't each mole from a different area? I don't insist on on single area in one restaurant, just want different stuff from the local bistro. Different regional, not different "modern".

Still interested in anything else unusual, rare, and different, but perhaps best in a PM, or I can resurrect the thread in which I long ago asked for unusual restaurants.

Here are more pictures from last Friday:

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