I also tried the goat head barbacoa taco, they were out of tounge at the time. It was very similar to the barbacoa (beef head) I've had at Lazo's, with the chunks of sticky fat, and very tender. I like a tougher meat, which is why i like the birria better, though i wouldn't describe it as tough, just doesn't melt in your mouth.

Antonius wrote:Well, the birria at Reyes de Ocotlán, while perhaps not indisputably the "best in the world," is without doubt really very good.

Antonius,

Really very good sums it up nicely. My first time at Reyes de Ocotlan today and certainly not my last. I had a small consommé and three goat tacos that were so packed with meat I off-loaded about half to my bowl of broth to facilitate ease of eating. The meat in the broth, which you can also order, was terrific.

I was given wedges of lime, onions and cilantro, which I, along with the toasted chile de arbol and table sauce, used freely. The goat meat was rich and flavorful, next time out I will be sure to try both tongue and head.

Thanks Antonius, and also David Hammond for nominating Reyes de Ocolan for a GNR.

I almost forgot the best part, as I was paying for lunch, three goat packed tacos, small consommé and soda, the very nice counter woman handed me a Birrieria Reyes de Ocotlan coffee mug. I am now the proud owner of a goat logo coffee mug, hard to beat for a $7 lunch.



Enjoy,
Gary

Since my last post I’ve eaten here once more. I feel I must add one complaint that I have.

The first visit was great, an instant favorite food. The problem I had this last time was the number of Tiny bones, in both bowls my friend and I had. Keep in mind now I’m not being picky; I love nothing more than sucking goat off the bone and joints, sucking the marrow etc. Hoever, these bones amounted to 50 or more tiny slivers of bone, very annoying when I’m trying to savor every last bite, and my friend actually cut his mouth on one…

Anyhow, I’d like to know if anyone else has had this problem, or was this a one time bad visit… I frequent Maxwell street market now, and have sampled the many birria offerings, some of which surpass Ocotlan’s, so I’m not sure about returning to Ocotlan for fear of being disappointed again.

laikom wrote:so I’m not sure about returning to Ocotlan for fear of being disappointed again.

Laikom,

I've been to Ocotlan a few times, always very good. I would not let one experience deter me from going again. (I was thinking of saying something philosophical about life/disappointment and the nature of being, then remembered LTHForum is culinary chat. )

Enjoy,
Gary

laikom wrote:
oever, these bones amounted to 50 or more tiny slivers of bone, very annoying when I’m trying to savor every last bite, and my friend actually cut his mouth on one…

Sounds like the result of a bone somehow getting shattered.
It is probably a fluke. I doubt their general butchering or cooking techniques typically result in shattered bones.

Great news, thanks for the support! haha,

I guess i'll have to plan my next visit. I got my fill at the market today though. Thanks!

P.S. last time i was there i asked for the coffee mug and all i got was an ink pen..


I would have loved to add that mug to my collection.

One does encounter the occasional bone fragment in birria generally but I concur with others above that there was something relatively extraordinary that had occurred to result in so many fragments ending up in your portion. I don't think this is a common problem at this establishment.

Antonius

Has anyone figured out their hours yet?

I rushed there last Wednesday only to find it completely void of activity at 7 pm. Are they a lunch only place or one of those places that just open and close when they feel like it?

mark wrote:Has anyone figured out their hours yet?

I rushed there last Wednesday only to find it completely void of activity at 7 pm. Are they a lunch only place or one of those places that just open and close when they feel like it?

Driving by at 5:36 p.m. today, we observed that they were open for business... Couldn't see any (newly) posted hours in the window...

Antonius

So, I'm watching a TIVO'd episode of Mexico One Plate at a Time today and the main dish is birria Guadalajara style. I instantly thought of this thread and Antonius's explanation of the cooking method. Bayless describes the method as performed in Guadalajara in just enough detail to get a sense of how they do it: 0) They marinate the meat, 1) They braise the meat, 2) They remove the meat and reserve the liquid, 3) They glaze the meat, 4) They take the meat off the bone and server with or without the broth. Apparently there's a special oven vendors use for glazing the meat.

I had a flat-out fantastic lunch at Reyes with a colleague today; he had just been to Zaragoza on LTH's recommendation on Tuesday, and I wanted to give him a "control" goat experience. He actually preferred the core product at Reyes, while acknowledging how special the personalities and homemade tortillas are at the former.

This visit reminded me how much flavor comes from the deceptively simple goat consome, much as I like the carefully crafted vegetable broth at Zaragoza. I like to order a few tacos and a separate bowl of consome at Reyes, so I can set my exact portion and price and enjoy the clarity of the broth, a lovely winter cure-all. Lunch for two with drinks, plus a separate take-home order, came to $13.10. Can't really beat that. This is a continuingly-merited GNR and worth checking out for newer goat fans.

Nice to see this old thread again and to hear such a positive report on the place. I haven't been to BRdO in a long time but will try to get there soon...

Antonius

I just spotted this article about Mark Ibold (bassist from Pavement and Sonic Youth) in which he visits Birrieria Reyes de Ocotlan, along with a couple of other places. Worth a read.

Nice article. Birria R.D.O. and Carniceria T.C. (then known as Leon) introduced to the English reading Internet in a single momentous thread, 2005:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 39&p=31643

[Edit: now I recall C. Gordon touted Leon in '04 http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 90&p=16126 and i believe there was some mention pre-LTH too. Still, good to see widespread recognition of The Greatest Non-GNR years later.]

Stopped by Birreria RdO this morning...was a tough choice as to whether to head out to Birreria Zaragoza or stay closer to home.

The place was pretty busy for 9 AM. One staff member inquired of another as to why there was such a crowd, the reply was that it was cold outside (it was about 63°, so I guess that's open to interpretation).

I had a plato chico de birria. It came topped with onions and cilantro with a lime wedge and massive pile of corn tortillas on the side. I left quite full for $6.50 + tax.

I'm glad I stopped in, as the consommé here is second to none. Rich goat and chile flavor, glistening with just enough fat...add the lime and you have something approaching perfection. I sopped up every drop. The meat, while certainly tasty was not as good as Zaragoza in my opinion. I found it somewhat tough, perhaps partially due to how it was served in such large chunks. I much prefer B.Z.'s rough-chopped style. That said, BRdO is basically on my way home from work, so I expect it will see quite a bit more of my business as the colder temps really set in.

We've had inconsistent consomme over the past three years, but this morning's bowl was spectacular: the goat so tender, the broth so full of cinammon, clove and other fine spices. We got it to go, were in and out in under 7 minutes, but when we walked out we found a $50 ticket on our windshield (didn't see paybox). Back home, the consumme and goat meat pretty much made me forget all about the fine. Pretty much.

Had a lunch at BRdO the other day that I can't get out of my head...not only was it my first visit here, but it was also my first-ever taste of birria! The goat meat was so tender and juicy and flavorful, and that broth...oh! that broth, so rich, so fragrant, so soothing...at the risk of getting all "Dear Penthouse Forum", I'll just say that that bowl was fantastic. I'm officially a birria fan. A birria-holic.

The staff and the other patrons were very warm and friendly...the woman behind the counter came to my table twice to make sure everything was good and that I hadn't run out of tortillas, and a pair of friendly women at another table took a break from watching Caso Cerrado to offer one of their churros to me.

My only quibble was with the tortillas: the were nice & warm, and the serving was very generous (there must've been 8-9 in there), but they were just okay. As others have already mentioned, the were very clearly store-bought, and I found some to be just a little tough around the edges. But as conveyors of goat (and onion & lime) goodness, they filled their role just fine.

BRdO is, to me, the very definition of a GNR. I look forward to heartily supporting it's renewal.

I just picked up a huge cup of this stuff and walked out with change from a $5. I thought I was getting the world's best deal, until I realized there was no goat in this birria. It was just broth, onions and cilantro and a goaty sludge on the bottom. Has this happened before? Did I somehow order wrong? I asked for "no tacos, just the stew."

Pie Lady wrote:I just picked up a huge cup of this stuff and walked out with change from a $5. I thought I was getting the world's best deal, until I realized there was no goat in this birria. It was just broth, onions and cilantro and a goaty sludge on the bottom. Has this happened before? Did I somehow order wrong? I asked for "no tacos, just the stew."

Something went awry with your order. I wonder if they misinterpreted "just the stew" to mean "just the broth".

They do sell a consome only option. At most birria places you have to order it con carne (with meat). I am pretty sure it was just a language/ordering mistake. Next time you'll get it con carne.

Maybe. I think she may have asked, "just soup?" and thought that's what I meant. When she asked if I wanted tortillas, I asked for two, and she said one order was 12 and showed me a handful. I saw on the sign that each was 60 cents. I think there was some massive miscommunication. Oh well, after a gallon of broth and a handful of M&Ms I should be good til dinnertime.

This is my second lackluster attempt at eating this dish. Maybe the Cosmic Muffin is trying to tell me something.

Pie Lady wrote:Maybe. I think she may have asked, "just soup?" and thought that's what I meant. When she asked if I wanted tortillas, I asked for two, and she said one order was 12 and showed me a handful. I saw on the sign that each was 60 cents. I think there was some massive miscommunication. Oh well, after a gallon of broth and a handful of M&Ms I should be good til dinnertime.

This is my second lackluster attempt at eating this dish. Maybe the Cosmic Muffin is trying to tell me something.

The silver lining is that, while the meat is excellent, that broth is the stuff dreams are made of. I actually did daydream about it later that day, and a little the next day.

Khaopaat wrote:Had a lunch at BRdO the other day that I can't get out of my head...not only was it my first visit here, but it was also my first-ever taste of birria! The goat meat was so tender and juicy and flavorful, and that broth...oh! that broth, so rich, so fragrant, so soothing...at the risk of getting all "Dear Penthouse Forum", I'll just say that that bowl was fantastic. I'm officially a birria fan. A birria-holic.

The staff and the other patrons were very warm and friendly...the woman behind the counter came to my table twice to make sure everything was good and that I hadn't run out of tortillas, and a pair of friendly women at another table took a break from watching Caso Cerrado to offer one of their churros to me.

My only quibble was with the tortillas: the were nice & warm, and the serving was very generous (there must've been 8-9 in there), but they were just okay. As others have already mentioned, the were very clearly store-bought, and I found some to be just a little tough around the edges. But as conveyors of goat (and onion & lime) goodness, they filled their role just fine.

BRdO is, to me, the very definition of a GNR. I look forward to heartily supporting it's renewal.

Getting my goat on earlier this summer meant a return trip to Reyes to compare with Zaragoza West, where the goat and homemade tortillas have been supernatural, but the cloudy consome wasn't just the same as when Jonathan was doing his vegetable version on Pulaski. I think the off-shelf tortillas on 18th (just fine, in this tortilla town) are a very reasonable sacrifice for the remarkable pho-like broth you get here, with herbs and roasted goat marrow bone flavors shining through. It's a one-item shop, but I think they nail it.

Just went here. So after reading the above, made sure to order goat stew "con carne" and some tacos. A couple questions. One, our broth was a bit clear with a bit of red on the near the bowl edge. I was expecting a much redder color and I noticed other people also had a red color broth. Did they put a bunch of that red salsa in, is there something I should be ordering other than goat stew or is there just some variation in each order? I did find the goat taste a bit weak, though it was certainly still tasty overall.

Secondly, prices made no sense on after analysis. 9 dollars and change for the stew after I subtracted the tacos. I think somehow they ended up charging me for the stack of tortillas I did not ask for? How much should a large bowl of goat stew (with goat meat in it) cost?

Anyways, pretty good, but I was really hoping for an in your face goaty Mexican version of a Vietnamese soup and the tortilla incident seems pretty close to a typical "taking advantage of white people" scenario.

botd wrote:Just went here. So after reading the above, made sure to order goat stew "con carne" and some tacos. A couple questions. One, our broth was a bit clear with a bit of red on the near the bowl edge. I was expecting a much redder color and I noticed other people also had a red color broth. Did they put a bunch of that red salsa in, is there something I should be ordering other than goat stew or is there just some variation in each order? I did find the goat taste a bit weak, though it was certainly still tasty overall.

Secondly, prices made no sense on after analysis. 9 dollars and change for the stew after I subtracted the tacos. I think somehow they ended up charging me for the stack of tortillas I did not ask for? How much should a large bowl of goat stew (with goat meat in it) cost?

Anyways, pretty good, but I was really hoping for an in your face goaty Mexican version of a Vietnamese soup and the tortilla incident seems pretty close to a typical "taking advantage of white people" scenario.

Some of the ordering suggestions in the posts above are a bit confused and confusing. Consomé (goat broth, even though it's translated as "goat stew" on the menu) is available in large or small servings, as is birria (goat meat in broth). I assume the restaurant would interpret an order of "goat stew with meat" to mean their regular birria but it's possible the unusual wording might be responsible for your order looking different from the others.



On that menu from 2012, a large birria was $7.50, so around $9 sounds like it could be the current price. I think a stack of tortillas is included with birria orders (at least I don't remember ever specifically ordering them or being charged for them). Was there actually an extra charge on the check for tortillas?

Birrieria Reyes de Ocotlán
1322 W 18th St
Chicago
312-733-2613

The large plato de birria is now $8.75, which includes tortillas, garnishes, meat and consome, and is a lot of food (I've split it). When I'm solo, my standing order is two goat tacos and a small consome for sipping / dipping, which I still think runs sub-$7 with tax. They do this for me to go as well (the consome comes in a paper cup - great on a cold day). You can see the former consome prices and sizes at the far left of Rene's image. On this menu, consome = stew. Differences between your bowl and the next table's are very likely their at-table doctoring.

Thanks for the clarifying information. I will definitely be back at some point, but first I am going to try Zaragoza.

Laikom and I stopped in to Reyes de Ocotlan on our way to see a show at Thalia Hall a few weeks ago. Even though we were planning on grabbing snacks and drinks at Punch House, as the consummate lthers we are, we could not resist the urge to pre-eat. It never hurts to have a base layer of tacos, right?

We grabbed a goat birria taco each, and, meaty and fatty and slathered with the rich roasty salsa and a bit of lime, they were as satisfying as ever. On the way out, a round of hi-fives were in order.

The food and drinks at Punch House were great; the show was pretty good; but that taco made my day.

Made it in with a crowd of hungry LTHers today.



As soon as you step in the door the smell of funky goat overwhelms the senses. The gamey funk is not for everyone, but I love it. The kitchen is smack dab in the middle of the room so you can see the single cauldron of goat stewing away all day. Also they have cassette tapes for sale if you'd like to pop something into your twenty year old car for the drive home.



The menu is concise and to the point. Cabeza, lingua, goat, goat, and goat. They were out of rice today so we had to rough it with corn tortillas (likely milagro).



We ordered a couple rounds of lengua and cabeza tacos to start things off. I didn't get to try the lengua, but the cabeza was fabulous.



It had a good mix of fatty and meaty bits that hit the spot with a squirt of the red table salsa.



We went for a full pound of goat which comes with two cups of their consomme. This goat is not for the funk averse! The flavor lived up to the smells that greet you when you arrive. Admittedly the meat was dry and tough in parts, but I loved the bites when I was able combine the gelatin-rich broth, the earthy green salsa, and the gamey goat. I think ordering the goat directly in the broth as everyone else in the restaurant did is the way to go. Nonetheless it was a delicious lunch and I'm thrilled to have this bowl of birria on my radar.