26th Street
Rene G
up in the chorizo thread, I figured this would be as good a time as any.
If this weekend is as nice as they predict it would be a great time to
visit. The street will be very lively and fun I should think. There are
so many more worthwhile places than I mention. Try to check out a few
and report back!
Twenty-sixth Street between about Kedzie and Pulaski is easily one of
the most interesting miles in Chicago. It's very densely packed with
Mexican businesses and many of these are food oriented. I hadn't really
explored seriously for a couple years but have made several trips
recently and have been even more impressed than before. I'm certainly no
expert on the area and have only scratched the surface. I'd like to
share a few places I enjoy and hope to get some suggestions from others
who might be more familiar with the area.
If you approach from the east you'll pass the County Jail and Courthouse
at 26th and California, one of the more depressing stretches in the
city.
Within feet of the tall walls things pick up dramatically. La Kermese
(3002) is one of the first bright spots. This is a modern, crowded
taqueria. It looks a bit too much like a Mexican Denny's but the food is
pretty good.
Continuing on you'll hit El Milagro, a tortilla factory with a little
restaurant next door. Another modern, clean place, this might be a good
stop for a first visit. The food is displayed cafeteria style and you
place your order after walking down the line checking out the ten or so
dishes. Most things look pretty darn good and the guisados (stews) are a
steal at $3.50 a plate. There's a somewhat informative menu in English
above the line. You can also get homemade tamales to go at $6 a dozen
(several varieties including a sweet coconut raisin).
Between Albany (3100W) and Troy is the arch welcoming you to La Villita.
Carniceria Aguascalientes (3132) a pretty good market (good looking ,
well priced meat) with a little restaurant (Gorditas Aguascalientes) on
the side. As you might guess they're known for their gorditas which are
awfully good. You can get them filled with any number of great things
for about 2 bucks. Huge tubs of pickled jalapenos are on each table.
Not food-related, I hope, there's an interesting pet store, one of the
El Arca de Noe chain ("We buy and sell animals") across the street.
Looks like an excellent place if you're in the market for an iguana.
Crossing Kedzie you'll approach La Guadalupana (3215) a little grocery
known for their fresh masa and tamales (to go only). Their slogan is "La
Casa de la Masa" and the phone is 773-TAMALES so you might get the idea
they're serious about it. For fifty-five cents you can get a pound of
fresh masa that bears little resemblance to what you get after
rehydrating the standard Quaker masa harina. The plain masa, for
tortillas and atole, comes in white and yellow versions and they have
masa with added fat for tamales. There's a good variety of these,
salted, sweet, or flavored with different fruits. Their homemade tamales
($3.25 a half dozen, many varieties) are in a heated case toward the
back of the store. Wonderful. They have a small selection of kitchen
utensils including beautiful, rustic, heavy wooden tortilla presses for
about $18. But you can do about as well with a cheap aluminum device,
available everywhere.
Another must-visit is Dulce Landia (3300 and at least 4 other
locations). This is a bright, modern, well-organized candy store, with
lots of pinatas hanging overhead and loud music playing. It's sort of
sensory overload and great fun to wander around in. I'm not even a big
candy fan and I love this place. If you have an adventurous child handy,
I'll bet they'll love it too. I like the tamarind candy with salt and
chile (it's sweet, sour, hot, and salty and will simultaneously
stimulate most of your taste receptors; of the several brands,
Pulparindo is my favorite), the various forms of goat milk caramel
(cajeta), and several kinds of coconut candies. There is a huge variety
of lollipops, including the Pollito Asado--a peach-flavored,
chile-spiked, chicken-shaped item (I'm not kidding; $2.99 for a bag of
40).
There are quite a few bakeries in the area. I like Coral (3807) only
partly for its looks. It's a very old and worn formerly eastern European
shop with nice old tile and stained glass. Most of the stock is
displayed in the windows; just grab a tray and tongs from the counter,
slide open the doors and go to work. Only a few items are over fifty
cents each.
One of the few bakeries that's not self-service is El Nopal (3648). A
good place for pan mexicano. Check out that amazing green pottery thing
in the window.
There are a number of liquor stores but the best in the area is Moreno's
(3724). An astounding selection of tequilas in all price ranges from
well under $10 to almost $500. It puts Sam's (a truly great store) to
shame in the tequila category. The excellent Don Julio Anejo is $42.99
but there are many, many other choices in this price range. Several
seldom-seen central American beers and they even have 6 packs of pulque
(fermented agave juice) in the cooler.
Across the street is Chicago Live Poultry House (2601 S Ridgeway). The
usual chickens and ducks as well as conejo vivo for the more
adventurous. Not for the squeamish, when the door is open you can hear
lots of squawks of the birds and thwacks of the cleavers.
There are more taquerias than you can shake a stick at. I mention just a
few that caught my eye.
One that's at the top of my list is Birriria Ocotlan (3809). A
cool-looking, slightly decrepit, older place, they specialize in goat.
Not just specialize, it's pretty much all they serve. For $1.25 the cook
will take a couple tortillas, fill them with some slightly fatty hacked
up goat, top it with onion and cilantro, drizzle on some goat juice,
then wrap it expertly, all fast enough to make your head spin. They also
serve the fabled consome as well as plates (large or small) of goat
meat.
Atotonilco (3916) is another popular taqueria that's been around a while
and has a real nice feel to it. Get a taco al pastor and watch them
slice the meat off a vertical spit (Mexican gyros). They also specialize
in fresh-squeezed juices.
One of my favorite Chicago restaurants used to be Dudley Nieto's
Chapulin ("Grasshopper") on Halsted. He now runs Adobo Grill on Wells
which I still haven't been to. I was really thrilled to see another
Chapulin on 26th (at 4139). But wait, this place is an exterminator! The
windows are full of bottles of all kinds of poisons. They even display
the "Gluee Louee Econo-Trap--Catches Rats, Mice & Snakes". A helpful
demonstration using rubber rats and mice is provided in the window.
Little Village used to be mainly Eastern European and there are a few
reminders here and there. One of the only remaining businesses is
Troha's Fish and Shrimp House (4151) where they sell good-quality fried
seafood to take out. Since they've been in business over 50 years they
must be doing something right. I bet they didn't sell jalapeno poppers
back in 1950.
Going on down the street another big, popular taqueria is Los Gallos
(4211 and other locations). I haven't tried it yet but it looks very
promising.
For non-Mexican fast food you might want to check out George's, a local
mini chain. The gimmick here is everything costs $1.25. Polish & fries,
fish sandwich, Italian beef, etc etc, it's all a buck and a quarter. I
sure wouldn't make a special trip but it's a heck of a deal.
Things tend to thin out a little west of Pulaski, though there are some
places well worth a look.
There are so many other places--markets with good meats and vegetables,
seafood restaurants, birririas, and lots of panaderias. And of course
lots of other businesses including some pretty good record stores (try
Ritmo Latino).
While most of the action is on 26th I wouldn't ignore the side streets.
25th in particular has several very appealing places. On 25th between
Drake and St Louis is El D.F., a very nice-looking place. It seems that
most of the businesses around 26th St are from northern Mexico. I would
assume El D.F. serves food from the central region.
Also on 25th, at St Louis, is a quiet little shop, Fruteria 2 Arbolitas.
They also have meat and many groceries. Last visit several items like
tomatillos and squashes (good variety) were much better than at other
stores. Nothing spectacular, just a real nice little neighborhood place.
The nearby Lupita's is another.
If you've never visited La Villita or haven't been for a while I'd urge
you to go. The area is very busy on weekends and is at its liveliest on
warm days. On the other hand weekdays are good as you'll likely get more
personal attention in the shops. Traffic and parking can be challenging
especially on weekends. Accessible by the #60 bus from the loop (catch
it on Adams; runs all the way to Cicero, a slow but interesting trip).
You can also use the Kedzie (53) or Pulaski (52) buses.
I'm sure I've missed many of the really good places in the neighborhood.
Anyone care to suggest some?
Postscript
There is a book I would recommend to novices like myself--World Food:
Mexico. Lonely Planet, publishers of a great series of travel books, has
recently come out with a series on world food. The two titles I've read
so far--Mexico and Vietnam--are quite good. Both are useful for
exploring Chicago neighborhoods. They're large pocket-size, about 250
pages with some nice color photos and (usually) intelligent text. There
are useful, but far from perfect, glossaries in the back. The
pronunciation guides leave a lot to be desired, especially the
Vietnamese. Nicely produced paperbacks with sewn-in bindings. Twelve
bucks each and worth it.
G Wiv
wrote:
>I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. Since 26th Street just came
>up in the chorizo thread, I figured this would be as good a time as any.
<snip>
Rene,
This is fantastic, thank you very much. I copied your post to my PDA
so I will be sure to have all the info readily available when I go
exploring 26th Street. As I said in a previous post, 26th Street is
relatively uncharted water for me, this will make for a couple of fun
and delicious afternoons.
Enjoy,
Gary
Eric Holeman
AC are the biggest and best I've found yet in Chicago--almost too big to
eat, but hey, it's fun trying. Got the take out (and eat in) tamales at
El Milagro on a second visit. Both times, I went across the street to the
"bargain mall" or whatever it was called, just past the Walgreens, and
found a little ice cream stand way in back that serves cones of Schoep's
ice cream for 75 cents for a single scoop.
If you're in the loop, or coming from it, the entire area is accessible
via the Blue Island avenue bus. I found that traffic slowed as we passed
California on a Saturday, so I just jumped off and walked the rest of the
way.
--
Eric Holeman eholatenteractcom Chicago Illinois USA
"Like you did as a child, take the quiet path, the scenic route. Pedal the
back roads, slip through the neighborhoods. Suck in the sharp air. Smell
the trees...."--Mark Jenkins, Outside magazine
t r i l l i u m
~Crossing Kedzie you'll approach La Guadalupana (3215) a little grocery
~known for their fresh masa and tamales (to go only). Their slogan is "La
~Casa de la Masa" and the phone is 773-TAMALES so you might get the idea
~they're serious about it. For fifty-five cents you can get a pound of
~fresh masa that bears little resemblance to what you get after
~rehydrating the standard Quaker masa harina. The plain masa, for
~tortillas and atole, comes in white and yellow versions and they have
~masa with added fat for tamales. There's a good variety of these,
Are these the people that make blue masa para tortillas? I passed some up at
Supermercado Cardenas because I still had some yellow at home, but I was
thrilled to see it was available. Fresh blue tortillas with greens (lamb's
quarters in English), carmelized onions, and red salsa are a very favorite
food memory of mine.
regards,
trillium