Chicago · a Restaurant Pro list
Chicago's taquerias
Pilsen, Little Village and the Northwest Side: fourteen taquerias worth a bus ride.
Chicago has one of the largest Mexican communities in the country and two neighbourhoods, Pilsen and La Villita, where the taquerias have been open longer than most of the city's famous restaurants. Carnitas by the pound, goat birria on Pulaski, tortillas pressed by hand on 18th Street.
- 1
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (644)
A Maxwell Street Market stand that finally got a room on 18th Street. The tortillas are the reason.
Order: Steak tacos on the blue-corn tortillas, pressed to order
- 2
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.6 (2,911)
Pilsen's carnitas house since 1975. Weekend mornings, the line is the neighbourhood.
Order: Carnitas by the half pound, with the chicharrón
- 3
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (2,896)
Alfonso Sotelo's Pilsen kitchen — Jalisco dishes the way a chef who cooked at Topolobampo makes them.
Order: The tortas ahogadas and a taco de chile relleno
- 4
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.7 (587)
Goat birria roasted then steamed, the Aguililla style, from a family that has done nothing else since 2007.
Order: Birria de chivo, with consomé, on the side of Pulaski
- 5
- 6
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.4 (864)
The Fulton Market room from a Frontera alum. The trompo is the show; the pastor is the point.
Order: Tacos al pastor off the trompo
- 7
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 3.8 (2,728)
The 26th Street original from 1973. The taquería a whole generation of Little Village grew up in.
Order: Tacos de asada, the way it has always been
- 8
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.3 (3,841)
The cafeteria attached to the tortilla factory. The tortillas in half the city's kitchens are made behind that wall.
Order: Chile relleno and rice from the steam table; tortillas from next door
- 9
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.3 (1,666)
A 24-hour tortillería and taquería on Blue Island Avenue, the Pilsen third shift's canteen.
Order: Tacos de carnitas, late
- 10
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.3 (926)
Inside a Little Village grocery, the Puebla-style tacos árabes on a pita-like tortilla you cannot get elsewhere in the city.
Order: Tacos árabes, and the cecina
- 11
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.2 (592)
A Western Avenue institution where the steak is cooked to your order in a heavy pan brought to the table.
Order: The bistec al gusto, table-side
- 12
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- 14
Mexican · Chicago · ★ 4.5 (2,051)
A North Side counter where the char is the seasoning. Steak first, everything else second.
Order: The steak taco with the grilled onions and jalapeños
