5 Rabanitos: A Xoco Chef graduates to his own spot in Pilsen

The SoCal food media had a right to clown Rick Bayless when he said he was bringing "real" Mexican food to the area. There were some faux twitter accounts created and lots of fun was had with it. But you also have to give credit where it's due and there was a short period recently that saw three different Bayless proteges open up shop and all have had wonderful things said about them. He's definitely been the driving force behind the city's strong modern Mexican dining scene while paving the way for plenty of people in doing so.

18th Street

Like Chef Alfonso Sotelo. After years of hard work at Xoco he realized his dream and opened his own place in Pilsen just a couple months ago. I've stopped in twice and haven't had anything bad. The reason I included Xoco in the title is because you can really tell that Chef Soltelo learned under Bayless. I call it modern Mexican but the menu is basically old family favorites done with refined chef hands as opposed to grandmas.

Carnitas Tamale with House Mole

My favorite item thus far is the tamale with a wonderful mole sauce painted atop it. It's moist from the corn meal and crispy from the pork hidden inside but the mole is what makes it so money. They do both green and red pozole and we were rec'd the green which was really comforting on a cold winter day.

Green Pork Pozole

The connection to Bayless is most obvious with the tortas. I don't eat tons of tortas in Chicago but I do enjoy Tortas Frontera and by extension Xoco. The one major difference in the tortas at 5 Rabanitos is the bread. I think they use a different distributor and while its not quite as good the bread at Xoco, it's still better than most others I've tried. The options are similar to Xoco with the Chicken Milanese remaining outstanding. Crunchy chicken with actual meat in between the breading gets topped with potent red onions, black bean spread, and cabbage. This is a torta I could eat regularly.

Chicken Milanese Torta

Of course I had to try a taco or two. The fillings are pretty standard and because I haven't mentioned prices I should point out that most everything here is under $10 with the tacos being $3. Aside from the common offerings of Steak, Chicken, Al Pastor etc they also have Cohinita Pibil. This caught my eye because I think Rick Bayless makes a damn fine Pibil. No surprise that this example is as porky/citrusy as Bayless'. I believe the tortillas are made in-house but don't quote me on that. I was wondering when Pilsen would get a spot like this, glad to see it finally happen. I'll be back.

Cochinita Pibil Taco

5 Rabanitos
1758 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 285-2710

Went there today for lunch; in a word, terrific. I had the carnitas tamal with mole. I enjoyed it a lot; the highlight was the rich and complex mole. Next I had the Milanese torta, which is also my favorite at Xoco. It delivered full on flavor and punch; I LOVED it. So refreshing to be in a unique, informal, chef owned place with such friendly, personal service. Loved the food, loved the vibe, loved the people. I'll be back and soon.

Went tonight for a low-key Valentine's dinner, and food was quite good, especially for the price. Definitely down to earth, as compared to Bayless spots, but friendly, tasty, and home-like. Lots of families dining in.

We had chips, green pork pozole, an asada taco, and the cochinita pibil. We'll be back just for the pozole, but the taco was great and the cochinita was pretty porky and flavorful.

Looking around, all the other entrees we spotted looked excellent as well. This pleases me--much of the time, a place does one or two things well, but the platillos here looked uniformly delicious, which definitely bumps this place up toward the top of the list for Mexican.

Green pozole featuring the eponymous radishes was a rhapsody of fresh and subtle flavors. Unusually, heat level was requested on ordering, and peppers and other fixings (including good chicharrones) were already mixed in or composed on the dish at service. The quality of the chicken and texture of the broth and sprinkle of dry spices made me think of the soups at Vie rather than down 18th street.



Even better is the homemade chorizo on the hand-formed sopes. This is not El Popular - it is remarkably aromatic with a deep funky vinegar and perfumed with herbs, driving any woodsmoke in the paprika into the background. It crisped up beautifully.

With three great house salsas (a green, a red, and and a fiery habanero), chips, cafe de olla, coconut-rich horchata, and tres leches, this is a table I will find again and again, one of the more exciting openings in the past promising months.

Whoa. First off, thanks Da Beef for starting this thread and giving me the push I needed to try a new option over on 18th outside my normal rotation.

I had lunch at 5 Rabanitos today, and ordered three tacos for myself. I had the cochinita, which was excellent and described accurately above. I also tried the short rib barbacoa taco, which I believe is braised with guajillo chiles. I liked this taco as well, although the texture of the beef was relatively soft (but tasted earthy and was helped by a nice splash of the orange salsa). Last, I had the carne asada taco at my waitress' recommendation. When I asked, she got a smile and said their steak is a little different than the usual and that I should try that. Not sure what they do, but it was fantastic. Each piece of steak was nicely crisped, and there was no gristle in any of the pieces that I ate. The overall quality and flavor of the ingredients is impossible to ignore.

Everyone was friendly and welcoming, and when I went up to the register to pay, the chef and possibly another owner asked how everything was. I relayed my very positive impressions, and they seemed genuinely happy to talk about their food and their restaurant. I also confirmed that they are making their own tortillas. They are doing brunch/breakfast now as well on weekends (I think 9-11am).

At $2.25 per taco, this is in my opinion one of the best taco quality to value ratios in the city. Awesome stuff, can't wait to go back and try more things.

We are on our way there. Looking forward to it!

Eta

That was excellent!
Started with guacamole and a carnitas tamal to share. This is my favorite type of guan, smooth with great flavors and not chunky tomatoes or onions.

They brought the tamale on two separate plates which was very thoughtful. The masa was perfectly toothsome but not dense and the mole was outstanding.

Fifille had pork in the same mole on top of perfect if incongruous mashed potatoes, inspired me to make turkey with mole and mash this weekend.

My cochinita pibil was very nice but I'd get it in taco form next time rather than an entree so I could sample more textures and types.

Coconut flan was just beautiful, so light and creamy.

Speaking of coconut, the horchata flavored with coconut milk was the best I have ever had. I wish all horchata was like this.

I was reasonably excited coming to 5 Rabanitos.* Partly because it was one of the few recent openings that are 1) in the $-$$ range and 2) not ramen or fast-casual spots. Partly because of all the rave reviews here.

The atmosphere and service were adequately inviting. I enjoyed the almost-open kitchen format, except for a burnt smell that stayed with us for the last 15 minutes of our meal.

The most disappointing aspect of yesterday's visit was the food. We started off with guac and salsa, ceviche rojo, and queso fundido. The ceviche resembled a mild ketchup and composed mostly of squid.

2 naive questions for the board:
- The tortillas seemed handmade, but are they freshly made? Are steamed tortillas ever freshly made?
- Is queso fundido the same as heated Oaxacan cheese with toppings? This is my first time ordering it at a restaurant, so I'm trying to understand how it's different from packaged queso asadero in supermarkets.

We also got:
Sope de carnitas: crispy masa, juicy pork, fresh toppings. My favorite of the night.
Tamal, vegetarian: Had a denseness that came from being overcooked and dried out. For such a large tamal, I expected more than a sliver of filling. The sauce was commendable, with such striking blackness and aroma that I really thought they used huitlacoche - but the waiter said it was beans.
Tamal, carnitas: The same contrast of delicious mole/doughy masa as above
Torta, milanesa: striking resemblance of a Xoco torta. Balanced spicing and above average bread
Platillos, carnitas, barbacoa, carne asada: I got a taste of each of these; except for the carnitas, they struck me as dry and lacking in oil/fat
All three of the desserts are highly recommended, with the upside down pineapple cake achieving the perfect balance between being sweet/tart, structural/moist.

Perhaps I went on an off day. I certainly hope so, as I would like try the caldos, tortas, and seafood options. Then again, if Chef Sotelo (who was very kind and chatted with us after the meal) does in some way reflect Bayless's restaurants, maybe it's just not my thing.

*Disclaimer: Rick Bayless seems like a sincere, passionate, and successful chef, but I didn't enjoy the food at Frontera Fresco, Tortas Frontera, Topolo, or Xoco. Most dishes were less than the sum of their parts - high quality ingredients, good technique, interesting spices, but the dishes just didn't come away as something I'd want to eat again. Also, things were consistently under-salted for my taste.

Bernard, I echo your excitement about this place. However, the connection to Bayless actively turned me off from trying this place. I found Topolo kind of terrible and Frontera Grill very underwhelming. I used to enjoy Xoco, but I really hate their crusty bread and there are better tortas all over the city for a fraction of the price. When I saw the same crusty bread at 5 Rabanitos I was very disappointed. In short, I agree with your disclaimer entirely.

My wife and I hit up Rabanitos yesterday. Some really good stuff and some big misses.

First up, the torta ahogada, my favorite torta at Xoco and the only one where the Cap'n Crunch bread works, was a masterpiece. The tomato broth was tangy but not overpowering, the bread was delicious and not too crusty and the fillings were solid too. This was better than the last few I have had at Xoco which often have weak tomato flavor, too much vinegar and, last time, an undefinable tinny flavor.

We also tried the green chicken pozole. This was the big miss of the night. Once again a Mexican soup failed to deliver for us. The broth was criminally underseasoned and even once that was rectified it was pretty weak and insipid. Even a store bought chicken stock would have been a large step up. The actual components of the soup were OK, but nothing special. The value proposition for a soup also seemed a bit off, especially considering the quality.

We also tried a barbacoa and a pastor sope. I liked the sope boats but it is still really low on my preferred vehicle for eating Mexican food. The barbacoa in pictures looks very saucy and flavorful, but that was not the case in reality. It was merely OK without much of that delicious chile sauce that I wanted, though it did have that perfect pull apart tenderness. The pastor was quite good, however, I would put Rocky's Tacos ahead of it.

The dessert selections here impress and at a reasonable price point. We tried the pineapple upside down cake at $4.25. This is a hefty portion of cake and ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce and of very high quality. A real highlight of the meal.

Finally, as we were leaving they gave us 5 mini tostadas with mango and scallops. This is not a regular menu item, but they were fantastic little bites of sweet, sour mango and acidic scallop.

My wife and I went to 5 Rabanitos tonight and tried several of the dishes. I really wanted to like the restaurant, but I'm afraid that there were many more misses than hits, so we won't be returning. It's too bad, as we're both getting more into the Pilsen neighborhood and it would have been good to add this place to the options.

There's a nice vibe to the restaurant. It's simple and colorful, with a partially open kitchen. The server was really friendly and helpful.

But now on to the food, where it went downhill. We started with the guacamole with the tomatillo salsa and 3-chili salsa (no photo). The salsas were both excellent. The tomatillo salsa was smoky, with a little bite on the end. The 3-chili salsa had a nice freshness to it. The guacamole was good, but nothing special.

Sopes - Pibil, Carnitas, Beef Barbacoa (left to right)


I liked the Pibil and Barbacoa sopes. The Pibil had a good spicy bite to it, and I liked the pickled onions. The Barbacoa was flavorful, with the radishes providing some crispness. The Carnitas were a flop, with the pork being bland and almost tasteless.

Tamals - Golden Carnitas Tamal, Tamal Vegetariano




Both of the tamals were a flop. I will admit that I'm not a mole fan, so I tend to not comment on them (although will in a moment). My wife does like moles, but she didn't like either of these. As you can see, both of the tamals were literally swimming in mole, so there was plenty for us both to try.

The Carnitas Tamal suffered the same blandness that the Carnitas Sope suffered. There was a decent amount of filling, albeit flavorless. The tamal itself was constructed and cooked nicely. The mole was sweet and tasted somewhat milk-chocolatey.

The Tamal Vegetariano was also pretty bland, as was the mole it was swimming in. I think there was a decent amount of filling but it was hard to tell under all the stuff that had been ladled on top of it.

Cuban Sandwich


The Cuban was well constructed, but again bland and tasteless. When ordering, my wife asked if there was a pickle on the sandwich as the menu didn't note it and it's a staple on any sandwich wanting to call itself a Cuban. The waitress said there was, but she must have misunderstood the question, because there was no pickle. The menu states that there is supposed to be a "spicy chipotle cream" on the sandwich, but if there was it didn't lend any flavor. We did take half of this home so we could add a pickle and some mustard to try to wake it up.

Perhaps the dishes would have been better if Chef Sotelo had been in the kitchen. However, he spent the time we were there sitting at a table talking with a couple of guys who were working their way through a 12-pack of Corona bottles that was sitting on their table. When we didn't want to take the tamals home, the waitress asked if we didn't like them, to which we were honest and said no. She took them over to the chef and had a conversation, then came back and said they would be taken off of the bill. That's nice but we told her we expected to pay for them because we ordered them. In the end, she insisted.

Lastly, I think it would be good to ditch the radishes on every dish. I get it that it ties to the name of the restaurant, but it does come off as a bit odd with them on everything.

So if you go, stay away from the Carnitas dishes, and order more of the salsas to add to your dishes to give them some added flavor.

Three consistent hits at Rabanitos for me have been the pozole (verde), the homemade chorizo sope, and the torta ahogada. This week, I asked last time for a cubano, with a side bowl of the ahogada broth, spicy, in case the cubano was too dry or lacking in flavor. Abomination or no, this was a marriage meant to be.

23-month update on Rabanitos: an epic free-kick goal for Father's Day. They had a packed house with fans of many nations cheering their own in the World Cup, and plenty of extra help in the kitchen and front of house. The cucumber lime mint agua fresca and the horchata cooled things down, and I continue to think the homemade chorizo rojo on the scratch masa sopes topped with chopped radishes is among the worthier signature openers out there.

Mains included the hearty Cuban torta (which does need salsa, but they provide excellent options), the shrimp ceviche with particularly good cubed jicama, the huarache of roasted mushrooms and chayote, and a pounded ultra-fresh chicken breast milanesa with bespoke garlic mashed potatoes of the kids' menu. On a hot day, Rabanitos pairs perfectly with the supercooled National Museum of Mexican Art and/or a mangoneada from Sabores de Michoacan on the next block.

Stopped in for lunch today.
Wonderful food.
Empanadas de camarones were crisp, garnished well with pickled onions and avocado and a chipotle crema.
Sue had a pork tenderloin served with a tamale, all smothered with mole, quite good.
I told the server that I couldn't decide between the torta milanesa and ahogada, and he suggested getting the former with a side of the broth from the latter - stellar combo.

Service was a bit slow for a not very full restaurant, but it's quality stuff.