LTHForum.com

hey, I'm glad to see folks following up on this, not sure yet whether I'll be able to attend but here are a few notes:

Touhy
El Novillo: 7137 N Clark St
I'd skip
Qaato African Restaurant: 7118 N Clark St
here's a note from John Beadle who is pretty familiar with this cuisine:
QAATO (formerly Caato): 7118 N. Clark St. 773-465-6255. A cut above the others in terms of food quality. The Pepper Soup is fiery and full of meat, the soups (stews) are tasty, Asaro (yam porridge) has shrimp, which is not so common. Service spotty yet friendly. Ambiance almost non-existent.
Taqueria Chapala: 7117 N Clark St
I've mentioned in the past that this may be my favorite taqueria in the stretch
El Rey del Taco: 7104 N Clark St
discussed above
Panaderia/Pasteleria La Mexicana
El Famous Burrito: 7047 N Clark St
I'd skip
Rocky's Tacos: 7043 N Clark St
I'd skip
A&T Grill: 7036 N Clark St
I like At&T, but Im not sure worthwhile
Tamales los mejores de Guerrero: 7024 N. Clark
for me a definite must, as well as trying out the gazpacho cart
El Llano Restaurant: 7018 N Clark St
Good, I like the chicken more than the rabbit
Franko's Pizza
?
Lunt
Supermercado Roman: Clark and Lunt
make an interesting chorizo
Taqueria Hernandez: 6983 N Clark St
don't know
Panaderia Ayutla: 6963 N Clark St
ok, nothing special but would be quick
Paleteria Monarca: 6955 N. Clark St
I'm a sucker for the paletas de coco-leche, also nice helados
Dona Lolis Quesadillas: 6924 N Clark St
discussed in referred threads
La Cazuela de Mariscos: 6922 N Clark
discussed in referred threads
Supermercado Carreta
nothing special that I've found
Rogers Park Branch, Chicago Public Library (possible rest stop/outdoor dining option)
El Castillo de Chapultepec market: Pratt & Howard
I think this is a furniture store now
Pratt
Big Buns & Pita: 6649 N Clark St
I'd love to try just for the name
Las Islas Marias: 6635 N. Clark St.
langoustinos
Grande Noodles: 6632 N Clark St
don't know
Los Niches
Would love to try
Taste of Peru: 6545 N. Clark St.
discussed in referred thread
Asmara: 6511 N. Clark
would love to try
Taqueria El Pueblito
Some of the pueblo taquerias have corundas on weekends
Devon
what about chorrito's on the corner of devon and clark - tepache, tacos de pata, sometimes corundas

north - if you are going all the way to supermercado morelia, you may want to stop in the rogers park fruit market. If going to flowers pot, I'd recommend talking to them beforehand, because they can be very vey slow (my guess is that this would be a wise move at Qaato as well)
also if going that far north, are folks gonna go to the ash tamale place that dv43 posted on?

Fascinated by the mention of Tamales L.M.d.G. in the originating forum post of this thread, I decided to check them out for a late lunch Wednesday. When I arrived shortly before 3:00, I found only one other patron sipping some kind of soup and minding his own business. The counter help was friendly but wasn't able to understand all of my questions in English, so I didn't try to delve too deep into the operation (what with my lack of experience in Spanish and all).

Now I'm not a big tamale guy myself, but I was fairly famished and needed something to eat. My first request for a ground-beef tamale was rebuffed as they were all sold out of them. Later during the meal, I learned from the amiable help that they pretty much sell all of their ground-beef tamales in the morning as the restaurant opens at 5 A.M. (I couldn't quite discern the other reasons given.) So, a word to the wise: if you want a ground-beef tamale (yeah, I'm a sucker for ground beef), go early. The counter lady (who wasn't Senora Bustamante, by the way) let me know that I should stop by around 10 A.M. or so if I want in on that action; arriving by noon might be too late. So there you have it.

As for what I actually ate that day, I swapped in the chicken tamale as my first option instead, opting to order one at a time in order to keep the tamales as hot as possible. Pretty tasty, though the tamale appeared to be nuked back to life in a microwave under the counter while I waited. As the results were better than I expected, I decided to try one more tamale (okay, maybe I can't eat as much as I used to) to finish my orange Fanta off with. The lady mentioned a few popular dishes, including the bean and cheese, so I took her up on that right away. Now I don't usually go for the simple bean and cheese (even at Taco Bell), and, unfortunately, this version didn't do too much for me, either. This tamale lacked the green/red sauce option, leading to a blander tamale than the chicken as well. Shoulda tried the pork or pepper and cheese instead, I see.

It also turned out that one 12 oz. can of pop isn't quite sufficient to cover two tamales. I could've ordered another $1 pop, but I only realized while paying that the place offered Jarritos(sp?) sodas as their $1 import drinks. Are those bottles larger than 12 oz.? Also skipped the horchata as it seemed the turnover on the drink machine might not be very high during the midafternoon. (Or does horchata taste better that way?) At any rate, just remember to feed the meters outside when necessary as I was eating like it was Sunday and had to add that first quarter nearly half an hour into my meal. (Too many parking tickets can make you paranoid.)

I guess this was a fairly long description for a rather short visit. If you think it belongs on the original thread, maybe I can repost or make a link to this post over there.

--Dan

Good summary, Zim.

Based on your quote, I am now intrigued by Qaato. I have wanted to go there since it first opened, but like I said, I have never seen anybody in there, so I have been a little scared to try it on my own.

One place that hasn't been mentioned is Uptown Taqueria, which is pretty decent, but not as good as its original sibling.

A&T is notable only in that it is one of a dying breed of Greek Coffee shops. You know, the ones that used be on just about every corner in the city and suburbs, with the gigantic 6 panel menus that all looked like they were printed at the same place. It is a friendly place and the food is a passable example of the blue plate special genre, but it is probably not worth expending the time or stomach space.

El Novillo is OK, and the family that runs it are very nice people, but it has nothing unusual, other than Mexican style pizza, which I have never tried.

I agree that some of the "sit down" places (like taste of Peru) could probably use a little advanced warning.

The liquor store with the good beer selection that I mentioned in my previous post is actually at Clark and Columbia (I just picked up some Dogfish Head 60 minute there).

BTW Flower's Pot was closed to make way for the new Rogers Park Fire Station at Chase and Clark. (Those of us who live on Chase Ave. are not really thrilled about the prospect of fire engines tearing down our street.) Linette's Jamaican Kitchen, which was pretty good at one time, has also closed after going downhill under new management.

If we do venture north of Touhy, aside from the aforementioned Supermercado Morelia, RP Fruit Market and Cuetzala, there are Parkside Gyros, Yuen's (a korean-run chinese-american place), and Capt. Nemo's, none of which are particularly remarkable (although I have a friend who swears Nemo's makes a decent beef sandwich, which I find really hard to believe).

So, I decided to take my bike out and do a little recon this afternoon. I verified that Supermercado Morelia is closing, next Sunday (9/17). Actually, they're moving to 4833 W. Diversey. Perhaps their space is also slated for that new fire station?

I can verify that el Mercado El Castillo de Chapultepec is now Muebleria La' Pratt (furniture store). I also identified a few more taquerias that hadn't been listed, like Campeche, Taqueria "Mexico" (lucky us, these guys have the best tacos in town, by the way. Well, the sign says so...)

I stopped at Big Buns and Pita for a chicken shawarma sandwich. It was nothing extraordinary. The french fries were food service style, but very fresh and served with a light sprinkling of seasonings. I also tried a couple of pieces of falafel, which were also very fresh and pretty good. The menu looks like it may have a few other interesting possibilities, like Lahmim Beajin (apparently another formation of the name of the mediterranean pizza) and boorek and Big Buns Home Style Potatoes ("freshly sliced potatoes battered in our special spicy batter and deep fried").

I picked up carry out menus at as many places as I could -- about twenty, although some are admittedly places that have been suggested as "skippable." I'll bring them to the meeting spot so that people can look them over and think about how they want to pace themselves.



I popped into Devon Market, where I hadn't been for a while. I knew they had a lot of European stock, but I had glossed it as Polish. Upon closer inspection, this is one of those former Yugo places. There's actually a lot of stuff from all over Eastern Europe (including three kinds of Bulgarian beer, and wines from Romania, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and probably more I didn't jot down). It's only about two blocks east of Clark street (just past La Unica and across the street) so some folks may be interested in visiting it, and/or La Unica.

_________________
Joe G.

"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement

Oh no. I had no idea. I am so bummed to hear that. Like I said, I get food from there at least 6-8 times a month. What a drag. I had heard that might happen. After Flower's Pot and the Dollar store closed, but SM stayed open, I thought it had been spared. Lord how I hate Joe Moore. Well, anybody living out west on Diversey should be happy. It is a great store.

Yep, that aspect of Devon Market has been noted previously. Lots of smoked and cured meats from Serbia, Croatia etc. I love the place. Look at the checkout girls, they sum it up: Serb, Mexican, East African. Very cool couple of stores there, essentially across the street from each other.

I've been irretrievably depressed about this development since I saw the sign, too. As already noted, Morelia offers some of the best food in the area--and the price is unbeatable. I have enjoyed many lunches there for under 3 bucks. The carnitas, chicken/pork in spicy green sauce, ceviche, yellow rice, and roasted chicken are all routinely no worse than very good, and are generally better than that. Morelia is truly one of Rogers Park's culinary treasures. There is nothing else like it in the general vicinity, and I will miss it very much after it moves.

Although we can't make it this weekend, I look forward to hearing the results of the North Clark-a-thon.

Taqueria Mexico and Taqueria Uptown are practically next to each other. I think the horchata and the chicken sopa are quite good from Taqueria Mexico...(or is it Uptown? Shoot. I always get them confused -- it's the one with the red stools at the counter. I'll edit later once I figure out which one I like.)

I used to love the mole chicken burrito from Campeche, but they have changed ownership and I haven't been back.

Neighbors warned us away from Rocky's. We've never felt compelled to go against their opinion.



Those of us on or near Greenleaf totally understand.

Oh yes, only $6 for a whole roast chicken with whole onions and superhot jalapenos. How I will miss those onions. One of my favorites was a stew made with thin slices of beef and fava beans, or the Papas con Chorizo. Now I am depressed also. I will definitely have to go to Morelia this afternoon.

Arrghh! I have to cancel for Saturday. Unexpectedly called out of town. So sorry. Enjoy, everyone.

_________________
Man : I can't understand how a poet like you can eat that stuff.
T. S. Eliot: Ah, but you're not a poet.

Josephine, sorry you can't make it!

The weather forecast is looking up -- hopefully we'll be back in that autumn sweet spot I had in mind when I suggested this thing in the first place.

I tried to synthesize a list of people who said they were interested and didn't say they'd meet up midway. Here's who I think is meeting at Chapala around 11 am:

GWiv
Trixie-Pea
Pigmon
Bruce
d4v3
GAF
nr706
fastfoodsnob

If you're not on that list but want to make sure we don't leave without you, please reply or PM. If you're on the list above but we shouldn't wait around Chapala for you, please advise similarly. If you need a phone number to call for mid-day rendezvous, send me a PM.

More specifically on the rendezvous point, I had in mind in the back near the actual prepared food counter.

This is probably not the most flattering picture of me, although I think the turkey came out pretty well
It should be good enough for you to pick me out if you don't know anyone else who is coming.

_________________
Joe G.

"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement

As much as I want to make it, I'm on-call this weekend and have to stay in South Bend. Drats! I will be at the LTH Picnic

_________________
Bruce
Plenipotentiary
bruce@bdbbq.com

Raw meat should NOT have an ingredients list!!

I think I'll make the 11 am call, and just drop out when I have to go.

See you all there!

_________________
Leek
SAVING ONE DOG MAY NOT CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT IT CHANGES THE WORLD FOR THAT ONE DOG.
American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog.
http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org

I just realized today that our event overlaps with the Rogers Park World Music Festival in Touhy Park. If people need to digest for a while, it might make a nice break from our walk. Or, if you have friends or family who think that you are nuts to spend a day walking up and down a street eating, you could park them there while you soldier on...



Touhy Park is across the street from the much loved Supermercado Morelia.

_________________
Joe G.

"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement

See you there!

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

If you missed the NCAT today, I've got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is that you missed a really good time, but the good news is that (as Dave (d4v3) predicted), it was too much to bite off and we only made it through about half of the stretch of North Clark, so there is a strong likelihood of a sequel in the future.

I seriously neglected to take pictures (about six all day) and I won't be able to download what I got for a few days, but we had some more diligent documentors who will hopefully post some shots soon.

Looking back over what we covered in about four hours, I'm fairly overwhelmed. I won't bother to try to evaluate everything, although I'll take a crack at listing it, at least.

We started as planned at Chapala. It was pretty crowded, but we managed to grab a handful of tables and started to get our bearings. Our order there consisted of some roasted chicken, some tacos al pastor, tacos de lengua, carnitas, and some extra roasted cebollitas (onions) and peppers. The roasted chicken was very good, nicely seasoned and crispy skinned (the breast was a little dry, but that happens, I guess.)

Seth Z and Kerensa did indeed "ride by", so by the time we left Chapala we were ten strong. We decided to head across the street to Qaato, a Nigerian restaurant. In contrast to Chapala, there was no one at Qaato at all. The staff were quite friendly, although I think we had some language challenges in ordering. We definitely got a few extras of some things that I think we thought we'd only ordered one of, but in the end, it probably ended up being a reasonable order. At least, not much went uneaten. We started with the "Assorted Meat or Oxtail pepper soup" which indeed included goat meat, tripe, and oxtail. It was quite spicy, and I found it quite tasty. We intended to order some "fish and shrimp pepper soup" also, but I guess we didn't really make that clear. We also ordered egusi soup with goat, yam fufu, cassava fufu, jollof rice with goat, and "Aya Mase (Very Spicy)". I suppose that ended up being quite a bit of goat, but it worked out. The Aya Mase was my other surprise winner. It was not really very spicy at all, especially in the wake of the pepper soup. It was simply fluffy white rice and more goat in a interesting, somewhat complex dark brown sauce. Sorry, I can't be much more specific, but I would happily order it again if you need me to do a better job describing it.

Despite us being the only people there, service was pretty slow, and by the time we done we realized that it was nearly 1 pm, and, as Gary (GWiv) observed, we'd only travelled 300 feet. Fortunately, while we were there, Matt (mhl) and Tom (nr706) were able to catch up with us and try the food. As we were winding down at Qaato, we realized that Gary (GAF)'s suggestion from the thread was a wise one, and we decided to divide and conquer. Folks spread out to five or six places (mostly) in the next few blocks and picked up various food, and we reconvened in the courtyard at the RP branch of the CPL.

Cuetzala: Tamales Nejos with mole, barbacoa de chivo
El Rey del Taco: tacos gringas, tacos pioneros (something else maybe?)
Tamales los mejores de Guerrero: a wide variety of tamales
Doña Lolis: quesadillas de huitlacoche (corn smut), quesadillas flor de calabaza (squash blossom)
El Llano: roast chicken, roast rabbit, sausage, beef empanadas, arepas
Las Islas Marias: shrimp empanadas
Panaderia La Mexicana (I think): various pastries
Fruit Cocktail cart at Morse (?) and Clark: fresh fruit with chile powder and lime
from a few grocery stores: chicharron, mexican coke, mexican sprite

we spread everything out on a bench in the courtyard and commenced to quite a feast. There was certainly no shortage of either variety or quantity. I particularly enjoyed the chicken and sausage from El Llano and the shrimp empanadas from Las Islas Marias, and the street vendor fruit cocktail was really great also.

I must admit, I'm worn out just trying to write it up, sorry if I couldn't provide much more detail about the dishes, but I'm confident we'll get plenty of other reports. (Someone needs to tell the El Rey del Taco soup story!) Robert (rgl201) and Catherine (chapulin) found their way to us, alas as we were pretty much winding down, but they helped take a few things home, and the winding down seemed to keep going and going and going, which is a testimony to the friendly and welcoming nature of all involved. Thanks to everyone for coming out, and I'm already looking forward to part two!

_________________
Joe G.

"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement

Just a quick note to say thanks to Joe for arranging such a great event, and I'll look forward to #2 (possibly including Caracas Grill, Taste of Peru, and Las Cazuelas).

Quick notes (from memory, and at my age that can be a bit sketchy): smut was good (but who doesn't like smut? - okay, maybe leek is allergic); shrimp empanadas were impressive, intense mole, best goat I 've had in days, was unimpressed by the rabbit from El Llano, but the sausage was great.

And, Gary, the Malta you had did taste exactly like unfermented wort.

When's #2?

_________________
Chicago Craft Beer Week!

The little bit so far (well not that little of a report, Joe), sounds fantastic. I look forward to more, and the pics.

Rob

_________________
Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.

The Local Beet's very big list of 2013 Farmer's Markets

It is quite impressive to note the density of food establishments on certain streets - and North Clark is a great example. We could have been satisfied on just one block.

I understand that today is Mexican Independence Day, but if so, there was no sign of a celebration on North Clark. Has the INS got everyone frightened?

Yes, the fine bakery was, indeed, La Mexicana.

I'm sorry I never made it -- breakfast plans ballooned and pretty much swallowed the day. Sounds like a great time with no shortage of good eats -- I'll hope for better luck catching the sequel.

Man, that was an extreme debauchery at its finest! Almost like one of those medieval dining scenes in an old movie, where people are running all around a castle, holding a big goat leg or something and swinging from the chandeliers.
Seriously, quite the spread. Easily my favorite item, though, was the roasted chicken from El Llano. Moist and beautifully seasoned. I’m looking forward to retasting it sometime soon for a casual midweek nosh.

The shrimp empanadas from Las Islas Marias were also noteworthy.

As a side excursion, trix and I also highly enjoyed the Campechana Pulpo Camaron at El Rey Del Taco. The sauce has the usual over-the-top ketchup-y thing going but the shrimp and octupus are stellar.

Thanks a million, Mr. germuska, for setting up this fun-filled meander through Rogers Park. I enjoyed it so much that it turned out to be a 2-cigar afternoon. I Hope I’m not on anybody’s sh*t list for smokin’ them out.


El Llano
7018 N. Clark
(773) 338-0531

El Rey Del Taco
7104 N. Clark St
(773) 262-9411

_________________
It's spelled "PIGMON" - but it's pronounced "PIG-MIN."

It was really a great time - and exhausting! I got home (quite quickly thanks to Matt) and immediately had to take a nap. My favorite was the goat on the end of the bench (goat carnitas? BBQ goat? Whatever, it was excellent), the chicken at the first place, and the dark brown stew Joe described from the African place.

And I don't dislike smut, I'm allergic to mushrooms and was not anxious to discover that smut was mushroom-like enough to trigger anything unpleasant.

Thanks to Joe for organizing, and everyone else for being so much fun!

_________________
Leek
SAVING ONE DOG MAY NOT CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT IT CHANGES THE WORLD FOR THAT ONE DOG.
American Brittany Rescue always needs foster homes. Please think about helping that one dog.
http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org

Germuska,

Good news indeed, the first leg of the North Clark A Thon was quite enjoyable, not in small part to your, and others, pre Thon planning.

We gathered at Supermarcado Chapala, quite a nice grocery with in-house taqueria. Chapala will help to ease the neighborhood loss of Supermarcado Morelia

Supermarcado Chapala




Taqueria was lively, pumping out the carnitas to counter customers and tacos etc to patrons in booths.

FastFoodSnob says Bring it ON


Clockwise from (L) Al Pastor, Lengua, Cabeza


Grilled knob onion and pepper w/lime


Top, carnitas w/rice and beans. Bottom, roast chicken


While it's true we only made 300 feet in a couple of hours, they were hours well spent! Qaato was very enjoyable, especially the spicy Pepper soup with assorted, and they do mean assorted, meat.

Qaato

Pepper soup


Service may have been a wee bit slow, though it might has seemed a bit slower than it was as we were on a mission, but you can't fault the friendliness factor.

Seth Z made fast friends with Qaato's waitress.


Egusi Soup w/goat was tasty, perfectly complimented by fufu, both yam and cassava. Yam fufu is more neutral, though the slight astringency of the cassava goes well with egusi soup.

Egusi Soup/Stew


We also had Aya Mase, which the waitress said was very spicy. I did not find the Aya Mase particularly spicy, especially in comparison to the Pepper soup.

Aya Mase


My favorite dish, next to the pepper soup, was the Jollof Rice, though more for the accompanying goat stew than rice, though the stew quite enlivened the rice. I loved the richness of the meat with palm oil.

Jollof Rice w/goat stew


300-feet accomplished, another mile to go.

At this point Germuska implemented GAF's suggestion to split into foraging groups and reconvene in the Courtyard of the Rogers Park Branch of the Chicago Public Library. A very good idea.

Leek, Matt and I headed to Cuetzala for Tamales Nejos.

Cuetzala


Matt/Leek


In addition to Tamales Nejos Cuetzala looks to serve a mean skirt steak.


Directly outside Cuetzala's door was a Paleteria cart, in fact the vendor was the person having the skirt steak.


Leek, Matt and I shared a Mamey and Tamarind.


We regrouped at the library, the courtyard is quite the urban oasis.

Courtyard, Rogers Park Branch, Chicago Public Library



Kerensa and GAF w/pastry from Panaderia La Mexicana (7061 N Clark)


Trixie-Pea and Pigmon


GAF with 'The French Couple'


Seth picked up fresh fruit from a street vendor, chile and lime enhancing the taste.


Shrimp Empanadas, which I'm not sure who brought, from Las Islas Marias (6635 N Clark St)


Tamales Nejos from Cuetzal (7360 N Clark S)


Frankly, I remain less enthused than most about the huitlachoche from Dona Lolis.

Huitlacoche Quesadilla from Dona Lolis (6924 N Clark St)


Birria de chiva (Goat) was quite good, though I'm not sure where it was purchased or who brought it to the courtyard.


Chicharron, once again, not sure who brought it or from where. Either way, it was a bit lackluster.


Bacon ++++++++++ Taco brought by dv43, not sure from where.


Colombian chorizo from El Llano Restaurant (7018 N Clark St)


Rabbit from El Llano might have been my favorite, along with the stew accompanying the Jollof rice, bite of the day. I should point out the rabbit was not universally loved, some thought it dry, but the overall flavor/taste package really appealed to me. Chicken was quite good as well, but I dead-loved El Llano's rabbit.

El Llano Rabbit (L) Chicken (R)


Joe, thanks again for the diligence in making everything run smoothly. A wonderful afternoon spent in the company of LTHers, looking forward to N Clark-A-Thon Part-2

A few additional pictures may be found here

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

LTH,

One omission I've noted in my post, though I'm sure there's more, are Tamales los mejores de Guerrero's delicious tamales. I don't seem to have a Clark-A-Thon picture or know who brought them. The Tamales los mejores de Guerrero thread w/pictures, may be found here

Enjoy,
Gary

_________________
Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I brought the tamales from el Mejor - some pork, some chicken, some jalapeno & cheese, some beans & cheese, some sweet ones with strawberries, some with pineapple. I liked the pork ones alot - maybe it's just that I don't usually have a fresh-made tamale, but these were immensely good - the masa seemed fluffier, laden with moisture and corn essence. Definitely a step up from the coolers.

The chicharrones came from supermercado azteca, I beleive, and was bad - NOT FULLY PUFFED.

Qaato was the best of the day for me - especiallyh the spicy pepper soup and oxtail in the egusi.

Thanks to Joe for organizing us!

What an awesome day! I prepared by somewhat fasting the previous 12 hours, which helped as I needed all the space I could get on Saturday -- my stomach actually hurt from being so full afterwards. At any rate, I should've posed with some food for that picture at Chapala, but I guess that'll hafta wait until North Clark-a-thon II.

To answer some of the questions raised by Gary's post, trixie-pea and PIGMON brought the shrimp empanadas to the library-courtyard feast, while I believe d4v3 and I picked up the goat (birria de chiva?) along with the tacos from El Rey Del Taco, where we met up with a few other LTHers as well as trixie-pea and PIGMON (who were finishing up the meal they had in lieu of our African fare at Qaato).

Speaking of Qaato, the meal was fairly standard for me until I hit some fatty skin (er, oxtail?) that wound its way into a few of the later dishes served. The tripe and beef were okay, but that skin... its flavors were simply revelatory. If they brought out another dish with skin and sauce alone, I think my Clark-a-thon might've been done right then and there. Seth might have enjoyed it in a similar fashion, but those little pieces of fat made the meal for me (though your mileage with the same dishes may vary).

Sorry I couldn't head out for the Evanston Chicken Shack with Gary after all was said and done, but my stomach couldn't take anymore by the time we finished, around 3:30 or so P.M. The funny thing was I eventually made my first trip to Sabri Nehari with an old friend that same evening at 7:30 (when I could finally handle another bite). All I can say is that the nehari was great, and perfect for dipping of bread/naan. Foodwise, these last 24 hours have been a gift. Thanks for sharing!

--Dan

I thought this came from Cuetzala, for some reason, but if it didn't, then it must have come from El Rey de Tacos.



This is an instance of the much-discussed Tacos Pioneros from El Rey del Taco I thought they were excellent. I may have liked the tacos gringas more, just because I'm a big pineapple fan. But then, I'm a big bacon fan too. I guess the jury is still out.

_________________
Joe G.

"Whatever may be wrong with the world, at least it has some good things to eat." -- Cowboy Jack Clement

First off, I must say I had a wonderful time at the Clark-a-thon (northern phase). Many thanks to gemurska (Joe) for instigating and planning the event, and giving us a chance to show off our 'hood. This was my first LTH event, but it will definitely not be my last. What a friendly and interesting group of people! And such unrepentant gluttony. More is indeed More. I am looking forward to the Clark-a-thon southern phase in the future.

Aside from the great company, the highlight of the day for me was Qaato restaurant. I have walked by the place many times since it opened earlier this year, but never worked up the nerve to sample their offerings. As it turns out, it is a very friendly and welcoming establishment. My favorite dish there was the Egusi stew (especially the pieces of skin). The pepper soup was also quite good in a mouth numbing, sweat inducing, sinus clearing way. I will return to Qaato, but I just don't know if I will ever find another group of dining partners who are so enthused about tripe, tails, cartilage, skin and goat meat.

Speaking of goat meat, the tasty barbacoa pictured above was obtained from El Rey del Taco along with the tacos pioneros (bacon+++) and gringas by fastfoodsnob and myself. Like G Wiv, I also enjoyed the rabbit from El LLano, but I could see how some people thought it was a bit dry and chewy. I remedied that by adding some of the excellent green and red moles from Cuetzala, which came with the tamales nejos (mmmmm, charcoal grilled conejo en mole). I also believe there were actually two different versions of shrimp empanadas (?) (I was way too full to try them both). We also confirmed that Mexican Sprite is indeed much better than its northern relative (less syrupy and more lemony). As to the 'lackluster' pork skins, my dogs really enjoyed the leftovers. They thought they were great.

After consuming all that meat yesterday, I thought I would just have a nice green salad for dinner today. However, after seeing that beautiful looking Carne Asada that G Wiv photographed at Cuetzala, I might just head up there. I also enjoyed his photo of the Palletero, who was wearing the same cap as I was yesterday. We must shop at the same dollar store.

As others noted, I was also surprised by the lack of Mexican Independence day festivities on Clark street. There were a few flags out, but in contrast to years gone by, this stretch of North Clark was virtually dead. Last year, there was the usual stream of cars festooned in red, white and green driving up and down the street honking horns, and kids on street corners waving gigantic Mexican flags and yelling 'Viva Mexico' at passers by. I wonder if the recent anti-immigrant sentiment dampened the spirit (or at least drove it underground). Were there more boisterous celebrations in other parts of town, or were things so subdued everywhere?

Here in Logan Square, both Friday and Saturday nights were as boisterous as ever. Every corner was selling big Mexican flags; every block was filled with cruising, horn-honking cars with said flags waving out the windows. But I've noticed the same enthusiasm for Puerto Rican Independence in June and the good ol' US of A Independence Day on July 4 (which also always incorporates an impressive display of fireworks that extends at least a week either way from the 4th). Logan Square has an extreme level of enhusiasm for public displays of loudness. I don't know, but I do think folks in this neighborhood, a neighborhood that seriously lacks in many amenities such as parks (the least green space of any neighborhood in Chicago), movie theaters and the like, get a little stir-crazy and are looking for any excuse to drive around and honk their horns or set off a bunch of pyrotechnics. I sympathize, and have been known to honk my horn a few unnecessary times while driving here during these events.

_________________
JiLS

My favorite was the guy I saw who had wrapped a Mexican flag around his hood, tucking the edges inside next to the engine (probably not recommended); because of the angle of his hood around the headlights, it made it look like his car was wearing giant Mexican underwear.

_________________
Watch Sky Full of Bacon, the Chicago food HD podcast!
New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.