I used to hit that place on 16th, Panther.
I could also hit up Freddie's on my way home.

Wimperoo:
If you like Torres, then stick with it. Check their price at the deli counter, and ask them if you'll need to special order.

I'm pretty fond of Familia Food's Carnitas on Oak Park Ave, across the street from the hospital (they never seem to be oversalted, which I LOVE) and before then, Berwyn Fruit Market's carnitas.

I'd also suggest checking the joints in Pilsen / Little Village which are a very quick drive on early wknd mornings. When I was going through a big tamale phase, I used to hit up La Casa Del Pueblo, and El Milagro, and would drive past a few Carnitas places. Maybe if you want some tamales to go with your carnitas, and you're an early riser - you could make it an am mission.

I'll bet my life that Valles on 26th has carnitas on wknds as well, and they'll prolly have some other guisados and snacks as well. I actually popped into Valles for salsa on Sunday around lunchtime, and they had an offer I couldn't refuse:
6 cheese enchiladas, with rice and beans for 4.99. AND IT WAS GOOD!

Good luck.

seebee wrote:I actually popped into Valles for salsa on Sunday around lunchtime, and they had an offer I couldn't refuse:
6 cheese enchiladas, with rice and beans for 4.99. AND IT WAS GOOD!

The old self quote. But, in case evidence is needed:


The enchiladas came straight out of a hotel pan. A spatula scooped up 6 in a melted cheese topped conjoined row, and then they were folded over to fit in the clamshell. Funny story, when the counterman was pointing and listing all of the stuff in the hot case for me, when he pointed to the enchiladas, and told me the price, I thought I misheard him when he said 6 for 4.99. I assumed he had it backwards like it should have been 4 for 6.99 or something. When he confirmed it was 6 for 4.99 - lol ... I didn't even ask him wtf KIND of enchiladas they were. I just said, give me two orders. I followed him to the other counter where he slapped the price tag on them, and lo and behold, there was a customer facing sign, "Today's Special: 6 cheese enchiladas, rice & beans 4.99"

Got em home, and divvied em up:


Best enchiladas on the planet? NOPE
Worst enchiladas on the planet? NOPE. Not even close to the worst.

I've had far worse enchiladas for more than twice the price. These were actually pretty good, tbh.

If you can fit Valles in on a Sat or Sun, their salsas rarely disappoint, but you might have a good chance at scoring some sneaky good eats on the way cheap. Just remember, this place is a tiny little bodega. It's not bright and airy, it's small, and packed tight. The people are all super friendly, and the salsa selection/price/quality is generally great.

Just saw this on Facebook...

Congratulations to the newest Berwyn business on Ridgeland Ave!

Cien 100% Naturalisimo
2709 S Ridgeland Ave

... is a plant-based eatery that offers only the healthiest options for your mind, body, and soul! They offer a wide selection of various vegan options, as well as consultations with an in-house health coach. Start your healthy lifestyle this summer in Berwyn!

We could use a few more vegetarian options.

Panther in the Den wrote:

the wimperoo wrote:Taco Bout It appears to have changed its name to Xelva Mayan Cuisine. I'm not sure anything else has changed though.

Their Facebook Page wrote:Good afternoon loyal customers, friends ,and family of taco bout it . With this post we hope to address all questions and concerns about the name changed (rebranding). No we are not closing our doors . No it’s not a new owner or new restaurant. Yes we have the same menu and staff . The name change is simple. Their happens to be another restaurant within 15 miles from us that has the slogan let’s taco about it. They reach out to our lawyer . After talking to a lawyer he recommended the name change. To avoid the legal battle. The name changed is to XELVA . With this said we hope to continue to serve all of you guys and the Brookfield Community .

More changes? Maybe if they cooked the tortillas?

https://www.oakparkeats.com/food-news/n ... ue-eatery/

I Xelva'd last night.
A buddy of mine has been screaming about their steak, and salsa verde. The counterman pulled out slabs of skirt, and threw them on the live fire grill after I ordered, so there's some serious promise here.

The rundown:
Steak - tonight's was too chewy, and overcooked. I know the deal tho. The cow was not their fault. Overcooking was. My preference would be higher flame, more char, and less done. There was not a lot of char, and it was cooked well done. Higher heat and less time on the plancha would have been better, imo. Also, it was cut in larger pieces. My guess would be that smaller pieces would yield a little more tenderness. No big deal, though. I will get their steak again, without question. There is real promise.

Beef Barbacoa - Not good. It was actually dry. It was obviously held in a liquidy, stewy, jus. But, the meat itself was dry once chewed. Me and Jr both took one bite, and were done with the barbacoa tacos, which is an oddity. We dig on some unctuous barbacoa over here. Fattier the better. I wonder if this barbacoa was made with a cut of meat that doesn't lend it self to long cooking, OR, we are just gringos, and we expect juicy, fatty, barbacoa, incorrectly. kinda seemed like the texture of something like a sirloin that was stewed.

Al Pastor - decent. A dry version of spice, not the wet, red pasty stuff. Had a definite touch of sweetness from pineapple.

They had a tinga quesadilla special, so I snagged one. GOOD cheese. There was definitely tinga on the quesadilla in spots. I couldn't taste anything from it tho. It's like it wasn't even there.

Chapulines: Jr was a very firm NO.

The salsa verde was very limey/tangy/fresh. Not hot, but it had a warmth from pepper.

I will say this:
Jr and I both agreed on the horchata. WAAAAAY better than I think I've ever had, and Jr was a definite on calling it "the best." I'd imagine that their horchata would fit right in at La Chaparrita. I've never had horchata from La Chaparrita, but whoever made the horchata at Xelva has some serious passion. I'll verify that last night's horchata was a standard prep, because I'll definitely go back pretty soon to test the steak again. The horchata was VERY rich, VERY creamy. It was serious. You could easily taste that someone gave a crap about what they were creating, and not just opening a packet.

Steak tacos and horchata for me next time are a definite.
I'd say if you give this place a try, don't miss on the horchata.

I ate there on Tuesday after not having been there for awhile (not in my normal path)...

I had the chicken mole taco and the pastor. Pastor was good not great, I think I'll try the steak next time. The mole was really tasty and a definite reorder.

It was the end of lunch rush and they had a room full (small place) - that was good to see after the last 3-4 places there couldn't survive.

stoutisgoodfood wrote:I ate there on Tuesday after not having been there for awhile (not in my normal path)...

I'd guess there = Xelva.
Folks, please mention the name of the restaurant?
Get off My Lawn!
Not directing this at Stout but, having minor interest in Berwyn I don't quite remember details from Seebee's prior post.
Also, and this is not directed to Seebee, there are a few posters who make a practice of posting bunches of restaurants in an odd disjointed fashion, with blurry pics, and then the followup simply says, I ate there.
Get off my Lawn!

seebee wrote:I Xelva'd last night.
A buddy of mine has been screaming about their steak, and salsa verde. The counterman pulled out slabs of skirt, and threw them on the live fire grill after I ordered, so there's some serious promise here.

The rundown:
Steak - tonight's was too chewy, and overcooked. I know the deal tho. The cow was not their fault. Overcooking was. My preference would be higher flame, more char, and less done. There was not a lot of char, and it was cooked well done. Higher heat and less time on the plancha would have been better, imo. Also, it was cut in larger pieces. My guess would be that smaller pieces would yield a little more tenderness. No big deal, though. I will get their steak again, without question. There is real promise.

<snip>

Steak tacos and horchata for me next time are a definite.
I'd say if you give this place a try, don't miss on the horchata.

Xelva
8819 Ogden Ave, Brookfield


I wasn’t impressed with anything during my visit. Maybe the uncooked tortilla?


The steak itself failed to impress me as well.

Looking at the other area places (mostly in The Kingdom) that are also charging $3.50 for a taco you can do much better.

Hecho en Oak Park, Chirrion, Gringo & Blondie, Tacabron ($2.75). Even Cactus Grill or Taco Tu at their lower price point is better.

It will take more than horchata to get me to visit again.

Yet another evolution at...

6836 Windsor Ave, Berwyn


https://m.facebook.com/CafeMediaNoche/

Not sure about the days shown. They usually post. No post for today.

Another coffee shop/cafe opening on the 21st. Some light dishes too as far as I can tell...

La Borra del Cafe
6801 Stanley Ave, Berwyn

the wimperoo wrote:Taco Bout It appears to have changed its name to Xelva Mayan Cuisine. I'm not sure anything else has changed though.

Now Xocalo.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday service.

In search of an identity.

Looking online you will see references to Taco Bout It, Xelva Mayan Cuisine and not much about the new name.

Speaking of that new coffee shop Panther mentioned (La Borra del Cafe...)

If anyone has gluten issues, there's a small gym / coffee shop basically next door to La Borra del Cafe, called, "Lunges N Lattes." They have a few foods on offer, coffee drinks, and smoothies, but...

Wherever this place is getting its gluten free muffins from, they are damn good.
I don't have much experience with gluten free anything, and what I have had in the past from other places has not been good. I'll even admit that my wife has been taking exercise classes at Lunges N Lattes since they opened, and she's brought home plenty of gluten free clunker trial muffins in the past, but they have CLEARLY upped their game. These muffins are moist, flavorful, (a little on the sweet side, but I'm guessing that's a trade-off the bakery has to make to get them the right consistency.) If you're in the area, try a few if this interests you. I recommend chocolate, banana, and blueberry lemon. I think they run about 4 bux per, but definitely don't quote me. none of us in our household are G.F. but these are pretty decent. More like a dessert, tbh.

https://lungesnlattes.com/
6805 Stanley Avenue
Berwyn, IL 60402

Any updates on Covid dining in the area? I've noticed that Big Guys has outdoor seating as does Connies Restaurant. LaVernes does too as well as Capri in the Depot district. We went into Riverside and ate at Mollie's Public House, had a good burger and fish and chips on their patio. Appropriate masking, and social distancing. La Barra also had outdoor seating as well as a place across from Riverside Foods I think its probably connected to the Chew Chew but have not confirmed. Just a tip. We try to go out to eat during the week rather on the weekends when things may become crowded.

Riverside Restaurant has gone out of business as has Toninnis deli. A few new coffee shops have opened I will try to get the names.

Hi Toria -
We left dodge in early June, and have only been home a few days since. You've hit on some of my major players for dining out in the area - Kudos for the players that have upped their Al Fresco game like Connies, La Barra and Capri. (Lavergnes hooked up their outdoor seating are last year, I think, and it's pretty nice.)

I'd add Paisan's on Ogden if they are open. They had a seating area outdoors, and I'm fond of most of their food that doesn't have red sauce. Especially their burgers.

The Chew Chew place you mentioned might be their sandwich shop named Sawmilly?

I also saw the neighborhood microbrewer Flapjack was setting a small batch of tables up outside one day in late May / early June. They have some homemade pizzas on offer, maybe a few sandwiches.

Yes it could be for Sawmilly but there seemed to be too many people there for just that so maybe its a joint space. Of course all this outdoor dining will come to a screeching halt in October when it will become too cool to eat outdoors.

Here is a new middle eastern restaurant on Harlem in Riverside that is getting good reviews. I think it would be good for carry out I don't think they have outside eating.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/nada-restauran ... stern+Food

At the intersection of many recent themes from cannoli to curbside pickup to how the sausage crumbles is Flapjack Brewery, but I'm here to praise their wood-fired pizzas. We had the Margherita, the sausage with fresh fennel, and the signature cup-and-char pepperoni with sliced garlic and basil. All were savory and had some impressive vera pizza napoletana textures.

Unsliced for pickup, they were really reasonably sized. A notch above Roots in my personal pizza notebook, with big bubbles more akin to Stop 50 than Coalfire but that kind of high-heat spotting, and some nice malty flavors in the crust. Arugula salad was also a generous full serving for $7 and the cannoli were crisp and clearly put together for the order as they should be. Good value proposition at the moment and some really nice attention to detail.

I live in Riverside but eat in Berwyn often so I can add a few names to your list.

For Pizza Flapjack Brewery is a must for pretty good Neapolitan style pizza. Beers are ok but Neapolitan style pizza is the best option in the area other than my backyard wood burning oven. Lavergne’s Is a great spot, particularly in the summer when you can sit in the back patio. You may want to check out Berwyn Food market for their prepared foods. Carnitas and Barbacoa are good. Lastly, for decent Chinese takeout checkout To Your Taste on the Riverside side of Harlem Avenue.

Thanks for the Flapjack tip. Last night we picked up a Margherita, a sausage, a pepperoni and (essentially) a cheese, and they were all excellent and slightly elevated renditions of each respective style. A few people were dining in, but the place seemed to be doing a brisk business of carry out and crowlers to go.

Glad you liked it.

Been a while.
New joint alert:
La Malquerida Latin Fusion.

Tapas-ish.

A few folks in the hood have been touting this place as excellent. We hit them up on a Saturday night, 7pm primetime.

Service started off slow. Very minor quibble. Once we were engaged, service was excellent. Our server was top notch. NO complaints. Matter of fact, I normally consider "standard" service great, and don't really complain or mention it. I've been a server at several different places. I understand service, and the challenges that comes along with it. Great service worth mentioning here from our one experience.

The food was a mixed bag. And it ain't cheap. The Mrs. started off with a fancy schmancy Old Fashioned of some sort. There was a big reveal with smoke involved. One big round ice cube in the glass. That type of thing. She loved it. I had a cold ass Estrella.

Prices be damned, we ordered a bunch of apps to get a feel of what they were doing in the kitchen.

Sopesitas:
Tinga, black beans, cheese, and a few sauces. Can't remember the sauces, but I think one was a crema. Doesn't matter. These were REALLY damn good, and we already agreed to get them again. Three of them on the plate. Maybe 2-3 bites each. They were small, but loaded. The sauces weren't overbearing, the mini sopes were crisp on the outside, and not too heavy on the inside. The fillings were balanced.

Guacamole:
A complete waste of 11 dollars. It was mashed avocado with very little seasoning, and one slice of a chile pepper. But they topped it with pepitas, a little cotija, and some fried pork rinds. The 8 chips were served in a little wire basket alongside. The presentation was VERY Instagram worthy. Truth be told, my honest impression was like someone tried to get as fancy as possible making guac with ingredients from Aldi. If you wanna charge me 11 bux for some lame guac, at least warm the storebought chips. That's one of the oldest / easiest tricks in the book of restaurant guac. (And they weren't even any of the GOOD brands of chips, either.) The guac presentation was cute as hell, but they made about 10 bux off of the 11 dollar price tag. It would take far less effort to make that entire situation better. Nothing about it was bad, it was just flavorless, and overpriced. For as good as the other things we ordered were, it just made no sense how lame the guac was.

Fish Taquitos App:
Stellar. I wish they had an easier to find menu online to get a better description. I'm sure a website is in the works, just not available now. These were great. Probably 4 inches each, stuffed with some sort of medium density white fish, and fried. Whoever came up with this has some chops in the kitchen. The fish inside was perfect. I think it was topped with a slaw. Now that I think of it - it was pretty much a baja fish taquito. There was a decent slick of an avocado crema on the plate, and it was absolute FIRE.

Fried Mixed Seafood appetizer:
21.00 caught my eye, but again, I wanted to see what they were workin with.
I'm cheap as hell, but I'd easily get this app again. No question. It was a few scrimps, three or four sea scallops, and a mound of squidamari all lightly dusted and fried. The scallops were fried perfectly - almost like a barely medium. I'd order this again without hesitation. If they were smart, they should plate this as a main with a side of that fire ass avocado crema with a sprig of broccoli and a cheap starch. When I go back, I'm ordering a side of the avocado crema with this.

Octopus app:
Sigh. What sux is that if they would humor me 2 oz more of that octopus, I'd say this was stellar as well. This was a decent sized portion of potatoes, grilled peppers and onions with a few hard to find nibblets of octopus. The sauce it was in was fantastically interesting. I'd describe it as Spanish / Middle Eastern. Almost like a mole with Za'tar. The Mrs absolutely loved this dish. I thought it was great, too. Just a tiny handful more of octopus would put this over the top into stellar territory. Flavors were there in spades, tho. We'll be getting this again, no question.

Mains:
Arrachera.
Medium rare. Delivered perfectly med rare as requested. It was served with an oily sauce with corn and either little pieces of poblano or nopales mixed in, and topped with a good cheese melted. This was 128% FIRE. Every part of this dish was just fantastic. The sauce was outstanding.

NY Strip with Frites.
Another lame dish. It was supposed to have chimichurri. There were a few little green flecks on the steak, but it was very bland. In hindsight, we should have asked for a side of the chimichurri just to make sure we actually got it. The saving grace was that everyone LOVED the frites. They were garlic laced. Pretty much like your favorite gyros joint's garlic fries - thin cut.

Whoever's in the kitchen knows what they are doing for the most part. The good stuff was truly, really good. So good, in fact, that I would try any of the stuff we didn't like again. The lame stuff almost made no logical sense, because the good things were THAT good. I have my fingers crossed they'll get it all figured out - they definitely appear to have the chops to do so.

La Malquerida Latin Fusion
6906 Windsor Ave, Berwyn, IL 60402

If you dig, you'll find a menu on the web, but just assume that the menu changes.

Guess I should note some updates:

Tonini's Italian Market: Closed
Oliver's: Closed
Las Vegas Vietnamese Restaurant: Closed
Bubbas Beef: Closed

After a few good showings, I'll throw a lukewarm bone of a recommendation out to Jwok for Chinese food. On a good day, it's better than average for the area, but my view is that you're still better off hitting Katy's in Oak Park, or just taking the shorter-than-you-think drive to Chinatown.

https://www.j-wok.com/

Have not tried these yet but Gaia is a new to me place.
https://gaiaitaliano.com/

Also La Parra is getting good reviews.

https://laparrarestaurantandbar.com/

Anyone tried these yet?

Toria,

Is there any Czech presence in Berwyn and Cicero? Or is it all in Westmont?

Most of my Czech interactions are on facebook.

Regards,
CAthy2

toria wrote:Have not tried these yet but Gaia is a new to me place.
https://gaiaitaliano.com/

Also La Parra is getting good reviews.

https://laparrarestaurantandbar.com/

Anyone tried these yet?

My better half LOVES La Parra, she's ditched me to go there twice apparently, but I haven't been yet. Gaia is probably next on our list to try. I know a few folks that have said it is great. I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up there for dinner within a few days. We were going to go to Gaia if Malquerida was too busy for that last post.

Cathy2 wrote:Toria,

Is there any Czech presence in Berwyn and Cicero? Or is it all in Westmont?

Most of my Czech interactions are on facebook.

Regards,
CAthy2

Czech Plaza in Berwyn was our all-time favorite for as long as I remember. Although not in Berwyn or Cicero, Westchester Inn in where else but Westchester is very good and has the ambience and authenticity of Czech Plaza. I don't think there are any remaining Czech restaurants left in Berwyn/Cicero:(.

https://www.facebook.com/WestchesterInn/

Cathy2 wrote:Toria,

Is there any Czech presence in Berwyn and Cicero? Or is it all in Westmont?

Most of my Czech interactions are on facebook.

Regards,
CAthy2

Yes as was said, there are no more bohemian or Czech restaurants left in Berwyn. The Westchester Inn in Westchester, Bohemian Crystal in Westmont, and the McCook Bohemian Restaurant in McCook Illinois are the only ones left. Its said there is one more on the NW side but I can't remember the name. Its menu did not look particularly Czech to me.

seebee wrote:After a few good showings, I'll throw a lukewarm bone of a recommendation out to Jwok for Chinese food. On a good day, it's better than average for the area, but my view is that you're still better off hitting Katy's in Oak Park, or just taking the shorter-than-you-think drive to Chinatown.

https://www.j-wok.com/

Hi seebee - what do you consider j-wok's better dishes to be? I in general find that most restaurants have one or two meats they do well, and the others they do out of obligation to fill out the menu TIA, and I set my expectations low haha

wrt Katy's: the OP location, for us, continues to be less consistent than the Westmont one, but still the best choice afaik in the area for Chinese.

...Dave...

lthDave wrote:Hi seebee - what do you consider j-wok's better dishes to be? I in general find that most restaurants have one or two meats they do well, and the others they do out of obligation to fill out the menu TIA, and I set my expectations low haha

...Dave...

You have the right energy if you want to enter the Jwok realm. If you look at the menu, find the section ironically labeled, "Authentic Chinese Dishes." We have had a 66% success rate with Fish Fillet With Chinese Broccoli on Thick Rice Noodle. That, and an obligatory Sesame Chicken has been what we mainly take our chances on. Jwok is generally no worse than any other joint in the area, but if you catch them on a good day, you'll know it. We have to be really strapped for time, and jonesing hard to throw them a bone, but the last few times, it was better than we expected, but still not something that would make me think of ditching the whole, "for the area" disclaimer. Chinatown is sooo close. Katy's too. I also hear neighborhood peeps mention "To Your Taste" Chinese joint on Harlem a little south of 26th every so often. I think I tried it 10 years ago, and found it to be standard, no pride, slop. I just calls it like I sees it. I mean, I'd fully expect the ppl running some of these places just laughing at their own food.

Good Luck!

Any updates?

Will be at Fitzgerald’s shortly.

What shall we eat? It can be nearby Berwyn. It’s for the Mr.