Best (steak) Burrito in Chicago

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.

I consider myself a food junkie who is always in search of good tasting/quality food. I'm pretty picky but know a good product when I taste it. That being said, a good burrito is as much about the steak as it is about the salsa or hot sauce that goes on it.

Anyways, I'm in search of the best burrito in the city. I've long been a fan of Garcias in Lincoln Square but it's been closed for remodeling so I figured tonight I want to try a new place. I've searched this forum but have only found a 'top taco' thread - similar, yes but still not the same as a burrito. From what I've read on here, many seem to like Las Asadas for a good taco. Would you say the same about their burrito?

On a sidenote, I would love to find a place that does a surf n turf burrito (steak and shrimp) but not the tiny little shrimp, good quality chunky shrimp. There used to be a place called Texas Star Fajita Bar that had these but it's been gone for awhile.

Anyways, any discussion on this is highly encouraged and appreciated.

FYI, on a totally unrelated note, some of my favorite restaurants in Chicago are: Hot Doug's, Gibson's (best lobster tail), Uncle Julios (best salsa, goes great on fajitas), Club Lago (home style Italian), Smoque - to name a few. I look forward to joining other discussions now that I have registered.

Yeaaaaah.... try searching harder next time

I would start by reading the entirety of this thread:

Char grilled steak burrito crawl (the actual results start to appear on page 5, but the discussion is useful)

and then I'd also hit up Abuelo's by the Damen Pink Line Stop.

I think I did run across that thread but didn't read deep enough to get the results - thanks.

Can anyone offer which salsa is tops? Based on the burrito crawl, Las Asadas has ok salsa and for me, salsa is a key ingredient.

gleam, so nice of you to offer such a heart felt warm welcome to a new forum member.

Agreed. That burrito thread you linked has a wealth of information for the OP. Nice job.

Rhythmdoctor-
What do YOU want in your burrito, and what qualifies as good salsa to YOU?

My take -

Las Asadas is about juicy, fire grilled skirt steak, and hot, tangy, limey, salsa.
A burrito is going to have that steak in a flour tortilla along with the topping YOU choose to be added to it.
A taco is going to have that steak in a corn tortilla along with the toppings YOU choose to be added to it.
To me, if you ask if "their burritos are good," it really only depends if you like a flour tortilla. Please don't tell me about beans, and cheese, and lettuce, and such, because those are the things YOU choose when you order. The first thing any taqueria asks if you order a burrito is "What do you want on it?"

All in all, I'd say my favorite burrito in the Chicagoland area would be Las Asadas. My normal order:
"Steak, no beans, no cheese, with avocado."
Which SHOULD be steak, onion, cilantro, sour cream, and avocado.
Their salsa? It's usually HOT, tangy, limey, and pureed.
If you need chunky, red salsa to enjoy your food, then either bring your own, or take the food back to your place.
If you like tangy, limey, HOT, pureed salsa, you're in bidness.

The salsa is not made in a factory with controls, so it varies from day to day. Some days it will be atomically hot, and others it's like limey salt water. Usually, it's HOT, limey, and tangy.

The STEAK is the star here. If you want it in a flour tortiila or corn tortilla, doesn't change things too much in my eyes. Naan, tortilla, lavosh, wonder bread, paratha, chapati, roti, pita - whatevs. It's about the steak, and how YOU choose to have it dressed.

So, I went to Las Asadas tonight and I was very pleased. The darker salsa was very good, much better than the salsa at Garcias (I'm going to compare this place to Garcias since that has been my staple). The steak was good but not as good as Garcias. Has anyone here been to Garcias? Kinda surprised not seeing it mentioned in any 'best' burrito threads. The steak at Las Asadas was chewy at times - again, it was very good just not as good as Garcias.

In all, if I could combine the steak from Garcias with the darker green hot sauce from Las Asadas, it would be the perfect combination. If anyone hasn't tried a burrito from Garcias, I highly recommend it. I would rank Las Asadas 2nd behind Garcias in meat flavor/consistency, but would go back again.

Rhythmdoctor wrote:(I'm going to compare this place to Garcias since that has been my staple). The steak was good but not as good as Garcias. Has anyone here been to Garcias? Kinda surprised not seeing it mentioned in any 'best' burrito threads.

Are you referring to Garcia's on Western Ave? I've not been, but will give it a try.

My current favorite tacos are found at Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Formerly Caniceria Leon). Never had a burrito, but the carne asada and al pastor are top notch. I'm also wild about the weekend special Tacos Canpechanos, a mix of chorizo and carnitas.

Had a solid carne asada taco at Carnicerias Guanajuato while shopping Friday, a full service Mexican grocery with in-house taqueria . I mention this as Guanajuato was doing a brisk business in burritos as well as tortas and tacos. Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente is a Mexican grocery as well, though not the depth of Guanajuato especially in the produce department.

Welcome to LTHForum.

Enjoy,
Gary

Garcia's Restaurant
4749 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
773-769-5600

Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Formerly Caniceria Leon)
1400 N Ashland
Chicago, IL
773-772-9804

Carnicerias Guanajuato
1436 N Ashland
Chicago, IL
773-7725266

Garcia's on Western seems to be under renovation right now, no, not the usual euphemism for having closed for good, they seem to be adding on a faux-adobe pueblo front in order to make your Mexican dining experience more authentic.

If I were in search of a burrito-- which I'm usually not, being dragged by the kids to Chipotle at least once a month (as I was just last week, prior to our screening of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs)-- I would more than likely hit Dona Torta on Ashland, which offers a much wider variety of veggies and stuff than your usual lettuce-tomato-sour cream combo.

Dona Torta
3057 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 871-8999

I have to think that most burritos discussed on the burrito crawl thread and elsewhere will be better than Garcias, including Chipotle. I have a good friend who is a huge fan of Garcia's and as a result, I have given it about a million trys and made my way through most of the menu. Nothing rises from mediocrity and some has been pretty terrible. I have never been able to figure out why my friend loves it so much, I guess he grew up in the neighborhood and has been eating their forever.

I agree with the other recs and would add Carmela's Taqueria at Broadway and Lawrence. I usually go for tacos, but the burritos are pretty solid. Very good al pastor.

Carmela's Taqueria
1206 W Lawrence Ave
(between Broadway St & Magnolia Ave)
Chicago, IL 60640

(773) 275-5321

Marquee wrote:I have to think that most burritos discussed on the burrito crawl thread and elsewhere will be better than Garcias, including Chipotle. I have a good friend who is a huge fan of Garcia's and as a result, I have given it about a million trys and made my way through most of the menu. Nothing rises from mediocrity and some has been pretty terrible. I have never been able to figure out why my friend loves it so much, I guess he grew up in the neighborhood and has been eating their forever.

Wow, is all I can say to that post. Saying that even Chipotle would rank higher than Garcia's makes me think your taste in food is amateur at best or you're being hyperbolic. To each his own, I guess.

Nonetheless, I have been to Las Asadas a 2nd time now and I gotta say, it's pretty addicting. I still think Garcia's steak combined with Las Asada's hot sauce would be perfection, but the steak at Las Asadas is growing on me too, it's just a little bit chewy at times and I never get the chewiness at Garcia's. Right now, these two place are 1a and 1b for burritos in the city of Chicago. BTW, I've been to the place on Montrose (next to Apart Pizza) - not even close to Garcia's or Las Asadas if you ask me. I can't think of a situation where I'd return.

I live very, very close to Garcia's and yet, really have no reason to ever go there. At best, the al pastor is good. Just good. And I can easily make a meal of their rock-solid chips and salsa. However, the guacamole tastes like it comes pre-packaged, and the steak and chicken are both pushing Taco Bell territory. Las Asadas fits the bill, as I'm usually coming home late on the 49 anyhow, or, if I'm coming from the west, El Charro is my addiction. Their beans and rice feed my soul. Still haven't been to Taqueria al Asadero, but seeing that its gotten some praise from this crew, I'll have to make it happen at some point.
Point is, I do everything I can to avoid Garcia's. Even their margaritas are bad. Just go to Huettenbar and wait for the tamale guy.

Las Asadas
2072 N Western Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 235-5538

El Charro
2410 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 278-2514

Taqueria al Asadero
2213 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60618-1617
(773) 583-5563

This thread has a lot of discussion regarding carne asada burritos (in fact, maybe one should be merged into the other one).

Mods- it seems like there's a lot of duplicate threads lately (Vie, Wings, etc., especially the one on Vie)

aschie30 wrote:This thread has a lot of discussion regarding carne asada burritos (in fact, maybe one should be merged into the other one).

Mods- it seems like there's a lot of duplicate threads lately (Vie, Wings, etc., especially the one on Vie)

I'm new here and this may be the case, if so I think this thread title should stay. As a newbie who has used the search function specifically to find out which burrito is the bestin town, I wish more threads were titled with 'Best...'. I imagine most people, like myself, want to know what the best anything is. Point is some of the thread titles may not tell the whole story and when searching for a topic, nobody wants to sift thru pages of results. Just my $.02

Anyways, now I'm going to look for the 'Best' thin crust pizza in town.

Rhythmdoctor wrote:I wish more threads were titled with 'Best...'.

Respectfully, I disagree. Best is a relative term. Best what? How best? Any discussion that veers toward finding the "best" tends to move between one person claiming this is "best," while the other person claiming this is "best," and nothing is ever resolved in between one way or another.

There was someone who posted on LTH a few years ago who attempted to find the "top ten" of every type of food and the substantive discussion never ensued in the quest to reduce food to a list. Seeking the "best" of something veers down the same road, IMO.

aschie30 wrote:

Rhythmdoctor wrote:I wish more threads were titled with 'Best...'.

Respectfully, I disagree. Best is a relative term. Best what? How best? Any discussion that veers toward finding the "best" tends to move between one person claiming this is "best," while the other person claiming this is "best," and nothing is ever resolved in between one way or another.

I agree Wendy, I'm not a fan of "best of" lists.

aschie30 wrote:

Rhythmdoctor wrote:I wish more threads were titled with 'Best...'.

Respectfully, I disagree. Best is a relative term. Best what? How best? Any discussion that veers toward finding the "best" tends to move between one person claiming this is "best," while the other person claiming this is "best," and nothing is ever resolved in between one way or another.

There was someone who posted on LTH a few years ago who attempted to find the "top ten" of every type of food and the substantive discussion never ensued in the quest to reduce food to a list. Seeking the "best" of something veers down the same road, IMO.

Well, I sorta see what you mean. But when I mention a 'best of' title, I would presume the thread to be littered with various opinions and discussions - which is exactly what I want when trying to decipher where I want to eat on a given night. I would never assume there is a sure-fire #1 place in any food category but rather a few (or several) 'bests'. But I would assume that any 'best of' thread would encompass a variety of opinions and options.

For instance, I found two pizza places that look very good (nick and vito's & coalfire) but they were in different threads, some self-titled. I just think a 'best of' thread would be a good central hub for any genre of food rather than individualized threads.

Rhythmdoctor wrote:For instance, I found two pizza places that look very good (nick and vito's & coalfire) but they were in different threads, some self-titled. I just think a 'best of' thread would be a good central hub for any genre of food rather than individualized threads.

Trying to meaningfully discuss Coalfire and Vito & Nick's (two very different styles of pizza) within the same thread in a quest to decide which is best would be futile indeed. Pizza styles vary and, as such, defy comparison. Why not just read both threads, try each for yourself, and savor each for what they are?

I should add that, by minimizing the value of "individualized threads" and proposing instead large genre threads, you are, in essence, advocating for changing the very fabric of what LTH is or attempts to be -- rich, nuanced, passionate and detailed discussions of particular types of food and/or restaurants. To advocate condensing these discussions into pithy genre-based digests is probably more what metromix, Time Out and Zagat are about. Apples and oranges.

aschie30 wrote:

Rhythmdoctor wrote:For instance, I found two pizza places that look very good (nick and vito's & coalfire) but they were in different threads, some self-titled. I just think a 'best of' thread would be a good central hub for any genre of food rather than individualized threads.

Trying to meaningfully discuss Coalfire and Vito & Nick's (two very different styles of pizza) within the same thread in a quest to decide which is best would be futile indeed. Pizza styles vary and, as such, defy comparison. Why not just read both threads, try each for yourself, and savor each for what they are?

I should add that, by minimizing the value of "individualized threads" and proposing instead large genre threads, you are, in essence, advocating for changing the very fabric of what LTH is or attempts to be -- rich, nuanced, passionate and detailed discussions of particular types of food and/or restaurants. To advocate condensing these discussions into pithy genre-based digests is probably more what metromix, Time Out and Zagat are about. Apples and oranges.

I think you are missing my point. I enjoy the detailed and passionate discussions but what is so wrong with having them condensed into a few locations? For instance, I love thin crust pizza but it's hard to devote over an hour of reading time searching several threads trying to narrow down my options. Instead a 'best thin crust' thread would isolate all that info into one easy-to-find location. It could still be 20 pages deep but would be easier to search for. Again, just this newbie's input. Take it fwiw.

Back on topic. I just went to Las Asadas for lunch (3rd time in a week) and this place is really growing on me. I would probably rank it as 'best' in the steak burrito category but I'm still slightly disappointed with the chewyness of the steak - it's the one caveat that's giving me trouble. The hot sauce is fabulous, the flavor of the meat is perfect but just a bit chewy. I know there are some Garcia's haters in here (I guess we can't all like the same things) but really, if you haven't tried their steak burritos, you should. I can't/won't vouch for anything else because I only get the steak burrito there - it's loaded with steak (much more than Las Asadas) and the flavor/texture is fabulous - it's never chewy and perfectly charred. I can only assume those putting it on par with Chipotle and Taco Bell ( ) either went to a different Garcias or are totally over-exagerating their displeasure. Either way, you can't go wrong with either of these two places, IMO. Las Asadas probably gets my 1a ranking with Garcias my 1b.

To me, the list of GNRs is the closest thing to a "best of" list around here and an excellent starting point for finding the go-to locations for certain cuisines. However, if you're looking for recommendations of a certain dish, the Search function is your friend.

Very rarely will you see the board come to a consensus on which restaurant serves the best of any item; everyone has different tastes. However, it's fairly easy to find a list of places at which that item is recommended, even if it's only mentioned a few times. At that point, it's really up to you: go to those places, report back, and find your own "best" (and tell us why you think so).

The reason why I love this board is that the moderators are for the most part hands-off. They let discussions evolve and leave it up to the users to create their own experiences. If you want to see a "best-of" list that doesn't exist yet and you think it would be useful to others like yourself, feel free to start one. In this case, though they may not contain the word "best", I think the threads you were given are the two most valuable for finding the best Chicago burrito. The system works!

Rhythmdoctor wrote:Back on topic. I just went to Las Asadas for lunch (3rd time in a week) and this place is really growing on me.

3 times in one week?
Um, it's not growing on you.
You've been ASADAFIED, my friend.

As for "BEST of" threads, well, I see your point, but in Chicago, using pizza as an example is not the way to prove it. You'd have to break it down further than that. Like best cracker crust, best deep dish, best stuffed, best neopolitan, and even then, there would probably some errant posts in each thread.

seebee wrote:

Rhythmdoctor wrote:Back on topic. I just went to Las Asadas for lunch (3rd time in a week) and this place is really growing on me.

3 times in one week?
Um, it's not growing on you.
You've been ASADAFIED, my friend.

As for "BEST of" threads, well, I see your point, but in Chicago, using pizza as an example is not the way to prove it. You'd have to break it down further than that. Like best cracker crust, best deep dish, best stuffed, best neopolitan, and even then, there would probably some errant posts in each thread.

Well like I said, it's my 1a. Curious what you think of the chewy steak though and if that's an element you frown on.

Ya know, you might consider it chewy, I might not. I dunno. I haven't been there this week, and don't know if the cow parts they got from their supplier are chewy or not. If it's a not so stellar supply, then my guess would be that in a few days' time, it would go back to its stellar, succulent, tender, juicy norm. Chewy can be a relative term. If I were to consider it chewy, of course I would frown upon it. If I were to go, and I considered it chewy, I'd wait a few days before I went back.

I wonder though - indulge me - what are your favorite cuts of steak?

I've been twice in the past 10 days and I'd say that it's chewy, but not chewier than the skirt steak at most other Mexican restaurants.

My only real Las Asadas complaint is that when you take steamed commercial tortillas and wrap them in paper, the tortilla sticks to the paper and you lose almost all structural integrity.

And please don't tell me to get a burrito.

seebee wrote:Ya know, you might consider it chewy, I might not. I dunno. I haven't been there this week, and don't know if the cow parts they got from their supplier are chewy or not. If it's a not so stellar supply, then my guess would be that in a few days' time, it would go back to its stellar, succulent, tender, juicy norm. Chewy can be a relative term. If I were to consider it chewy, of course I would frown upon it. If I were to go, and I considered it chewy, I'd wait a few days before I went back.

I wonder though - indulge me - what are your favorite cuts of steak?

Filet and Ribeye.

gleam wrote:I've been twice in the past 10 days and I'd say that it's chewy, but not chewier than the skirt steak at most other Mexican restaurants.
My only real Las Asadas complaint is that when you take steamed commercial tortillas and wrap them in paper, the tortilla sticks to the paper and you lose almost all structural integrity.

And please don't tell me to get a burrito.

That's why I've always loved Garcia's so much - same char and flavor of Las Asadas but not chewy at all. I'm telling, they're getting a bad rap from a couple of posters. Give them a try, I can't imagine you'd be disappointed - I know good food.

Rhythmdoctor wrote:

seebee wrote:I wonder though - indulge me - what are your favorite cuts of steak?

Filet and Ribeye.

Oh, you might just not be a skirt steak person. It tends to have a bit more chew than most cuts of beef, especially the ultra-tender (and bland, imo) filet.

Rhythmdoctor wrote:That's why I've always loved Garcia's so much - same char and flavor of Las Asadas but not chewy at all. I'm telling, they're getting a bad rap from a couple of posters. Give them a try, I can't imagine you'd be disappointed - I know good food.

Honestly, there are so many places I'd rather go in Lincoln Square that I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I'll try to keep it in mind.

gleam wrote:I've been twice in the past 10 days and I'd say that it's chewy, but not chewier than the skirt steak at most other Mexican restaurants.

My only real Las Asadas complaint is that when you take steamed commercial tortillas and wrap them in paper, the tortilla sticks to the paper and you lose almost all structural integrity.

And please don't tell me to get a burrito.

Lol.
I totally know the syndrome you speak of. I wonder if they would stick to foil? If you want to test, ask for them "sin papel." Watch for when they are wrapping them, and re-iterate, "Sin papel, por favor."

gleam wrote:

Rhythmdoctor wrote:

seebee wrote:I wonder though - indulge me - what are your favorite cuts of steak?

Filet and Ribeye.

Oh, you might just not be a skirt steak person. It tends to have a bit more chew than most cuts of beef, especially the ultra-tender (and bland, imo) filet.

Rhythmdoctor wrote:That's why I've always loved Garcia's so much - same char and flavor of Las Asadas but not chewy at all. I'm telling, they're getting a bad rap from a couple of posters. Give them a try, I can't imagine you'd be disappointed - I know good food.

Honestly, there are so many places I'd rather go in Lincoln Square that I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I'll try to keep it in mind.

Please tell me some of your favorites. There's not a whole lot in LS that I do like. Tank comes to mind as a like, drawing blanks right now, though.