Dining Advice, Tips, Recommendations, and News
PrintI Drove 40 Miles for a Taco
There are at least a thousand taquerias in Chicago city proper, though only about ten of them actually sear their meat and season it properly. Still, ten is a pretty hefty number. Hell, growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, we didn’t even have one good taqueria, only a second rate Chi-Chi’s serving up enchiladas “Cancun” filled with fake crab meat and krill-sized shrimp. Faced with this gluttony of “local” options, I wondered why I was driving 40 miles to check out a suburban taqueria. But I try not to leave any stone unturned when it comes to food tips, and I'd heard from a good source that the folks at Bien Trucha were tearing it up.
Bien Trucha, which is housed in a space with the square footage of a Volkswagon Jetta, is an iconoclastic taqueria. Instead of some dingy ramshackle hallway where you wait for grease-soaked brown bags of hangover helper, Trucha’s walls are covered in mod tapestries and its handful of tables are outfitted with shiny china and elegant glassware.
Each of their different tacos comes with a custom salsa, and the guacamole of the day is studded with fruit. On this particular day, I scored some juicy watermelon-infused guacamole. I originally blanched at the idea, but the sweetness tempered the chilis and avocado fat—I can’t imagine why people make guacamole without fruit now. Served as a two tier flower shaped custard, even a ubiquitous staple like flan gets the haute treatment.
I’d tried a few of the tacos, but the Spanish-inflected house taco, aka the Bien Trucha—featuring a micro dice of caramelized skirt steak smothered in griddled chorizo, a rich bed of melty Manchego, and a dollop of grassy Serrano chili salsa—was possibly the best taco I’ve ever had in Chicagoland. You might burn a meal’s worth of gas to get here if you live in the city proper, but you won’t find a serious eats taco like the Bien Trucha anywhere back in the city, not even at Frontera Grill.
Previously: Where Alice Waters Should Get Her Tacos Next Time She’s in Chicago
About the author: Michael Nagrant writes for Serious Eats from Chicago, where he also publishes Hungry magazine. Michael never met an organ meat he didn't like. He hopes to meet many more.
Bien Trucha
Address: 410 W. State Street, Geneva, IL (map)
Phone: 630-232-2665
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2 Comments:
I flew close to 3,000 miles for my tacqueria adventures. And was it ever worth it. Until my trip to SoCal, I had never eaten a 'real' taco in my life.
But when you see two Mexicans sitting on folding chairs holding cardboard signs that read "$1 Tacos" at the entrance to a strip mall with a tacqueria that has a party tent set up in front...you pull in to the lot and eat there.
And when cabeza and tongue are choices, you simply say, "I'd like one of each with everything." That means one asada, one chorizo, one al pastor (spit roast pork), one tongue, and one cabeza (mmmmm, say it with me now...beef head taco). A little onion, a little cilantro, and a couple teaspoons of sauce. Heaven
kitchengeeking at 1:02PM on 03/14/08
A recommendation, if you will:
I know from previous posts that you, Mr Nagrant, are a fan of tacos al pastor ["Where Alice Waters Should Get Her Tacos..."] so next time you make the trek out to Bien Truche for their delicious tacos (I just head a set of tacos on your recommendation and they were grand), I would suggest that you head north to El Puente, just east of the the Fox River, on Route 64 in St Charles.
These are truly some amazing (the best I have ever had) tacos al pastor. They are simply presented and garnished (as they should be) with only cilantro and onion.
Everything at this restaurant is good but the pastor is worth driving 40+ miles out from Chicago.
I hope you give them a try...
Adam Burke
Aurora IL
aburke at 2:14PM on 03/27/08