Chicago has an authentic taqueria on almost every corner, and at least half of those are authentically bad. But, with so many good options left over, the last thing you’d ever do is go snooping around sport bars and brewpubs for a good taco. And, I guess it’s true, I wasn’t looking for good tacos in those places, but in the course of my regular eating, err research, I’ve come across two extraordinarily good tacos. The first is the fish taco at Goose Island Clybourn, the flagship restaurant of Chicago’s local super-brewery. As of last year, the state of the fish taco in Chicago was so miserable, that Tribune scribe, and its current Cheeseburger Bureau Chief, Kevin Pang, launched a...
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Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, Julie Besonen hips us to a couple of Santa Barbara taquerias that sound awesome, including El Bajío for its "sensational seafood soups, fresh moles and well-seasoned, slow-roasted meats," and Los Arroyos, "famous for warm, freshly cut chips and creamy guacamole heaped in a molcajete." El Bajíio is a tidy, brightly lighted hole-in-the-wall, but its sensational seafood soups, fresh moles and well-seasoned, slow-roasted meats belie its modest trappings. The quesadilla adobada ($8.55), a flour tortilla filled with shredded pork, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, onions and cilantro, radiated heat and juicy sweetness. I wish I hadn’t felt compelled to eat so much of it (sharing is highly advised) because I could barely muster more...
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Forget the taco trucks in Los Angeles and the green-chile spots in New Mexico, when it comes to finding the best regional Mexican dining outside of Mexico, Chicago ... is the best spot in America. View Larger Map » The cookbook pimps are out in full force. As is the case every fall, publishers aiming to capitalize on the Christmas shopping season and the subsequent loosening of foodie purse strings, release a trove of culinary related tomes and celebrity driven cookbooks. The authors of said cookbooks get sent on book tours, drop in on big food cities, sign some of their wares, and, depending on their celebrity, get courted in various media outlets and at hot local dining spots. As...
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Ed Levine made ethnic and cheap eats safe for America, or at least New Yorkers, anyway. In some ways, his seminal work, New York Eats, put pastrami and pizza on the same table as foie and truffles. It's precisely why I've been excited to contribute to this site, as my personal philosophy is that haute cuisine and the antiquated starred review system panders to people who are more likely to equate the cost of a meal with the quality of a meal, the same people who shove food in their mouth but never taste it, the folks rocking mediocre Cristal because that's what Jay Z clued them in to. I believe that the Italian beef sandwich should be as vaunted...
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