Vuelve a la vida at Frontera Grill Barbacoa (with fresh squeezed OJ) at La Quebrada Venison cecina at La Casa de Samuel Elizabeth Tamney (map), Jim Newberry (photos)

Beyond the Burrito, Part 5: Guerrero

Fifth in a series devoted to Chicago restaurants offering regional Mexican dishes

October 6, 2006

GUERRERO, ON MEXICO'S SOUTHWESTERN COAST, is home to Acapulco and Ixtapa -- the former an old Spanish port, the latter created by the government to lure tourists. Folks from Guerrero make up a sizable portion of those migrating to the States, and many restaurants in Chicago serve Guerrerense specialties.

VUELVE A LA VIDA

Vuelve a la vida (translation: "come back to life!") is a spicy seafood cocktail that may be just the way to greet the dawn after a night of partying on Guerrero's "Mexican Riviera." Freshness is crucial with a dish like this, so it's best ordered in a place that specializes in seafood and moves product briskly. I've enjoyed good versions at Playa Azul Ostioneria (4005 N. Broadway, 773-472-8924) and La Condesa (1003 N. Ashland, 773-276-5121), but probably the most succulent rendition of this Acapulco antojito ("snack") was at Frontera Grill (445 N. Clark, 312-661-1434): oysters can never be too fresh, and a dish of absolutely pristine marine life is something that few local chefs besides Rick Bayless can consistently deliver.

CECINA

Perhaps the signature meat dish of Guerrero, cecina is a salted and dried beef preparation that originated in Spain; dehydration concentrates the flavor of the meat, which is rehydrated before cooking, then usually grilled.

Not surprisingly, La Cecina (1934 W. 47th, 773-927-9444) puts out a delectably toothy version very good on the house-made tortillas. Machacado con huevo at "the other" Nuevo Leon (3657 W. 26th, 773-522-1515) is a simple taco with cecina and scrambled eggs, a nice neutral platform for the intense meat. At the remarkable La Casa de Samuel (2834 W. Cermak, 773-376-7474) you can try venison cecina along with many other exotic meats including bull's testicles, wild boar, and rattlesnake.

BARBACOA

Goat and beef are usually the featured meats on a barbacoa platter, traditionally baked or steamed in an earthen pit. La Quebrada (4859 W. Roosevelt, Cicero, 708-780-8110), named after the famous cliff-diving spot in Acapulco, serves a barbacoa de chivo, moist goat chunks with a slightly pink center served with cilantro and onion. At Carnitas Don Rafa (4617-19 S. Kedzie, 773-847-8342) beef barbacoa is available on weekends, which is frequently when smaller Mexican restaurants prepare other specialty dishes such as carnitas ("little meats") and pozole, Mexico's hominy-based soup. Oddly, the barbacoa here is not pulled into threads but served in large hunks splashed with rather tasteless barbecue-style sauce.

Often barbacoa is sold in containers to go; you can pick it up at La Casa del Pueblo (1834 S. Blue Island, 312-421-4664), Taqueria El Nuevo Mundo (5901 W. Roosevelt, Cicero, 708-656-6503), and at many other taquerias and Mexican grocery stores around the city.

GREEN SAUCE

Pozole comes in several colors, but in Guerrero it's typically green. At Pozoleria San Juan (1523 N. Pulaski, 773-276-5825) you can get red, white, or green versions, the last made by chef-owner Jackie Aguilar, a native of Guerrero, with tomatillos, serrano chiles, and green mole, served with raw cabbage and chicharrones, crunchy bits of pork skin. At Manolo's storied food stand at the Maxwell Street Market (Canal at Roosevelt) every Sunday you can chomp on a delicious Guerrero-style pork taco in green sauce, a tangy, moist mess so good you won't mind spending the rest of your market day with sticky fingers.

It's possible to make a meal of the green mole of Guerrero, and I've almost done that a few times at Sol de Mexico (3018 N. Cicero, 773-282-4119). Here the seemingly simple green mole with pipian, a kind of pumpkin seed, is deeply complex. It's wonderful with chef Carlos Tello's house-made tortillas.

TAMALES

Many Mexican regions have a signature way of making tamales, and within a three-block area on Clark Street you can sample two very different styles from Guerrero. Cuetzala (7360 N. Clark, 773-262-9417) serves an unusual species of Guerrerense tamale called nejos, a sheet of slightly gelatinous masa cooked in a banana leaf and used to scoop sauce into your mouth. A few blocks south at Tamales Lo Mejor de Guerrero (7024 N. Clark, 773-338-6450) you pay ten bucks for a dozen transcendent tamales handcrafted by Guerrerense grannies in the back room. Filled with cheese, peppers, meat, or fruits like pineapple and strawberries, these tamales are thick as a sub sandwich and preternaturally light, paradigms of Mexico's magnificently simple, satisfying cuisine. -- David Hammond

A Taste of Guerrero

Adobo Grill
2005 W. Division | 773-252-999
$$$
MEXICAN | DINNER: SEVEN DAYS; SUNDAY BRUNCH | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11:30

Warm, intimate decor predominates at the second location of the Adobo Grill (the original's in Old Town): it's all dark reds, original Mexican folk art, and paintings of loteria cards. The night I was there, however, a steady backbeat of cell phone conversations threatened to kill the ambience. The food was, for the most part, great. The justifiably famous guacamole was chunky, spicy, and bright, perfect with the superior margaritas. Scallop seviche, a cool, fragrant, and tart cocktail, was also delicious, if a bit difficult to get at since it was served in the now-obligatory martini glass. Are you supposed to drink it? Grilled lamb chops, a special, were caramelized on the outside and rosy pink on the inside, and they tasted even better than they looked. Grilled shrimp and scallops were not so impressive. Though plump, piquant, and tender, the serving size -- three of each creature for $19 -- seemed stingy. And the accompanying squash and tomato stew tasted like the stuff you get in a hospital cafeteria. Our waiter was charming but agonizingly elusive. I could spend all night with Adobo's incomparable margaritas, but for these prices, I'd expect bigger portions and swifter service. Chip Dudley

La Casa de Samuel
2834 W. Cermak, | 773-376-7474
$$
MEXICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 2, OTHER NIGHTS TILL 11

La Casa de Samuel offers exotica of a sort you won't find at many other restaurants. We started with a bowl of tiny eels -- looking a lot like white mung beans with eyes -- and enjoyed a platter of firm, juicy frog legs. The absolute knockout dish was cecina de venado, slabs of salted and dried venison that are rehydrated and griddled; its deep, dark flavor will please those who like beef as well as those who prefer their food on the wild side. We had a chicken breast with a blisteringly spicy brick red India sauce that was excellent with the tortillas, homemade as is the salsa. The extensive menu offers goat, boar, and alligator; we took the plunge with the rattlesnake, which was . . . odd, gnarly and jerkylike. For dessert, my dining companion made the right choice: our waiter had only to hear the words banana flambe and he was off, preparing his citrus zest, pan, and liquor bottles; the result, served with a spumoni-type ice cream, was fabulous. David Hammond

La Casa del Pueblo
1834 S. Blue Island | 312-421-4664
$
MEXICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | BYO

Next to a grocery with the same name, this little cafeteria offers middle-of-the-road Mexican food at reasonable prices, starting at breakfast with egg-and-tortilla dishes like migas and chilaquiles. Dining here is hit-or-miss, with the pork in chile arbol and pollo en salsa (chicken breast cooked in a clear stew of zucchini and corn) among the hits. North Mexican-style tamales, moist with manteca (lard) and filled with slightly piquant meat, are available for carryout; barbacoa, too, is available to go. Chiles rellenos with meat were tasty, layered with chayote and slightly spicy. But patas de puerco (pigs' feet) were the worst thing I've eaten in a very long time: I wouldn't have thought even trotters had such large pockets of meatless and generally tasteless fat wrapped around the bones. Gorditas dulces are an excellent dessert for those who like pastry, flavored with vanilla and shreds of cinnamon bark for a pleasant explosion of flavor. Servers are very friendly and speak English as well as most of us speak Spanish. David Hammond

La Cecina
1943 W. 47th | 773-927-9444
$$
MEXICAN/SOUTHWESTERN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | BYO

Tired of dull, tasteless beef? Then get to La Cecina and savor the salt-dried traditional steak of Guerrero: when rehydrated and grilled, cecina is deliciously toothy and succulent. Other representative foods from Guerrero include a guajillo-spiked chicken soup in a bright red broth with fresh squash and carrot. Regular refried beans were sludgelike, but we dug frijoles charros, plump pintos simmered with bacon. This place is swimming with seafood: fried smelts were especially tasty spritzed with lime, and seviche was helium light. My dining partner had grilled seafood with gently charred chunks of octopus, shrimp and, alas, krab in a light sauce. Less routine menu items include quail, game hen, and bull's testicles (try a pair today!). The tortillas at La Cecina are handcrafted, and we enjoyed quesadillas with requeson, Mexico's answer to ricotta, and fish (minced and fried in the tortilla). No booze is served, but there are other healthful beverages, including a fresh-squeezed concoction of mixed veggies and fruits and a milk shake of mamey, a starchy, honey-tinged tropical fruit, which also makes a good dessert. David Hammond

Fonda del Mar
3749 W. Fullerton | 773-489-3748
F 7.2 | S 7.2 | A 6.8 | $$$ (5 REPORTS)
MEXICAN, SEAFOOD | LUNCH: SATURDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS; SUNDAY BRUNCH | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

To kick things off at this marvelous restaurant from veterans of Topolobampo and Mia Francesca, tacos estilo ensenada (fish tacos) are tasty, with a clump of whitefish dressed with avocado and cabbage, and the shrimp seviche is a knockout. Soups are spiced with a light hand: caldo siete mares ("seven seas soup") is a chile-kissed tomato broth with just a few select slices of seafood; chileatole del mar brims with seafood, peppers, and corn. Mahimahi in an annatto-based sauce with cumin and cloves did little for me, though the fish was tender; lamb chops in a mole negro were expertly grilled, but I found the sauce too powerful. Of special note are the pork chops served in a fruity mole of orange, apple, and pineapple. For our salad we shared a small plate of julienned jicama and cucumber accented with orange segments and drizzled with hot sauce and a light vinaigrette. David Hammond

Frontera Grill
445 N. Clark | 312-661-1434
F 8.4 | S 7.0 | A 7.3 | $$$ (26 REPORTS)
MEXICAN | LUNCH, DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY; SATURDAY BRUNCH | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

Next door to the more formal Topolobampo, in a room covered with folk art, Frontera delivers a changing menu of exotically elemental stuff rarely represented on menus north of the Rio Grande -- enchiladas dulces, for example, Colima-style shredded pork in a peppery chocolate sauce with pickled cabbage, a concerto of savory, hot, sweet, and sour. An ancient, weedy green called quelites appears in a cream soup that's one tremendous blast of green amped up with guero, poblano, and Anaheim chiles. I'm aware of no Yucatecan restaurants in Chicago, though there are usually Mayan-inspired dishes at Frontera; we had poc chuc de puerco, orange-marinated pork with sharply defined habanero salsa that delivers a very clean burn. Frontera's marisqueira ecologica, a "sustainable seafood bar," lays out gorgeous oysters and vuelve a la vida, the classic seviche cocktail, which in a bow to the commonplace is perked up with off-the-shelf Tamazula salsa. For sides, jicama sprinkled with red pepper is a fine balance of moist crispness and dry heat, and platanos with homemade crema make a suitably rich and sweet dessert. A dinner here is a delicious education; to cap it off, consider spending a few extra bucks on a 100 percent Oaxacan brew that will go down as one of the most full-flavored straight-ahead joes you've ever tasted. David Hammond

Los Nopales
4544 N. Western | 773-334-3149
F 8.4 | S 8.0 | A 6.0 | $$ (8 REPORTS)
MEXICAN/SOUTHWESTERN | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY | BYO

rrr At $1.65 apiece, the grilled tilapia tacos at this low-key, attractive space are so good, so bright and fresh, it seems like you're stealing. Tangy seviche with tilapia and shrimp has a splash of orange juice, which adds an appealing sweet aftertaste; tortilla chips are made in-house and come served with two salsas, one made of tomatillos blended with avocado, making it creamier than the standard green sauce, the other a thick, spicy combination of chile de arbol and fruit. On a recent visit my entree was grilled pork tenderloin with an aromatic sauce flavored with guajillo and chile de arbol and a side of cactus salad (nopales means "prickly pears"). We finished with a sweet, rich coffee flan, a special -- one of the exceptionally friendly owners told us the chef, her husband, is constantly experimenting. That's the kind of thing you'd expect at a place far more swank; to find it in a modest storefront is beguiling. Chip Dudley

Nuevo Leon
3657 W. 26th | 773-522-1515
$
MEXICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH: SEVEN DAYS; DINNER: SUNDAY-FRIDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL MIDNIGHT

At first glance Nuevo Leon looks like just another corner joint, with many of the usual Chi-Mex standards. A few distinctive foods typical of the restaurant's Mexican namesake, however, set it apart. Machacado con huevo is a scrambled egg taco showcasing cesina, shredded beef that's been dried, then rehydrated and pounded. With this we enjoyed a michelada, kind of a beer-based Bloody Mary made with Angostura bitters and Tabasco sauce, fresh-squeezed lemon, salt and pepper, and beer over ice (there's some evidence to suggest that this drink is the long-sought cure for the common cold). The chicken mole was good if unmemorable, the meat relatively meaty and the sauce quite chocolaty. Flour tortillas are most common in the north, and this is one of the few restaurants in Chicago that make their own tortillas de harina; you can really taste the difference. This is a very friendly place; when you come in on weekends, you're offered a south-of-the-border amuse-bouche: a taquito with a dollop of barbacoa, pounded with peppers and onion, a juicy mouthful to get the meal going. Afterward you're brought a complimentary plate of melon, apple, and orange. Nice. David Hammond

Playa Azul Ostioneria
4005 N. Broadway | 773-472-8924
$$
MEXICAN, SEAFOOD | LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: EVERY NIGHT TILL MIDNIGHT | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED

Mexican music blared and tables of families with kids were making big noise, but once the food arrived there was nothing but happiness at the table, as our waiter ran back and forth from table to kitchen, where he donned an apron to help prepare the food. Pico de gallo Jarocho was a blend of marinated shrimp, octopus, and whitefish mixed with tomatoes, onions, cilantro and chopped jalapenos and topped with avocado, each piece of seafood popping with freshness. The straight-ahead fish seviche was surprisingly spicy, dotted with oysters, and served in the traditional sundae cup. Extraordinarily flavorful, the caldo siete mares combined clam, crab, shrimp, whitefish, and (I'm told) three other types of sea creature with some potato and carrot in the complex broth. A classic usually cooked in a tomato sauce, the huachinango a la Veracruzana is here deep-fried, then dressed with chopped avocado, tomato, and onion -- although technically misnamed, this fish dish is meaty, with good tooth. The langostinos are partially stuffed with a combination of mayonnaise, butter, and chipotle peppers; grilled shrimp was pretty much just that, with a fresh zest enhanced by a slight herb dusting. Apart from several preparations of carne asada, there are next to no meat dishes on the menu, but there is chicken in mole sauce, either verde or a red Pueblo-style sauce zinged up with poblano chile. There's a bar, and you can get margaritas, but I'd recommend sticking with beer; this place isn't fancy, but count on basic, good seafood at a good price. David Hammond

La Quebrada
4859 W. Roosevelt, Cicero | 708-780-8110
$$
MEXICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11 | BYO

You'd expect a restaurant specializing in the cuisine of Guerrero, on the Pacific coast, to have some decent seafood, and La Quebrada does -- especially the shrimp cocktails and seviche. But when I go to this tiny joint in a dilapidated industrial zone, I want the goat barbacoa and fresh tortillas. La Quebrada's rendition of this dish is exceptional, featuring meaty hunks, perfectly cooked to a slightly pink center, served with cilantro, onion, and guacamole. On the side is a bowl of frijoles de la hoya, plump pinto beans in a mild broth. Handmade tortillas are a rarity for any Mexican restaurant, especially for one with a number of locations (there are three others in Chicago and one in Cicero). The ones here are pliant and absorbent, providing a perfect platform for piling on meat and vegetables soaked with the house molcajete (salsa ground and served in a mortar). Cornmeal also finds its way into other selections on the menu, among them huaraches, which are a vegetarian's nightmare/carnivore's dream come true, topped with a selection of tasty animals including marinated pork, chicken, regular steak, and dried steak (cesina). To drink there's freshly squeezed orange or carrot juice, as well as aguas frescas, lightly flavored beverages of sweet rice flour and cinnamon, tamarind, or hibiscus. The place is usually crowded with families and other locals who know they'll get the real thing -- and lots of it. As I was eating, I watched two of Chicago's finest, each as big as a Volvo, patting their bellies and leaving with doggie bags full of too much good food to finish in one sitting. David Hammond

Restaurant y Pozoleria San Juan
1523 N. Pulaski | 773-276-5825
$
MEXICAN, LATIN AMERICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY 24 HOURS, SUNDAY-THURSDAY TILL 1 | RESERVATIONS NOT ACCEPTED | CASH ONLY

At Restaurant y Pozoleria San Juan in Humboldt Park, one of the few remaining posole places in Chicago, the hominy soup ($7.50 for a large bowl) is available in the three colors of the Mexican flag: red, the sort seasoned with guajillo chiles and typical of Jalisco, and the green and white varieties more typical of the neighboring state of Guerrero. (If you want pig foot in your bowl you have to ask for it.) Pedro Aguilar, the owner and sometime cook, serves the hearty dish with baskets of crispy chicharrones (fried bits of pigskin). Apart from the namesake dish, there's classic Mexican from breakfast (huevos rancheros) to dinner (carne asade). David Hammond

Salpicon
1252 N. Wells | 312-988-7811
F 8.3 | S 7.8 | A 6.9 | $$$$ (9 REPORTS)
MEXICAN | DINNER: SEVEN DAYS; SUNDAY BRUNCH | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11.

rrr In 1995 Priscila Satkoff was one of the first Topolobampo/Frontera graduates to strike out on her own, and the continued success of Salpicon is as much a credit to her skills as it is to the enduring power of Rick Bayless's tireless advocacy for authentic Mexican cuisine among the gringos. Though she didn't actually cook for Bayless -- she was his assistant -- the Mexico City native's early training at the side of her mother and grandmother helped propel her tiny Old Town spot to an upscale destination rivaling her old boss's. It continues to bustle, well served by smart waitstaff unafraid to tell you what they think of your order and a sommelier who knows his Super Tuscans just as well as his tequilas. On my recent visit we ordered almost entirely from the week's specials and were stupefied by a duck confit dressed with cracklings and a sauce of pomegranate, orange, and chiles; a big, beautiful sloppy lamb shank in mole rojo with a side of bacony chiles and beans; and a mango-pear tart, all showing Satkoff's knack for balancing the sweet, fruity, earthy, smoky, savory, and picante. Mike Sula

Sol de Mexico
3018 N. Cicero | 773-282-4119
$
MEXICAN, SMALL PLATES | LUNCH, DINNER: SUNDAY, MONDAY, WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED TUESDAY | BYO

The sign in the window of this storefront on Cicero near Belmont advertises "tortillas hecho a mano," handmade tortillas, but inside you'll find much more than that. Chef-owner Carlos Tello is engaged to the sister of Geno Bahena (Chilpancingo, Ixcapuzalco), and like Bahena he's a specialist in moles (Bahena's mother consulted on the menu of mostly small plates -- Tello thinks of the concept as Mexican tapas). On my first visit I savored four: a dark, chocolaty negro, a just slightly hot rojo, the fruit-based manchamanteles, and a mild mole verde made with pumpkin seeds. Tello knows his way around a spice rack: all deliver a quick burn with subtle lightness, the mole verde in particular sparkling with clean flavors. Sopecitos, small masa cups stuffed with moist chicken in mole roja, were magnificently simple; deep green corundas, flat tamales of masa mixed with ash, provided an interesting and unusual complement to sauced pork. The hard-to-find tamales de elote -- served unfilled or "blind" -- were remarkably sweet, squiggled with crema and salsa verde and dotted with queso fresco. Like the tortillas, they're handmade -- by a veteran of Ixcapuzalco and Chilpancingo. David Hammond

Taqueria el Nuevo Mundo
5901 W. Roosevelt, Cicero | 708-656-6503
$
MEXICAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Most days around noon, Taqueria el Nuevo Mundo draws hungry Hispanic workers from all over Cicero. The humble breakfast-to-dinner diner, located inside a grocery store, serves up some very tasty hot grub. The guisados, or stews, are spectacular: you get hefty chunks of beef or pork with nopales (cactus leaves) and chile pods for just $5.50. I usually go with the carnitas (crusty fried pork shreds in salsa verde), also $5.50, with beans, salad, and rice plus a generous side of warm Guatemalan tortillas, slightly smaller than their Mexican cousins and perfect for sopping. The quesadillas and gorditas are built with freshly griddled masa tortillas. The menu is fairly large, with a good selection of tortas (e.g., al pastor, Milanesa), caldos (mole de olla, posole), and pupusas. To drink there are rice-based horchatas and fresh-squeezed carrot juice, both sweet enough to counter the heat of the food (fresh vegetable salsas at the table let you adjust the spice level to your tolerance). The people at the counter are friendly and willing to wait patiently while gringos like me cobble together enough Spanish to order (pointing also works). David Hammond

Topolobampo
445 N. Clark | 312-661-1434
F 8.6 | S 6.6 | A 7.4 | $$$$ (13 REPORTS)
MEXICAN | LUNCH: TUESDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY

Perhaps more than any other chef, Rick Bayless has brought lesser-known Mexican dishes to the midwest. Case in point: corundas. I'd searched the city for these triangular tamales from Michoacan, and at Topolobampo there they were, stuffed with requeson, a Spanish version of sweet ricotta, and paired with an Alsatian pinot blanc. The five-course tasting menu ($75; $45 more for skillfully handled wine pairings) is a guided tour through some outstanding regional dishes. Yucatecan-style seviche was a delicate melange of finely cut habanero, cilantro, and onion mixed with tiny, flavorful shrimp and razor-thin calamari. Cochinita pibil, another Yucatecan standby, featured flavorful pulled pork under a cucumber-jicama julienne and served with a few slabs of pale loin. Lamb came in mole coloradito, made with anchos, chocolate, and almonds. Somewhat sweet, almost ketchuplike, it overwhelmed the meat a little, but coloradito tamales with cremini were excellent. With dessert there was hot Oaxacan cocoa with a blast of mescal and a small complimentary chest of chocolate and at, candied fruit. The entire tasting menu changes monthly; perhaps because of the shifting lineup, service often falls short of the four-star food. David Hammond

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