Chinatown Adventures

Thank you to Raj and Natasha for our delicious fun times in Chinatown! I would always recommend going to Chinatown in a big group. The ten of us got to sample tons of choices at Lao Sze Chuan at 2172 South Archer Avenue.

I would advise to make a reservation- this place was packed on a very rainy Saturday night. We sat upstairs at a big round table with a lazy Susan in the middle. As a group we decided to order 1 app per couple and 1 entree per person. Did we have too much food? Yes. But it was all so good it was worth stuffing ourselves! After all that food and about 1 alcoholic drink per person the bill was about $50/couple. Not bad considering anyone who was interested brought home the next day's lunch!

I can't remember all that we ordered. The menu is so huge I would suggest ordering whatever sounds good because there were no bad dishes at the table. I loved my choices- the bean curd appetizer and eggplant with garlic sauce.

Over all, it was a really fun night out and perfect for a group dinner! I can't wait to go back to Chinatown to have dim sum brunch. Yum!!

More Delicious Eats in Pilsen

After working all day Saturday at the Ace Hardware show at McCormick Place Jake and I were starving, in no mood to cook and exhausted. Luckily we had to drive through Pilsen to get home and decided to stop at the delicious Pollo Express at 1315 West 18th Street.

Pollo Express is a perfect quick dinner stop. They don't have a lot on the menu but what they have they do perfectly. Basically you can order chicken- half or whole. I think on weekdays you can get a chicken and a half for the price of a chicken. Chicken comes with delicious and spicy salsa, several roasted jalapenos and tortillas. For an extra few bucks you can get sides like rice, re fried black beans, guacamole or chips. We ordered them all! The guac is HUGE and very very yummy. When we brought it home we made heaping tacos with the chicken, salsa, cut-up peppers, beans and gauc. YUM.

So stop by- it fills all the categories of a good meal: Cheap, easy, yummy and healthy(ish).

It's like a book club, with eating

The Chicago Gastronomical Tour- it's something that I have been talking about for a long time, and it's finally time to get started. The goal of the tour is to explore Chicago's diverse neighborhoods and learn a little bit about the community by eating at one of its representative restaurants.

Every other month a "tour guide" will pick a neighborhood they want to explore. Jake and I will start on Saturday February 5th in Pilsen. We will teach you a little bit about the history and community of Pilsen while enjoying good Mexican food!

It will take awhile but eventually we will eat our way through Chicago's 77 official neighborhoods.

Stop #1 Pilsen

Chicago Gastronomical Tour

Stop Number 1- Pilsen

 

Gastronomical Location: 

Abuelo's Mexican Grill

2007 South Damen Ave 

Chicago, IL 

http://abuelospilsengrill.com/

Neighborhoods: Lower West Side, Heart of Chicago

Pilsen History: Construction of Southwestern Plank Road (aka Ogden Avenue) originally encouraged immigrants to settle in Chicago’s Lower West Side.

Following the Great Fire, mills, sweatshops and yard jobs were created in the Lower West Side neighborhood. These jobs drew immigrants from Bohemia (now Czech Republic). The area started to be referred to as Pilsen when a restaurant named after a large city in Bohemia was opened, called “At the City of Plzen”. 

PIlsen saw its first Mexican residents when labor shortages during World War I brought many immigrant groups to the area.  Then in the 1960s, the expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago caused the forced removal of Mexicans from the Near West Side and into the Pilsen area.  By the 1970’s Pilsen’s population was primarily Mexican.  Adlerman Solis states, “They came here to make enough money to retire to Mexico. But their children, the Baby Boomers, stayed and created a little Mexico here” (Mann, 2009).

Pilsen Today: Pilsen remains a primarily Mexican American community, and the population is 86.9% Hispanic.   In addition to The National Museum of Mexican Art, Pilsen houses many Mexican bakeries, grocery stores, shopping and of course restaurants! Every July, Pilsen residents celebrate Fiesta Del Sol (Festival of the Sun) which raises money for neighborhood scholarships. Pilsen is decorated with murals and mosaics celebrating Mexican culture and an eagle statue stands in Pilsen that was a gift from a former Mexico City mayor.

Eating in Pilsen: Pilsen’s restaurants remain primarily Mexican and according to Rick Bayless authentically so. Rick is quoted in the Houston Press regarding Pilsen’s ability to remain authentic, "When somebody from Mexico moves to Texas or California, the Chicano community is there to teach them how things are done," says Bayless. "But that doesn't happen in Chicago. The Mexicans here are almost all first-generation, and they still cook the way they did in Mexico. There's nobody here to show them what Americanized Mexican food is supposed to be like" (Walsh, 2000).

Living in Pilsen: Pilsen is currently experiencing a major change as the neighborhood continues to be gentrified. Many artists/bohemians/hipsters are leaving the already gentrified areas of Wicker Park and Bucktown and heading south to move into Pilsen’s relatively cheap housing. For example, a two bedroom apartment in Pilsen ranges from $700-$1000, and a two bedroom condo is around $275,000. In addition to this new community, young professional Mexicans are returning back to Pilsen after going to school. The alderman’s daughter, Maya Solis is quoted as saying, “My friends and I call ourselves 'muppies' — Mexican yuppies. We came back here to raise our families” (Mann, 2009). 

As the area continues to gentrify there are advocates and opponents for the changing neighborhood. The Pilsen Alliance is an organization that has formed against gentrification. The Resurrection Project formed in 1990 works to encourage Mexican Americans to stay in the neighborhood and develop it. The area will continue to grow and change. Alderman Solis will work to continue raising awareness of Pilsen, “My vision is to make Pilsen the preeminent Mexican-American community as Chinatown is to Chinese-Americans — not only for the families who live here but for people who visit” (Mann, 2009).

References

@Properties, www.atproperties.com

Behrens, Web “Pilsen Gentrification” (2009) Time Out Chicago

Chicago Neighborhood and City Guide “Pilsen”

Craigslist, www.craigslist.org

Gillman, Erik “Pilsen” (2005) Encyclopedia of Chicago

Mann, Leslie “Pilsen: Where change is underfoot” (2009) Chicago Tribune

Pilsen Portal, www.pilsenportal.org

Walsh, Robb “The Authenticity Myth” (2000) Houston Press

Wikipedia, “Lower West Side, Chicago”

Post Pilsen

Yum, I'm still dreaming about my delicious alambre dinner- yummy steak, onions and peppers smothered in melty cheese. Ah and the smoky tortilla soup or the fabulous salsa. Ah! I'm hungry again. Even more I enjoyed the chance to share a meal together and learn about this great neighborhood. Pilsen is going through so many changes and I'm glad we got to learn about them! I would love to hear your thoughts on the restaurant, neighborhood and the Chicago Gastronomical Tour as a whole. Please post your thoughts and pictures!

I'm looking forward to stop #2 on the Tour hosted by Raj and Tasha tentatively set for April 2nd.

Thank you!