United Airlines just reinstated direct flights from O’Hare to Buenos Aires, but for those who aren’t quite ready to undertake the 11 hour journey, Chicago’s north-of-the-Loop neighborhoods offer a wealth of different South American cuisines for modest prices.   Following is a sampling of BYOB favorites from three countries: Venezuela, Columbia, and Argentina.  

Be forewarned that South Americans are unrepentant meat-eaters; while there are at least a few vegetarian or seafood options on most menus, the star attraction is always beef.

Caracas Grill

 

6340 N. Clark St

773-262-9900

Inexpensive

5:00 PM to 11:00 PM Tuesday - Sunday

Closed Mondays

 

This tiny storefront restaurant sits on a busy, grungy street in Rogers Park, but inside, an authentically warm and communal Venezuelan scene awaits.  The grandmotherly cook comes out between courses to chat with patrons, most of whom appear to be locals.  Soccer matches play on a couple of small TVs, and conversation stops for a shot on goal.   Service is laid back but friendly, and the food is spectacular.  The light, puffy empanadas are a terrific and not overly-filling appetizer.  One must-taste entree is Pabellon, flank steak in a fragrant stew served with black beans, rice and fried plantains.   There is usually at least one delicious pork special as well.

            Venezuelans tend to drink beer with their meals, so feel free to bring your favorite brew instead of (or in addition to) a bottle of wine.

 

Las Tablas

 

2965 N. Lincoln

773-871-2414

Moderate

11:30 AM to 10:00 PM, Sunday - Thursday

11:30 AM to 11:00 PM, Friday, Saturday

           

Las Tablas, which occupies a couple of large, packed rooms in Wrigleyville, offers more in the way of atmosphere than Caracas Grill, with brightly colored walls and Columbian flags on display.   The menu is more extensive, as well.  Columbia is the bridge between Central and South America, and this is reflected in the cuisine, which offers fruits and vegetables not generally found on the menu in countries such as Argentina.  

Try the Picada Columbiana for two, featuring pork, steak, sausage, chicken and sides of plantain, yucca, and fried potatoes.   The delicious paella is made not only with seafood, but includes chorizo sausage and chicken.  As with Caracas Grill, either beer or wine would be an acceptable accompaniment to the hearty fare.

 

Tango Sur

3763 N. Southport

773-477-5466

Moderate

5:00 PM to 10:30 PM, Monday - Thursday; to 11:30 Friday

12:00 PM to 10:30 PM Sunday

 

            Wrigleyville’s Tango Sur, which features lovely outdoor seating during warmer months, is a faithful recreation of an Argentine asado or parilla, a steakhouse specializing in grilled meats.   Tango music plays above the din, and the servers are extremely polite when dealing with the crowds waiting for a table. 

Appetizers tend to be heavy:  Patrons who order the parillada have a whole grill loaded with chorizo, blood sausage, beef short ribs, and sweetbreads delivered to their table.   Steer clear of the overly bitter and garlicky spinach empanada in favor of the more delicately seasoned beef. 

The specialty of the house is bife vesuvio, steak stuffed with spinach, cheese and garlic.  Lomo means tenderloin, in this case, filet mignon of beef.  While more tender than the churrasco, or sirloin, the latter has better flavor.  Meat entrees are served with a simple salad of lettuce and tomato as well as fried potatoes.   For those who aren’t tempted by beef there are a few authentic and decent pasta dishes on the menu (many Argentines are of Italian descent).  Entree portions are enormous, so doggie bags are required for all but the most ambitious eaters–ask for the rest of your meal para llevar, or to go. 

As for what bottle to bring along, consider picking up an Argentine wine.  Malbec is probably the best known variety, but there are also fine Cabernet Sauvignons being produced.   Some good-value labels include Grafigna, Bodega Norton, Crios, Luca and J&F Lurton, all of whose wines can be found at discounts stores such as Sam’s and Cost Plus World Market.  (See www.samswine.com and www.worldmarket.com, respectively, for Chicago-area locations.)

 

Food is my drug of choice, and considering Chicago has over 9,000 restaurants, I’ve fallen off the wagon more times than Courtney Love. But sometimes we fall into routine, and if you’ve had your fair share of Chicago-style everything like I have, you start to crave the foreign, the exotic, any that is different.

Well, take a seat in first class and sip your complimentary mimosa, because it is time to take a trip around the world with out leaving the city limits. Sorry, motion sickness bags not included. And if they were, would you really want to be here?
We start our tour off in Central America, specifically, Oaxaca, Mexico. Located at 6113 W. Diversey, La Taqueria Oaxaquena provides Chicago with a much needed dose of great Latin American food. Don’t be fooled by the common interior, brightly colored with Mexican art and plastic wrapped tables. The food here is cheap, but it also spicy and amazingly flavorful. They start you off with a tasty trio of salsas, each one spicier than the next. I never cried so much while eating, but I also never knew salsa could hurt so good. The entire menu is great, from the mole-rubbed chicken to the traditional Oaxacan appetizer of grilled cactus with onions and jalapenos. You’ll leave mourning the fact that you were not born Oaxacan.

Next we head on over to Ethiopia. We’ve all heard our fair share of Ethiopian jokes, and before you ask, yes, they do eat. Very well, I might add. After my first experience at Ethiopian Diamond (6120 N. Broadway), I new exactly why Sally Struthers gained all that weight while filming the “Save the Children” commercials over there. Just the smell upon entering the restaurant was enough to make me weak in the knees, and I had to be stopped from eating off of other people’s tables. All food is served on a large, thin piece of injera bread, which is also used as an edible utensil to scoop up all the stew-like concoctions served there. Favorites include atkilt wot, a stew of potatoes and carrots, a spicy lentil stew, and beef sambusas, little fried pastries filled with ground meat. The bread is tangy, almost sourdough-like, and with a glass of sweet honey wine, life doesn’t get much better than that.

As we travel back towards the Middle East, we can make a quick stop at Old Jerusalem (1411 N. Wells), a no frills restaurant that serves, in my opinion, the best falafel to ever grace the planet. They have all the usual goodies, like schwarma, pita, and hummus so good, you may never eat anything else again, just so you could savor the flavor a little bit longer. And for those with a sweet tooth, it doesn’t get much better than their baklava. A full meal for under $10 and the best falafel in the entire world? You don’t have to tell me twice!

Finally, we land on Devon Ave., the famous strip of stores and restaurants in Chicago that boast Indian (and Pakistani and Mexican) food and goods. Just walking down the street is enough to soak up another culture completely different from ours. You could try one of the fancy restaurants, but I found the best bets to be the snack shops, which are like the fast food places we have, only much better. I love Sukhadia’s Sweets & Snacks (2559 W. Devon Ave.). Not only can you get exactly what you want to eat, but it is three times cheaper than eating at any of the restaurants, and the quality is just as good. I love getting a frosty mango lassi to drink and a big plate of spicy channa masala served with crispy warm naan. If you have room left, try out some of their sweets, which are known to be a little bit decadent, to say the least. My favorite is called dudi hulva, a bright green sweet made of sugar, milk, cardamom and shredded squash.. And once again, all these good eats for under a 10 spot.

Who says you have eat to deep dish pizza when you are in the city? With so many good, affordable food choices, you can easily tour the world without leaving the city limits. And when you dream about falafels all day long like I do, it’s nice to know that my fantasy is not so far away after all.