Taqueria El Asadero
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: North Center2213 W Montrose Ave
(between Bell Ave & Leavitt St)
Chicago, IL 60618 (773) 583-5563
- Nearest Transit:
Western (Brown)
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: None
23 reviews
Neighborhood: Near North Side
"Oh Pump Room, you are taking the honors of my first five star review. Perfect place for almost all nice occasions. Yes, it's a nice, classy…" read more »
17 Reviews for Taqueria El Asadero
This place makes great simple food with absolutely no pretentions. The look of the place is cheap and kind of cruddy. But the burritos and tacos are the best I have had in Chicago. I have been going there for over ten years often getting a steak burrito with cheese, cilantro and onions. Goes well with red wine or a good beer depending on your mood or the season.
By my wholly unscientific research of taquerias in the greater Lakeview/Ravenswood/North Center/Lincoln Square area, I have come to the conclusion that Taqueria El Asadero makes the finest tacos around. Their taco prowess could quite possibly reach well beyond these bounds for all I know. When I want a taco, I go al pastor just as it sounds like many other posters do as well. And these are seriously fine tacos al pastor. Excellent flavor, fresh onion, cilantro, and tomato - I have not been let down yet. In fact, as I write this I dream of hot summer days sitting across the street in Wells Park feasting on these magical pork treats. Even the steak tacos are really darn good if that's your thing.
If my postman would deliver a couple of TEA's tacos al pastor with my mail everyday I would be very happy. Only 4 starts instead of 5 because I haven't had anything besides the tacos. Do yourself a favor and pick up a couple.
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guacomole and chips ...fresh and tasty
carne asada tacos con onions y cilantro..es muy delicioso
rice and beans..is okay. not so baad, not so great
ambiance...is not 5 stars, but appears clean enough to eat cheap food
for some reason, despite the number of numerous taquerias in the city, only a few make my list for let's chow down...this place is now one of them.
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Half my yelp reviews are for burrito places in the Ravenswood/Lincoln Park neighborhood and this one gets my lowest rating yet: 7 thumbs up (it lost some points cause it had a hot wheel on it).
Really though the only reason I don't super love this place is the price and size. It was between $1-2 more expensive for a carne asada burrito than other places in the area and was slightly smaller as on average as well. Taste and flavor and quality were all great though so certainly don't avoid this place, I probably just won't go out of my way to go again.
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This is by far the best taco joint in the city, a must have is the pastor tacos. I give it four out of five stars because some days they are not on their "A" game.
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I must have caught the TEA on a bad day....ick. I had a carne asada torta, and I literally couldn't eat more than 4 bites of it because the meat was so bad. It was all fat. The thought of going back there makes me gag a little.
I was really hoping it would be good, since it's right around the corner. Maybe I'll give it another shot and try something else. Maybe...
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I haven't eaten at every taqueria in Chicago, but I really don't need to.
And the reason I don't need to is because I've already found the perfect taco right in my neighborhood at Taqueria El Asadero.
As I said in a previous review of a lesser taco joint, I'm pretty much a taco al pastor man through and through, although I'll mix it up with a steak taco here and there to keep my pleasure centers on point.
I would not shit you on this important matter. El Asadero's tacos al pastor are the best I've had since when I lived in Texas. And their tender, juicy steak tacos are also a force to be reckoned with. Dressed simple and clean with onions, cilantro and lime juice on a soft corn tortilla--just like they fix em down south--you get to enjoy the full scope of the meat's deliciousness. And the meat is really what a great taco is all about. (Tacos al pastor have a tendency to be a bit dry if not prepared well, but the ones at El Asadero are never dry.)
I highly recommend you check out these tacos, pronto. You'll feel like Pancho Villa opened a magic unicorn carnival in your soul.
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My daughters' sense of what's good and cheap just keeps on getting better and better, or, I am learning more about what they know. I just have to ask.
I had lunch here today with Daughter No. 2. We were going to try El Llano Restaurant, a Columbian joint on Lincoln just south of Irving Park that has great Yelp reviews, but when we got there, the menu prices seemed ridiculously high. So, we came here on her suggestion.
How do you know this place, hun?, I asked. "Oh, I've been coming here a long time...we used to come here on half days when I was in junior high." (She went to junior high just down the street).
See what I mean? These kids know all kinds of stuff I have no idea they know.
I had a barbecued pork burrito, which was huge and delicious. It was flavored with cilantro, onions and tomato. My daughter had a vegetarian burrito and picked at whatever pork I spilled. Together, we shared an order of guac, which was really fresh. I thought the chips were a little greasy, though, but we ate them all, anyway. The salsa was too spicey for me, but what do I know, really?
The environs: hysterical! Latin versions of motel art on the walls. There are all of six orange booths along the walls. There was a T.V. on top of the refridgerator playing some cheesey, dubbed-in-Spanish Patrick Suazey and Ben Gazarra movie.
There was a little kid having a meltdown over by the gumball machine, and there was no one playing the Deer Hunter video game (what a concept!). And it was cold and drafty each time the front door opened. But, that's okay. The eats were good and cheap. I'd come back.
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i love this place. my mom and me go every friday afternoon. my daughter loves the rice and beans and we are mystifed by the tacos!!i saw tone of the guys making a burrito and there was an amazingly crazy amount of meat on it! i love the al pastor but the steak tacos are rididculous! my mom and me sit and watch these guys cook and season the meat then they put in on some aluminum foil and start chopping it up. i want to lick that aluminum!! lol..this place is definitely a great find. even though they could give the decor a new lift..i dont care ill sit and eat my tacos while i look at those old dingy plastic plants ! oh and i almost forgot the chips!! the best! theyre salty and greasy enough and u finish every little crumb!!
I gotta say, I'm in love with this place.
Tried it out on a whim after reading what some fellow yelpers had to say and was impressed in every way. The food is wonderful, homemade horchata is fantastic, and it's cheap. Like super cheap. Under $10 for my girlie and I usually.
Probably my favorite place since moving to Chicago last fall!
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Best burrito house in Chicago. It's not your drunken 3AM burrito spot like TBK or Burrito House. Taqueria El asadero servers up some great burritos and tacos you can actually enjoy sober.
I don't know if it's how they cook or season their carne asada, but the steak is unbelievable. When wrapped in a tortilla either for a burrito or steak taco the meat is very tender and flavorful. Thier chips are an artery clogging pile of goodness. Even if you are taking your order to go, you have to try the chips with their "green" verde salsa.
I used to live a few blocks from this place, but even after moving to the South Loop, I still make it a point to stop by here to pick up a steak burrito, chips, and to play the deer hunting video game!
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Very good big burritos made from fresh, flavorful ingredients.
We always get takeout from this hole in the wall place. They know how to make a quality burrito--it's not stuffed with an inordinate amount rice and beans which places like Chipotle do. Don't worry, you'll still get enough to fill you up. The guacamole here is some of the best we've had (it's comparable to Carnivale's guac). The chips are very tasty with a flaky texture, albeit quite greasy. Oh yeah, and the tacos rock.
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Actually, this place looks like a total dive from the outside. . .and yes the inside too, but there is something very special about it. I have a good family friend who owns multiple 4 and 5 star restaurants and I found out about this place from him . . .he told me that the owner of this place gets his meat from the same distributor!! So although you may think it's nothing special . . . .your actually eating excellent quality steak!!
And for the record. . . .I think the tacos are "to-die-for" and the guacamole is amazing!!! (it's made fresh for every order!!!)
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My favorite burrito joint in the city- this place is always busy. Put their # in your cell phone for call-ahead takeout orders.
The burritos are large, fresh and crispy with very flavorfull meat, tomato, onion and cilantro. They're never soggy and drippy like some other places. The horchata is the perfect accompaniment to the zest of the burrito- and they are always icy-cold.
I'm hesitant to recommend this place because I don't want it to be any busier, but I do want it to get the props it deserves!
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This is a pretty good hole-in-the-wall taqueria! The chips are greasy and great, and the tacos and burritos are flavorful. It is a small, not-so-clean restaurant though. People definitely know this is a find since it is pretty busy.
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Yummy tacos with just cilantro and onions! Good beans and rice too. I'll have to go back to try the horchata next time. Large portions! Big enough to share.
Nothing special at all goin' on here folks, just a lil' taqeria with very average food....
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