Pollo Vagabundo - Northlake
Last night, on a tip from my friend Eric, we went out to Pollo Vagabundo - which according to Google Translate means "Bum Chicken".
The reviews on Yelp and elsewhere are extraordinarily strong, but I'm withholding judgement. While the staff were VERY helpful and nice (they gave me samples of EVERY kind of meat they have), they were sold out of Carne Asada by the time we arrived. This place seems to be a lunch joint - based on both the fact that they were sold out of the top-billed item and when we arrived at 6 pm, the place wass dead.
Nat had chicken tacos and said that they were some of the best tacos she's ever had. We also shared 4-5 salsas from their bar (they have probably a dozen to choose from), and they were all tasty. Spicy, but tasty. (thinking now....if they named the place after the chicken, perhaps I should have gone with chicken, too!)
The only hangup was the carne asada shortage. You see, about 10 years ago, I was introduced to La Pasadita on Ashland. ("no...not that one. The other one. The other one? Yeah....the one next door. Not across the street - Next door.") Once I had one of those beautiful carne asada burritos, there was no other wrapped treat that could compare.
Pollo Vagabundo was billed as having a burrito to-die-for, but because I had my mind set on carne asada and had to settle for shredded beef, I can't confirm that status. They also were said to be making their own tortillas on site, but alas, they weren't doing that either when we arrived.
Will we be back? You betcha. But...this time for lunch.
Nat had chicken tacos and said that they were some of the best tacos she's ever had. We also shared 4-5 salsas from their bar (they have probably a dozen to choose from), and they were all tasty. Spicy, but tasty. (thinking now....if they named the place after the chicken, perhaps I should have gone with chicken, too!)
The only hangup was the carne asada shortage. You see, about 10 years ago, I was introduced to La Pasadita on Ashland. ("no...not that one. The other one. The other one? Yeah....the one next door. Not across the street - Next door.") Once I had one of those beautiful carne asada burritos, there was no other wrapped treat that could compare.
Pollo Vagabundo was billed as having a burrito to-die-for, but because I had my mind set on carne asada and had to settle for shredded beef, I can't confirm that status. They also were said to be making their own tortillas on site, but alas, they weren't doing that either when we arrived.
Will we be back? You betcha. But...this time for lunch.
Had I not mentioned this place to you before? I used to work around the corner in Franklin Park, and was a regular for lunches. They still know me by name in there. I took my kids and the Dyers there for lunch a couple of weekends ago, because Isabelle told me she had never had a burrito before. On a Saturday at lunch time, we had to wait about 30 minutes for the steak to be cooked, but we waited it out. I let the kids watch Elf in the minivan while we waited. Tortillas were made fresh... from a pile of dough, to a press, to our burritos. Best tortillas I've ever had. I've had the chicken, but it isn't as good as Los Fernandez Rosticeria.
ReplyDeletenever heard of it before. You should have let us in on the secret! I'll go back - but this time for lunch.
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