Carniceria Guanajuato

	Dominic Armato

Today, I somehow managed to confuse my Mexican groceries, but we still did okay.

It was my good pal and coworker Khris' B-Day, and in traditional fashion it was up to him to select the nature of his lunchtime birthday feast. He put the decision in my hands, telling me to "surprise him". Back in January, I listed the goat tacos from Supermercado Morelia among my ten tastiest moments of 2005. Since then, I've been looking for an opportunity to do a takeout taco feast, and this seemed like the perfect event.

Unfortunately, I got my wires crossed. Somehow, I thought that the Carniceria Guanajuato around the corner from my home was another branch of the source of last summer's goat ecstasy. Of course, Carniceria Guanajuato and Supermercato Morelia don't sound anything alike, and while I'd like to lean on my lack of Spanish and the fact that the names are purely phoenetic to me as an excuse, it was still a dumb mistake. But in the end, while this feast won't be making the ten tastiest moments of 2006 by a longshot, it was still a rather enjoyable lunch.

Dominic Armato

My target was the small taqueria located within the goodly-sized supermercado. It's situated so that you can browse the breakfast cereals while consuming your tacos. Whether this is a matter of market research or less insidious factors remains unknown. The bad news was that chivo (goat) wasn't going to be an option, as they only prepare it on the weekends. But the good news was that I managed to walk out with three huge takeout containers filled with pollo, carne asada and carnitas, as well as a pile of minced onion, fresh cilantro, a horde of tortillas, some fresh limes and enough salsa to set three legions of gringos ablaze.

Back at the office, I nuked the tortillas (an unfortunate but necessary preparation, given the standard office kitchen equipment) and laid the rest out as a taco buffet for the hungry crowd. The pollo was very moist and tender, having been stewed in a tasty sauce with tomatoes. The carne asada was very lightly seasoned, grilled, chopped and fairly dry. Both were good, if unexceptional. But the carnitas, pictured here, I might go back for. Khris is a fine, fine fellow, and though his shortcomings are few, his inexplicable decision to eschew pork products is chief among them. In this case, his loss. The pork was rich, porky, nicely browned, moist and tender. It had a really nice flavor that made it the standout fave among all the pro-porcine diners present. If not for the carnitas, I might label Guanajuato as a pass, but on the strength of the pork, which was quite good, I think they merit consideration if you're looking to carry out piles of steamy meat.

Carniceria Guanajuato
1438 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622
773-384-4567

Comments

[Douglas Y. Padilla]

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