CHICAGO (WLS) — It’s the time of year when ABC7 Meteorologist Jaisol Martinez swaps tracking temperatures for tacos.
Award-winning Chicago chef Diana Dávila served as the guide for the third annual Jaisol Taco Tour.
Dávila owns Mi Tocaya Antojería in Logan Square.
“We make Mexican nostalgic food, and so we like to think of our menu as kind of like a greatest hits album of Mexican cuisine,” Dávila said.
Dávila boils a good taco down to three key ingredients.
“It’s three things. It’s, number one, a tortilla, a good protein done well and a good salsa,” Dávila said. “Those are the three major things that I’m always looking for.”
Jaisol knows you can go to just about any Chicago neighborhood and find a good taco shop.
This year, Dávila chose two of her favorite North Side spots.
The first stop was No Pasa Nada on Lawrence Avenue in the city’s Mayfair neighborhood.
“I love everything about this concept. Just from the get-go, getting there, arriving there, what it looks like, the smells. It really does remind you of street culture in Mexico,” Dávila said.
“No Pasa Nada” is a Spanish phrase that loosely translates to “don’t worry about it.”
And it’s the motto owner Isaac Jaureguí Alanís lives and operates by.
The hot dog stand-turned-taco stand sits next door to an auto shop.
“When I walked up, it felt like I was at a Mexican carne asada,” Jaisol told Isaac.
And that’s exactly the atmosphere Jaureguí Alanís hopes to create.
“It’s like the ranch, like grandma style. Charcoal, firewood, nothing else,” he said. “No paprika, no ketchup. No stuff like that.”
The specialty is the al pastor taco. Jaureguí Alanís uses a traditional trompo, or spit, to slowly cook marinated pork that keeps customers coming back.
Asked why his tacos are special, he had a simple answer.
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“Because I do it con el alma. I do it with my soul,” Jaureguí Alanís said.
Jaisol agreed.
“I would just say this is the best al pastor I’ve ever had. It’s really good,” she said.
Farther northwest in the Dunning neighborhood sits Santa Masa Tamalería.
“I mean, it’s called Santa Masa. I mean, come on,” Dávila said.
Santa Masa translates to “holy dough.” Owners Chef Jhoana Ruiz and Chef Danny Espinoza import non-GMO, nixtamalized corn from Sinaloa, Mexico, to make their masa.
“We’re a concept based on everything to do with masa and tamales, and we try to make everything in-house,” Ruiz said.
The menu includes everything from tacos and tamales and tortas, to breakfast items like chilaquiles and capirotada or french toast.
For the taco tour, Ruiz prepared Santa Masa’s top-selling Santo Taco.
The truly “holy taco: features a trinity of house-made proteins: adobada, chorizo verde and barbacoa.
Everything is piled onto a hand-pressed tortilla with a layer of cheese crisped onto the bottom. It’s then topped with house-pickled red onions, radishes, cilantro and, of course, lime.
Jaisol’s verdict?
“Wow. I don’t have words. I’ve never tasted anything like this,” she said.
Two neighborhoods. Two very different approaches. Two tacos worth adding to your Chicago must-try list.
Plan Your Visit
No Pasa Nada
4501 W. Lawrence Ave.
Chicago, IL 60630
https://nopasanadail.com/
Santa Masa Tamalería
7544 W. Addison St.
Chicago, IL 60634
https://www.santamasa.com/
Mi Tocaya Antojería
2800 W. Logan Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60647
https://www.mitocaya.com/
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Dining and Cooking