Jarabe - Taqueria — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I went here for dinner on Friday, and overall, it was ok. The service was wonderful and the atmosphere was great. I loved the wallpaper(?) . It was a nice place to eat, and it's not too far from UIC. I started off with the Austin queso dip.

It was surprisingly lacking in flavor, which I haven't experienced in a dip before. It was also very runny, which caused a mess as it dripped off the chip as you tried to eat it and landed on my jacket. I thought I was just being messy in this case, but my sister's jacket was a mess, too, and we almost never spill food on ourselves. However, the chips were perfectly fried, crispy, and nicely salted.

I got the torta, which I debated about getting. I wanted to try the birria, but I didn't want to be disappointed, so I stuck with something I figured out can't be messed up too bad. I made a decent choice with the torta as again, it's not something that you can mess up in my opinion. The steak had decent flavor, not overcooked, crumbly, or rubbery.

The toasted cheese was a nice touch that I appreciated and added some depth to the sandwich. What I did not like was the pickled jalapeños I assume. It threw me off as it didn't go with the rest of the sandwich, in my opinion. It was too overpowering and vinegar(y) (more than any of the pickled items I've ever tasted).

The bread was buttered and toasted well. Overall, it was a good sandwich minus the pickled jalapeños. I would recommend the torta still. But my advice if they let you, ask for the jalapeños on the side to see if my experience was a one-off thing. Then, if you like them, put them on...

First time here, and it was a pain getting to the area, let alone parking. They are in very close proximity to Rush University Medical Center, so you can imagine the traffic and difficulty navigating the area.

I came at about 5 pm, so it was pretty lonely (at least inside the food court). I ordered Guacamole & Chips as well as a Quesadilla Grande de Tinga. The tortilla had a unique taste that added great flavor to the overall quesadilla. The Tinga had an okay flavor but was salty. Their salsas were okay, and only one was actually spicy. The guacamole was okay but it needed more flavor. I asked for some lime to add flavor to the guacamole, which made it much better. To drink I had an Agua de Pepino, which was delicious. You can tell it is freshly made. I also tried their agua de Horchata, which was also very delicious. Their aguas frescas really saved this place.

I also got to try the tacos Al Pastor. Look, it is a family tradition to make a taquiza every New Years of different meats like Suadero, Longaniza, Lengua, Cabeza and obviously al Pastor. I have never in my life had a sweet al Pastor taco. This taco was sweet but the meat had no flavor and it was a little tough. The tortilla was hard and dry, nothing like the bomb tortilla on my quesadilla. Just not what I expected from a taco Al Pastor. I couldn’t even blame it on a busy restaurant because it was lonely while I was there, but a lot of things were not right, especially with their price point. I genuinely only recommend their...

January 2022 Very unfortunate this place had the fire on Taylor street location. The food presumably is still very good, but the caveat is that I haven't yet been able to try it at the new location. The jarabe website, the Dr Murphy hall, and voice message when calling the restaurant all post different times of closure. Moreover, I went there at 245, despite the Murphy hall dining hall closing at 3, and all the doors were locked. Frankly, the owners would do alot better should they evaluate the consistency of the messages and information available to the public. And who closes at 3 pm on a Saturday? Maybe I have watched too many breaking bad shows but part of me things the atypical hours are indicative of a front of some kind. Seriously, love the food, but the guessing game associated with actually being able to try the food has downgraded their rating. Sorry!

Prior update Jarabe, worth the travel, has an abundance of street parking on Taylor street, Making any trek for the tacos burritos and other Mexican food items that much easier.

The food itself is amazing. The mojo mushroom taco and burritos are simply to die for. That said, looking past that particular item, every other dish we've tried is good as well. The staff is another great part of the experience. Always very helpful and friendly, taking pride in...