La Chaparrita Taqueria — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

It was a magical experience. I know that for some of you, tacos are just another dish. But, for me, tacos represent the savory side of life. If I don't have good tacos in a year, I would feel like I'm missing out on something great, like a wild horse in winter longing for some fresh spring grass. La Chaparrita is my favorite place for tacos in Chicago, and, probably, on Earth. I went there last night. It's been at least a year and a half since my last visit here. Too long! Thanks goodness it was just as how I remembered. After placing an order for about two dozens tacos for the whole family, I sat on a stool at the bar to absorb the smell of cooked meat from the kitchen, the sight of the cook in action, and to do my Wim Hof breathing technique. The sizzle of the grill, the hearty and flavorful smell of an assortment of seasoned meats slow cooked in a big vat, the clanking of the chef's spatula and his humming of a Mexican tune, the dashing movements of the waitress in between orders... La Chaparrita kitchen resembled an orchestra playing a symphony of sight and scent so good you could almost taste it. I was transfixed. The chef, noticing that I was taking pictures of his food, stepped aside, looked into the camera with interest, smiled. He then resumed his cooking with a degree of mastery that only years of practice would allow. His hand movements, quick, decisive, and deceptively effortless. While cooking the al pastor, he would flip the last few morsels of meat onto the taco with the grace of a skillful juggler at the circus. No movement is wasted. He practically danced around this kitchen, a space that he has occupied for years and now is completely at home with. Mesmerized by the kitchen symphony, I was surprised when the chef presented to me a steaming taco and a lime wedge, sitting neatly on a petit plate. "It's for you," he said. I was delighted. "Red sauce or green sauce?" "Green, please!" I devoured the taco in two bites. It was the best way to enjoy a taco. A few moments later, a second taco came. This time, a tripa. It was scalding hot with the fat still sizzling on the crunchy bits of tripe. Delicious! I placed my hand on my chest, gestured my gratitude. "How was it?" "So good!!!" I exclaimed. "Thank you very much!" It might have been a simple act of kindness for the chef, but this poor Asian soul was touched. I left La Chaparrita with two dozen tacos and a memory that I will never forget. Kindness always wins. Good tacos always wins. Long live...

My parents and I have been coming here for years to eat because we love their tacos, and today we went around 11:00 something (Sunday Sep 4, 2022) Minding you there weren’t many people inside yet. We sat at the back table so we wouldn’t get hit with the wind coming in when consumers would open the door, and this woman took our orders. About 5 mins my parents and I got our drinks. Then about 15 minutes later, more customers would enter. When my mom got her food, she waited for 5 minutes to see if my dad and I got our food to eat together. However, she didn't wait, and she ate it before it got cold. We waited another 5 minutes, and still didn't get our food, I complained that my dad and I haven’t received our food. Main reason why I complained because I noticed the tables in front and a table in the corner had already received their food, and those people arrived after us. The lady taking orders said how it works is she has to go in order of tables, not in order of who arrived first or not, and she claims she told us, which is false, I informed her. “So are you telling me that the people who arrived after us and sit to a closer table are receiving their food and we have to wait because we sat all the way in the back???? She then changed the entire story with her lies and then claimed that she had made a mistake with orders, but that we will receive our food in a few so after waiting more time and nothing my parents and I became frustrated as we waited longer and longer without receiving food since more and more people arrived after us. I preferred to ask for the receipt, pay for my mom's food and drinks, and leave, so people don’t sit in the back tables because you have to wait for everyone to get their food no matter if you got there first you have to wait for your...

After reading the reviews and taking into consideration what friends said about this place I was expecting alot more from them.

The restaurant is very small, very understandable for the location. The atmosphere feels alittle dirty, stuff hanging off the ceiling and from the walls looked old. By serving greesy food/tacos all that attaches to the walls and stuff on the wall and dirt sticks to that and just makes everything feel dirty. Tables are extremely close to each other, once we sat and pull our chairs in that was it, we weren't able to move.

Service wasn't the best, they really need more help. They had 2 ladies running around like crazy. One of the 2 ladies looked very stressed. She was rushing us during us ordering.

Now to the most important part, the food. Extremely disappointed. We waited over 1hr for the food. The size was as expected, it was a mexico style taco, small and with 2 bites it was gone. Prices range from $3 to $4.50, honestly not bad. But the flavor, taste and look of the taco was very disappointing. We basically ordered all the meat tacos(between the whole party) The meet was extremely overcooked, too crunchy, flavorless and very sad to say the least.

I really wanted them to be good, specially since we waited over 1 hr for them. I would never visit again, how do you mess up cecina?, al pastor looked and tasted like chorizo with pineapple and asada was over cooked and we basically got what is left at the bottom of the cooking disc/pot/comal.

Also, they had aton of Santa Muerte stuff. I respect everyone's believe but don't shove it down our throat.

Don't recommend it. Go down afew more blocks and try something on...