Taqueria Los Comales

Is the Taqueria Los Comales on 26th street truly the best of this long and storied Chicago chain?

Why Yes!  

Well to be fair Los Comales has been around since 1973 that's about fourty years ago! These guys have in all that time expanded to more than what nine restaurants across our great state and well into other states(ok not 100 percent sure of that)!Yeah much like Atotonilco these guys have created an empire that quite honestly I don't see slowing down anytime soon in fact they are continuing to expand into the burbs just in case you need a taco, torta, or a burrito fix.

However a great problem has grown over the years...........

Much like Kim Kardashian or any over exposed celebrity Los Comales has turned into an interesting figure in the Chicago area and as most Yelp reviewers suggest it's a truly love/ hate style relationship with the entire chain.... much like Kim Kardashian (don't worry I will never mention her again)simply because each location is hit or miss. I also have a love/hate relationship with Los Comales, well to be honest there is no real hate on my part because I have a fondness for this chain since I grew up with it, in my younger years nothing was better than eating a Torta de carne asada and a cold coke while watching The Beverly Hillbillies at two in the morning a Friday night tradition for my family and I and while most of you might scream unhealthy!!! It was truly paradise and those memories are nothing you can scoff at well unless you are a recently converted vegetarian.

However thanks to time, age, and cholesterol you tend to become more aware of certain things and while my ideal vision of Los Comales comes from a treasured childhood memory I still have to be blunt here: Los Comales tends to drop in quality and quantity the further you get away from 26th street. The sad facts are in and THE ONLY Comales to visit in my opinion is in La Villita, sure people have their own tastes and opinions and I applaud that but I feel that all the other Comales locations (especially the one on Pulaski ) are overpriced and lack the quality and quantity of the Original Comales on 26th street I mean nearly ten bucks for a plate of Menudo? GTFO!!!!!!!!!!! I suppose that the old saying is true "The Original is always the best until it closes" and this Comales truly is the best.

The restaurant is HUGE and has a bit of a hybrid taqueria/Sports bar vibe since there are always TV's blasting a Futbol game or a boxing match and the service is fast and efficient. The Pickled Jalapeños,  Carrots, Cauliflower are always fresh and tasty and really spicy and the food is quite good on my last visit I had a burrito de carne asada and three tacos of Al Pastor,Lengua, and Tripitas, if the tacos sound like overkill then you have never been to a Los Comales location since these tacos are small stuffed but small. The Carne Asada in the burrito was good surprisingly good I have a a bigger preference for char broiled variety of skirt steak because I love that flavor from the grill but this Carne Asada while not up to par say with a Zacatacos or Las Asadas was still well cooked and seasoned way better than the Carne asada I had at El Tarasco so thus quite good. The three tacos were all quite good with the winner of the night going to the taco de al pastor which was filled with flavor and other artery clogging goodness.

If you want to eat good authentic Mexican food and are a bit adventurous I advise you to give this Chicago Institution a shot at it's original location on 3141 W 26th St go ahead I dare yah! It's not that bad nor that dangerous a location just get there early or go late at night at about two or three in the morning to watch drunk late night club patrons and some other rowdy but hungry customers. Don't worry they always have security in this location and have a supervised parking lot.

PS. On a previous visit the Tortas were delicious the bread was out of this world man!

This one is gonna be short, it's alright here but what are your expectations?
The menu on 18th St is a bit more extensive, and if you;re on 26th st looking for a taco experience, hit up Milagro, or better yet do a tour where you eat tacos at several different places. Comales is decent, perhaps better than a lot of places, but this is the "bigs", and Comales rides the bench on this street.

Stopped in here for lunch after a court date. The little tacos were pretty good.
No comp chips or salsa. No queso to be seen.
I have had better margaritas. The wife got some sangria special drink that looked exactly like grape koolaid and tasted god awful.
Given the proximity in the area, I am sure there is better places to spend su dinero.