Chicago: Nuevo Leon Restaurant
My roommate turned in a major assignment, so to celebrate, we decided to hit up Pilsen and check out the super good Mexican restaurant our friends always rave about.
Pilsen is a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, so it is no surprise that some of the best Mexican fare can be found here. Just by looking from the outside, Nuevo Leon seems to be the most popular, given how many people keep walking in:
We knew we were at the right place when we found ourselves at the end of a long line winding through the restaurant:
Before even asking to take our order, we were immediately brought a basket of chips, 3 kinds of salsa, and a bowl of pickled veggies. The veggies were spicy...so I left those alone. To everything else, however, I showed no mercy. The chips were freshly made (evident from the slight shine of oil) and so were the salsas. The tomato base was so light and fresh that I am absolutely certain that they were made in house:
Next, the waitress proceeded to set down this plate, one for each of us. Usually Mexican restaurants give you free salsa and chips, but a free taco? Geezamabobbers. I was so excited by the idea that I was able to look past the beans (not my favorite ingredient) peeking out from under the tortilla:
The real surprise came when I lifted the tortilla:
HOLY MOLY there's meat under there!! Just like that, Nuevo Leon became my favorite place of the week.
Neuvo Leon is BYOB, to the disappointment of my roommate, who'd wanted to celebrate with a margarita, but I wasn't complaining. I thoroughly enjoyed my $1 horchata:
(Just a warning, we went a little crazy when it came to ordering. I think even the waitresses were laughing at our expressions when all the food came.)
We started off with a small portion of guacamole:
Really fresh and bright. And definitely more than enough for 3 people.
My favorite of the night was the camaron al mojo de ajo:
That's grilled shrimp with fresh garlic and red pimento sauce, plated with rice and salad. Look at the size of the shrimp! All that for $10. The rice was especially tasty, having soaked up all the flavors of the shrimp and pimento sauce.
Then came the carne asada:
The meat was LONGER than the plate. $12. Yeah. The carne asada came with fresh tortillas, still hot from the grill. We got both corn and flour tortillas. I especially enjoyed the flour tortillas...they tasted a bit Asian to me. (Stop laughing.)
To satisfy our lengua cravings, we got 2 lengua tacos and 1 bistec taco:
I've never had lengua with that kind of texture before. I'm used to chewy beef tongue, which I love. But the lengua in those tacos seemed to melt in my mouth. Mmmm....
Needless to say, we couldn't finish all the food. Still, I don't mean to brag, but we did leave an impressive dent in it.
Nuevo Leon, I will be back to brave your lines! Mark my words.
Nuevo Leon Restaurant
1515 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 421-1517
http://www.nuevoleonrestaurant.com/
Pilsen is a heavily Hispanic neighborhood, so it is no surprise that some of the best Mexican fare can be found here. Just by looking from the outside, Nuevo Leon seems to be the most popular, given how many people keep walking in:
We knew we were at the right place when we found ourselves at the end of a long line winding through the restaurant:
Before even asking to take our order, we were immediately brought a basket of chips, 3 kinds of salsa, and a bowl of pickled veggies. The veggies were spicy...so I left those alone. To everything else, however, I showed no mercy. The chips were freshly made (evident from the slight shine of oil) and so were the salsas. The tomato base was so light and fresh that I am absolutely certain that they were made in house:
Next, the waitress proceeded to set down this plate, one for each of us. Usually Mexican restaurants give you free salsa and chips, but a free taco? Geezamabobbers. I was so excited by the idea that I was able to look past the beans (not my favorite ingredient) peeking out from under the tortilla:
The real surprise came when I lifted the tortilla:
HOLY MOLY there's meat under there!! Just like that, Nuevo Leon became my favorite place of the week.
Neuvo Leon is BYOB, to the disappointment of my roommate, who'd wanted to celebrate with a margarita, but I wasn't complaining. I thoroughly enjoyed my $1 horchata:
(Just a warning, we went a little crazy when it came to ordering. I think even the waitresses were laughing at our expressions when all the food came.)
We started off with a small portion of guacamole:
Really fresh and bright. And definitely more than enough for 3 people.
My favorite of the night was the camaron al mojo de ajo:
That's grilled shrimp with fresh garlic and red pimento sauce, plated with rice and salad. Look at the size of the shrimp! All that for $10. The rice was especially tasty, having soaked up all the flavors of the shrimp and pimento sauce.
Then came the carne asada:
The meat was LONGER than the plate. $12. Yeah. The carne asada came with fresh tortillas, still hot from the grill. We got both corn and flour tortillas. I especially enjoyed the flour tortillas...they tasted a bit Asian to me. (Stop laughing.)
To satisfy our lengua cravings, we got 2 lengua tacos and 1 bistec taco:
I've never had lengua with that kind of texture before. I'm used to chewy beef tongue, which I love. But the lengua in those tacos seemed to melt in my mouth. Mmmm....
Needless to say, we couldn't finish all the food. Still, I don't mean to brag, but we did leave an impressive dent in it.
Nuevo Leon, I will be back to brave your lines! Mark my words.
Nuevo Leon Restaurant
1515 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60608
(312) 421-1517
http://www.nuevoleonrestaurant.com/
gimme. take me.
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