Chicago: Carniceria Guanajuato

CK and her boyfriend have told me repeatedly that the best carne asada in Chicago can be found at Guanajuato.  I didn't get a chance to verify for myself until the day after my finals ended.  As I had two full days before my flight back to the West Coast, CK and I spent one of them in the suburbs with her family.  On the way up, we stopped by Guanajuato for lunch:


Guanajuato is a Mexican grocery store with a taqueria attached:


While the grocery store was a wonderland just waiting to be explored, the call of carne asada was too strong to ignore.  We made a beeline for the taqueria without stopping to look at anything else.

You know you're in a legit taqueria when you're the only non-Mexicans in the house.  CK surprised me by pulling enough Spanish skills out of nowhere to order us some grub.

We got two lengua tacos (because neither of us wanted to share):


Amaaaaazing.  The lengua was super tender.  Add some lime and some green sauce...heaven.

We also got the best torta I've ever had in my life:


Carne asada, of course:


To be honest, I've typically found carne asada to be on the dry side, but this?  Oh, no.  So juicy and flavorful that I wanted to die eating it.  And the bun!  Don't get me started on that perfectly toasted bun!

While the food was out of this world, the horchata was a bit disappointing:


Milky and...small for the price.  You can get a better deal at Maxwell Street Market.

What really rocked my socks, however, was the sight of this:


Huge slabs of sexy chicharron basking under heat lamps...where have you been all my life?  According to CK, chicharron is usually only available at Guanajuato on weekends, so either we were really lucky or there's been a change in policy.

Either way, I got me some pork skin love:


All that for $1.46.  Say wut?

Guanajuato needs to be closer to my apartment.  As in right next door.  I would never eat anywhere else.  So cheap, so quick, and so delicious.  CHICHARRON LOVE FOREVER!


Carniceria Guanajuato
3140 N California Ave
Chicago, IL 60686
(773) 267-7739

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