Morena's Kitchen, Caribbean/Dominican

First and foremost kudo's to Titus, aka ChiBBQKing, for the lowdown on Morena's if you are not obsessively checking his blog and instagram @chibbqking you would be hard pressed to call yourself a food centric person much less an LTHer.

Morena's Kitchen is a half storefront hideaway on W Armitage, one table with three chairs and a few stools offering Caribbean/Dominican comfort food.

Titus waxed poetic about the fried chicken " The seasoning is kind of like Popeye's turned up to ten" and its terrific, paired with an order of crisp perfectly fried tostones and a few squeezes of lime its a stunner.


On-bone chivo/goat with white rice and stewy red beans, tender flesh turned up to ten with the addition of house made habanero hot sauce.


Mangu, like a healthier version of mofongo, topped with pickled red onion is a don't miss Dominican side dish.


As mentioned Morena's is tiny, though what it lacks in physical space is more than made up for by the outsized personality of Mirian, aka Morena.



Mirian mentioned she had been open 3-years and there were plans to expand into the next storefront East. They do a steady takeaway/pickup business including traditional Dominican breakfast.


Two of us barely scratched the surface of Morena's menu, I'm very much looking forward to a return visit.

Morena's Kitchen, Count me a Fan!

Morena's Kitchen
5058 W Armitage
5054 B W Armitage
Chicago IL 60639
773-622-7200
9am to 8pm
Sunday closed

I've been smitten with this place since Da Beef inspired me to check it out back in January. I've been through at least once a month since.

Mirian, the namesake Morena, is delightful, she makes you feel at home the minute you step through the door. At this point she feels like an old friend and knows my order. I've noticed neighborhood folks will stop in just to say hello.

All the food is made lovingly from scratch, most plates featuring simple, homey slow cooked meats with rice and beans.

¡Que rico! she has a way with the fryer though! And by fryer I mean a well worn rondeau bubbling away on the back burner. The pica pollo has shot up my essential Chicago dishes list, like maybe even top 5. Ad hoc hunks of bird deeply, deeply marinated in familiar, yet intoxicating aromatics– garlic, Dominican oregano and proprietary citrus blend– are fried to a shattering crisp. Served alongside a big old mound of crunchy tostones everything doused in her fruity, not-too-crazy habanero sauce, perfecto! Pork chops are similarly seasoned, though lightly (if at all) breaded before their dunk.

I post this today since the Hungry Hound was in there filming for a June spot (I might make my small screen debut licking fingers with an LTH icon, stay tuned!) The Sula effect hasn't seemed to swamp the place too much, but I have a feeling Morena is destined for all the attention she deserves!

Newsflash!: We were told today that Morena's will soon be moving a couple of doors west to a larger space (with more seating) on the NE corner of Armitage and Leclaire.

Maiden voyage today and I really enjoyed it, especially the chivo, which was rich and unctuous . . .


Chivo con arroz y gandules

We also had some other tasty items . . .


Beef Empanada, exterior


Beef Empanada, interior


Chuletas Fritas con arroz


Pica Pollo con tostones y frijoles

As others have posted, the crispy chicken is very nicely seasoned. The tostones, served with a mayo-based sauce, were great. And those were some of the best beans I've had in a long, long time. They were tender, not mushy at all, and really flavorful -- with a delicious pot liquor that was redolent of cilantro.

Service could not have been friendlier. Even the other customers in the tiny space were enthusiastic, accommodating and helpful. Morena's Kitchen is truly a gem. I can't wait to go back and try some of their other items.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Newsflash!: We were told today that Morena's will soon be moving a couple of doors west to a larger space (with more seating) on the NE corner of Armitage and Leclaire.

Here's a nice little article about the restaurant and the move.

Finally got out to Morena's yesterday to try the much lauded pollo frita. Wow, that is some great fried chicken.

gnarchief wrote:Finally got out to Morena's yesterday to try the much lauded pollo frita. Wow, that is some great fried chicken.

Are they in the new space yet?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

gnarchief wrote:Finally got out to Morena's yesterday to try the much lauded pollo frita. Wow, that is some great fried chicken.

Are they in the new space yet?

=R=

They are. It's a corner location and the place is really nice. Huge space with a long bar, plenty of tables, two TVs playing Dominican videos from Youtube. I definitely plan to go back very soon, if only to try the chuletas fritas as well.

gnarchief wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

gnarchief wrote:Finally got out to Morena's yesterday to try the much lauded pollo frita. Wow, that is some great fried chicken.

Are they in the new space yet?

=R=

They are. It's a corner location and the place is really nice. Huge space with a long bar, plenty of tables, two TVs playing Dominican videos from Youtube. I definitely plan to go back very soon, if only to try the chuletas fritas as well.

Thanks. I'm going to update the OP right now.

=R=

Back at Morena's yesterday to get my wife on board. The rabo is stunning.

As mentioned, the chicken rocks and Morena is a doll.


Mentioned her presence here and she couldn’t wait to read the comments.

I think she is in 5 newspaper articles now.

Nice lunch at Morena's with a customer earlier this week. First time at the new space, which is roomy and comfortable. Morena & Crew as friendly as ever. And the piping hot, prepared-to-order food did not disappoint (you can even see the steam rising from the guisada) . . .

We started with a couple of delicious empanadas (one chicken, one ground beef), which I forgot to shoot.


Carne Guisada


Pica Pollo
Tasty, crispy, moist and so freshly cooked, it was still ripping hot at the end of our meal.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Pica Pollo

Poetry, I weep . . .

[Edited to appease the self appointed guardians of good taste]

The pica pollo at Morena's is one of my favorite plates of food in Chicago. I had some yesterday and it was as juicy, deeply seasoned, and crispy as ever.

It's a shame they moved into bigger, spiffier digs less than a year before the pandemic hit. Its a good time to share some love for Morena's, count me a fan.

Jefe wrote:WAP-level juiciness,

Really? I'm no poet so I wouldn't want people criticizing my writing; and I've really been trying this year to keep my internet snarkiness to a minimum.... But this just smacks of trying too hard, and whiffing. Also, if I were a small business I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want my fried chicken publicly compared to WAP, or I'd say least want to give consent first.

And FTR, WAP is a great fucking tune... But it's greatness lies in the fact that: two ladies crafted something like 4 dozen brilliant metaphors for WAP; kept it fun; kept it sexy; turned the tables; etc.

Your use is just shocking for shock's sake.

jellob1976 wrote:Your use is just shocking for shock's sake.

This cracks me up!

I adore Morena's Kitchen fried chicken, would venture Jefe is about the coolest/hippest person I know, right up there with Tony B. I doubt Jefe is using WAP to simply shock. Then again, I have no earthly idea what WAP means, so what do I know.

jellob1976 wrote:

Jefe wrote:WAP-level juiciness,

Really? I'm no poet so I wouldn't want people criticizing my writing; and I've really been trying this year to keep my internet snarkiness to a minimum.... But this just smacks of trying too hard, and whiffing. Also, if I were a small business I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want my fried chicken publicly compared to WAP, or I'd say least want to give consent first.

And FTR, WAP is a great fucking tune... But it's greatness lies in the fact that: two ladies crafted something like 4 dozen brilliant metaphors for WAP; kept it fun; kept it sexy; turned the tables; etc.

Your use is just shocking for shock's sake.

The song was in my head yesterday when I ate my chicken.
There are food and drink metaphors in the track, so I thought it would be funny to flip that around.
Sorry to offend.
Original post edited, would prefer to turn the attention back to Morena's amazing fried chicken.

Jefe wrote:Sorry to offend.
Original post edited, would prefer to turn the attention back to Morena's amazing fried chicken.

This was ridiculous. The harmless one line joke didn't take attention away from Morena's food.

"Jefe made a joke I didn't like. Throw him in the trash with chef Jake Bickelhaupt!"

Thanks for making everything more miserable. Mission accomplished jellob1976.

G Wiv wrote:Then again, I have no earthly idea what WAP means, so what do I know.

Wet Ass Pussy

Jefe wrote:Sorry to offend.
Original post edited, would prefer to turn the attention back to Morena's amazing fried chicken.

I wasn't offended, and this wasn't an attempt at cancel culture at others have implied. I was just a little grossed out. And maybe this is just me: love sex, love food... But the two mixed together make my stomach turn a bit (although the "macaroni in a pot" line is pretty classic. Maybe that's because it's about the sound, not the consumption. A small distinction, but a distinction none the less).

Not sure when it happened but Morena's Kitchen is closed. That's a bummer. My last visit was in the first pandemic summer and it was great as ever.

They're still operating as a catering company (Facebook and Instagram) and will be at the Dominican Festival in Humboldt Park tomorrow.