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Looking at the nominees, and considering who is not there, I thought about my favorite, go-to places that have stood the test of time in varying degrees, the places that I nearly cannot drive past without stopping: Papa's (Cache Sabroso), Carniceria Leon, Las Islas Marias (Grand), Diner Grill, Cafe Trinidad, Hyderabad House, Resi's, Zascianek, Sticky Rice, Salam, Kang Nam, Tango Sur/El Mercado, etc.

The one place that I would be lost without, that wears the most hats for me, but is not on the list, is La Unica. Here's the meal: pan con lechon, potaje de garbanzos, tostones and cafe con leche with pudin de pan for dessert. Pick up a dozen different kinds of tamales, some lechon, good sausages (and gran reserva vino) from Rioja some canned shellfish and a few alfajores on the way out the door.

I humbly nominate

La Unica

1515 W. Devon Ave., Chicago
(773) 274-7788.

If awarded the honor, I look forward to the owner's reaction nearly as much as Mr. Katy's.

Maybe this will motivate G Wiv to finally post about our latest meal there, a month or so ago with kids in tow, which is reason enough for me to second it.

I also added a descriptor, Jeff, feel free to change if you disagree with it....

I was going to nominate La Unica myself, but I find it much more fitting that you did, Jeff.



-ramon

Yes!

Ramon,

Great picture!!! I live only a couple of blocks from La Unica and am planning on going there in a few days. What is this example of sandwichy deliciousness called on the menu

Gracias in advance!!
Joel

Um, that's a Cuban sandwich. Darn nice example, too. Do yourself a favor and get garbanzos to go with it.

Joel,

If I lived closer to La Unica, I'd eat there at least twice a week for the value as well as the cuisine. My usual routine is to order whatever is special that day (ask -- they are quite friendly and the printed menu is fairly useless). I then get a Cuban sandwich or two to go which heat up quite well.

Thanks for the compliment on the picture. I'm still learning and need a better camera, but its all coming together.

-ramon

Although the Cubano in Ramon's picture looked cosmetically better than the one I was served today, I have to say that my lunch at La Unica was very good and I agree that LaU is quite deserving of a GNR.

Some specific comments:

As good as the sandwich is, the bread is wrong. It's much more crusty than the bread used in all of the Miami places I have been to. (Still very good, though). The maduros were outstanding. They were some of the best of their kind I have ever had, while the tostones, on the other hand, were bland, dry and not very good. They were served all by themselves without the normal garlic dipping sauce (which they sorely needed).

We also tried the braised ox tails, the garbanzo soup and the Cuban tamales. All of those were quite good...especially the ox tails, which I will order again on another occasion.

In summary, a big thumbs up for La Unica to receive a GNR!

"the bread is wrong"

Of course it is. It's wrong everywhere north of I-4.

Steve, if you ever find yourself in Tampa, check out the two classic kinds of Cuban bread, both from Cuba, though the lardier kind is now more associated with Miami, the less lardy with Tampa because of the 100+ year old La Segunda bakery.

Somehow Publix can make serviceable Cuban bread in its grocery store bakery; someone needs to do it here. Las Villas used to make an ok rendition, back when it was more Cuban. The Italian bakery Liborio, in River Grove, makes a long French loaf that is very close.

Mike,

Kids in tow, I thought the kids had you in tow.

La Unica seems an almost perfect place to eat with kids, finger foods of all stripes, potato croquets, tostones, yuca frita, Cuban sandwiches*, maduros, licuados and, for the finicky, plain white rice.

Liam seems to be enjoying himself, as do the children in the background with mom, dad and grandmother.


Plus what child isn't going to have a good time with Pinatas on hand?



Lunch was, as always, straight forward, satisfying and delicious. What I particularly like about La Unica is the fact there are often multi generational families eating there, and grandmother seems as pleased with the food as the younger set. There's no one back in the kitchen humming to themselves, Bit of lemon grass to the carne ripiada ~bam~ raspberry puree to potaje de garbanzos ~bam~

Black beans, silky with lard love, on top of a bit of white rice are a favorite, as is the Cuban sandwich. As are [shown] roast pork with yuca and mixed rice and black bean. (Moros Y Christianos



But one would be remiss if they did not branch out to the daily and place lunch specials. The oxtails I had a couple of days ago** were tender as a predawn kiss.



Garbanzo soup (potaje de garbanzos which JeffB has mentioned a number of times, is homey, satisfying and delicious.


Not to mention you can go grocery shopping after lunch.

Is is just me or does Myles seem to be seriously thinking of beaning his dad, in background, with that coconut?



In addition to produce, meat, sausages and a wide selection of multi regional dry goods, the freezer case is stuffed to the gills with interesting items, such as 4-5 types of tamales.



I happily third, or is it fourth, JeffB's thoughtful La Unica nomination.

Enjoy,
Gary

*I thought about posting my Cuban sandwich picture, but but it looked pretty weak compared to Ramon's.

**Different meal than with Mike G and family

You didn't mention the most exciting part of the day, the whale-sized cow's liver which lay like some alien blob in the meat case, and totally captivated both boys for about five minutes.

You mean this?

Gary, thanks for the illustration of the tamales. In your photo, there are at least seven (7) different variations on the theme.

Top Row (local/hand made):

Tamales Cubanos; tamales de Honduras; tamales Colombianos; pasteles Puertorriquenos.

Bottom Row:

Humitas Ecuadoranas; tamales de elotes Guatemaltecas (two kinds).

They also have the typical assortment of Mexican tamales, as the old guy running the place has, apparently, finally given in to the pressure to carry Mexican stuff. Lucky for us, the Mexican specials in the cafe are fairly interesting and good.

HI,

I finally made to La Unica as part of an Evanston Lunch Group outing. While I guess you normally order at the counter. I guess our group looked enough out of place, that they sent someone to take our order and serve it.

As was long known, the Cuban sandwich shared by everyone was excellent. I also ordered oxtail stew, which was not tender kiss soft like Gary's, in fact it needed more time to braise though still flavorful. Fortunately the sides were excellent as well as my banana puree drink.

As Jeff has long advised, there seemed to every tamale represented in the freezer case as well as a variety fresh from the cafe's counter. I hope to explore the market more next time, though I did take a container of guave paste.

My only real quibble was with the signage on the street. I blew right past it the first time because La Unica is completely blocked by a young tree.

Regards,

decent / recent thread

I’ve been dining and shopping at La Unica for 20+ years and never left unsatisfied. Regardless of how many new places open offering a Cuban Sandwich, La Unica will always be the ideal in my Chicago-centric eye. And it is oh, so, deserving of renewal of GNR status.

La Unica is very much a neighborhood special place. Aside from the always-in-the-know table of cops, you will spot the above referenced multi-generational families, next to a mixed raced table of Chicago power brokers. And me, often sitting alone, but completely happy.

-ramon

Please renew.

LTH,

Love La Unica's Garbanzo soup and cafe con leche, not to mention arroz con pollo, Cuban sandwiches and daily specials.

Strong support on my part for GNR renewal.

Enjoy,
Gary

Considering that I drive past it every day, I don't go there all that often, but every time I do I'm happy with what I have and even more happy with the fact that I know about such a place tucked inside one of Chicago's one zillion ethnic grocers. La Unica is a great little slice of another culture, that does many things at least pretty well, sometimes very well, and very much deserves renewal.

La Unica ranks with Patty's and Burt's as one of the friendliest places I eat. And the lechon is really special for a party. I heartily agree with the proposed GNR renewal. La Unica is what GNR's are all about. Being a grocery, cum restaurant, cum catering, it's got just about everything a neighbor could ask for.

With the demise of Cafe Salamara, La Unica's Cuban sandwich is my favorite sandwich in Chicago. In makes other cuban sandwichs just bread, meat, and cheese in comparison. It is a true neighborhood place and a great one.

LTH,

Like many places embedded in the LTHforum repertoire La Unica does not get a lot of discussion, I mean after all how many times can one praise the top notch cuban sandwich, deep rich sausage spotted chick pea soup and some of the best cafe con leche in the city. Even when there are posts in the main threa they seem to devolve into define your terms and arguing east from west. Such seems the way of LTHforum.

La Unica Cafe has changed not a whit from when it was nominated, is as good as ever, which is very good, and I support its renewal.

La Unica, count me a fan!

Enjoy,
Gary

I stopped by La Unica for lunch today and came away with mixed feelings. I've only ever been a few times (twice last summer, then today) and each time I've enjoyed the overall experience, but never been thrilled with the food. The staff is extraordinarily warm and helpful, the space oozes neighborhood charm, and the mix of patrons is always interesting. That said, I think other places in town make much better cuban fare, notably Cafecito for sandwiches and GNR Habana Libre for just about everything.

Today I had a cubano sandwich, cafe cubano con leche, tostones and the pollo frito plate. The sandwich was good, but out of balance, which to me is what a Cuban sandwich is all about. There was a bit too much meat and cheese, and not enough mustard or pickles. The pollo frito was cooked to oblivion - bringing back fond memories of the Harold's "fried hard, mild sauce" song, but not much else. Tostones and chicken both needed salt in a serious way.

Pollo Frito - Unfortunately dry and flavorless


Not a bad lunch, but definitely left me wanting Habana Libre's pollo frito and Cafecito's cubano.

A neighborhood gem, to be sure, but a GNR? I don't know.

-Dan

Ah yes, the age old question of balance. I like La Unica's Cuban sandwich, but then again I like the Cuban sandwich from Latin American Cafe in Miami, which Jeff B called Hollywood due to the amount of meat on the sandwich. Pollo frito looks a bit overdone, though comparison to Habana Libre's fried chicken is a tough row for any bird to hoe.

How was the cafe con leche, its one of my top couple of favorites in the city.

Glad you went to La Unica and had a, mostly, good lunch.

Enjoy,
Gary

Habana Libre's may be my absolute favorite fried chicken out there, so it's definitely a high bar to set. That said, this little bird was fried hard.
I'm certainly no con leche expert (normally a black coffee kind of guy), but enjoyed it quite a bit.

Cool spot, just one where I've yet to have great food.

-Dan