Your Top 3 Ethnic Dives/Markets (2021)

I just moved back to Chicago after years in DC (an ABOMINABLE cheap ethnic eats city).

Ease my move back by posting your favorite ethnic dives/markets in Chicago and surrounding area. "Ethnic" meaning authentic/probably spicy and "Dives" meaning casual/cheap --- kitchen, counter, chairs, grub or a particularly inspired hot bar in a grocery?

For complete transparency, I posted similar request in 2016 when I returned the first time and got some great advice! viewtopic.php?p=514680 -- but 5 years is a while!

Still mourning A Bite of Szechuan on Clark, by the way!

HPglutster wrote:I just moved back to Chicago after years in DC (an ABOMINABLE cheap ethnic eats city).

Help my move back to me out by posting your favorite ethnic dives/markets in Chicago and surrounding area. "Ethnic" meaning authentic/probably spicy and "Dives" meaning casual/cheap --- kitchen, counter, chairs, grub or a particularly inspired hot bar in a grocery?

For complete transparency, I posted similar request in 2016 when I returned the first time and got some great advice! viewtopic.php?p=514680 -- but 5 years is a while!

Still mourning A Bite of Szechuan on Clark, by the way!

Any specific types of cuisines or just anything? I think Chicago is a good cheap or relatively cheap ethnic eats city. I mean I could drop you off in Little Village, Brighton Park, Gage Park, etc and just say "have at it with the Mexican food here" for example.

Indian/Pakistani/Vietnamese/Thai/Mexican/Korean/Arab/Chinese/Malaysian -- basically Asia south of Russia plus Mexico!

I'll post them as I think of them but top of rotation Carniceria Guanajuato #3 on California. Their taqueria is excellent. I especially love tacos with carne asada, al pastor and chile rellenos. And their burritos are lovely, too.

I'll also like Jason BBQ which operates a small kiosk inside the small but mighty Richwell Market on Dempster in Morton Grove. Nicely-lacquered, usually-moist pork, ribs, chicken, duck, etc.

=R=

Carniceria Guanajuato #3
3140 N California Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 267-7739

Jason BBQ / Richwell Market
6120 Dempster St
Morton Grove, IL 60053
(847) 663-5000

I'm not 100% sure if this counts but there's a massive new-ish Chinese grocery store in town with a food court. Different vendors

88 Marketplace
2105 S Jefferson St

Can't ever mention this without mentioning the Korean market Joong Boo with their little food place at 3333 N Kimball



I've never had it but there's a Bodega in Wicker Park that serves up mostly pho but some other Vietnamese food.

Phodega
1547 N Ashland Ave


Also there is a newer Thai market in Edgewater with a hot food bar

Talard Thai Asian Market
5353 N Broadway

Also there is an H Mart downtown now at 711 W Jacksom Blvd with various vendors.


If you go to the SW side especially (and other areas like Logan Square) there's a bunch of Mexican markets with food. It's not technically in the market but I also like La Casa del Pubelo Taqueria at 1834 S Blue Island in Pilsen.



This calls for me making a map...

I think people read the OP as places that are ethnic markets that also serve food. I read it as a request for great ethnic dives and great ethnic markets.

Some newer ethnic places I've been enjoying:
Taiwanese at Taipei Cafe - 2609 S Halsted St
Turkish at Antepli Turkish Gourmet - 4849 N Kedzie Ave
Dim Sum/Cantonese at D Cuisine - 2723 N Clark St
Indian at Mild2Spicy - 714 W Diversey Pkwy

Ethnic Markets currently in our rotation:
Middle Eastern at Sanabel - 4213 N Kedzie Ave
Chinese at Park to Shop - 4879 N Broadway Ave
Korean at Joong Boo - 3333 N Kimball Ave

Next to Antepli Turkish Gourmet in the same strip center is Sahar International Supermarket, which has a different from Sanabel but quite good assortment of goods including from a wider range of ethnic groups. Unlike Sanabel there is a well-stocked meat department that is a good source for lamb including offal.

Lunch at Antepli followed by grocery shopping at Sahar is a good one-two job without moving your car.

Sahar's web site seems to have disappeared. Neither the link from my post from 2011 in the Sahar Meat Market II thread nor the one on Yelp as of today work.

ronnie_suburban wrote: I'll post them as I think of them but top of rotation Carniceria Guanajuato #3 on California. Their taqueria is excellent. I especially love tacos with carne asada, al pastor and chile rellenos. And their burritos are lovely, too.

Absolutely. But you may have to be cautious eating a tortas.

Be warned. The food court @ 88 mktplace is dismal. Besides here and a Panda Express between planes @ an airport in Atlanta, I can't remember the last time I didn't enjoy Chinese food.

HPglutster wrote:Indian/Pakistani/Vietnamese/Thai/Mexican/Korean/Arab/Chinese/Malaysian -- basically Asia south of Russia plus Mexico!

Lahore Food and Grill
2116 W. Devon
(773) 761-4919

They keep cabbie's hours so don't expect to visit for lunch.

Piggybacking on this oldie (but goodie.)

We have a college aged nephew staying with us for the summer for an internship. He's from a smaller town up in the U.P. and he's always been a very adventurous eater. We made a loose plan on where we'd try to take him to try a bunch of stuff over the summer, but as crunch-time is starting as summer is winding down, I'm wondering if anyone has anything else we should target. So far, we've done:

Thai food - loved it.
Ghareeb Nawaz 3 or 4 times - loved it.
KBBQ - loved it.
Sushi - Loved it
La Chaparrita - Loved it.
Ramen - Loved it
Neighboorhood Mexican grocery store hot food feast - loved it
Greektown - forgot which one we went to, but it was good, even tho it was boring.
Patel Bros - Loved it

Still on the list, in order of importance in my mind so far:
Ethiopian (somewhere)
Dongpo Impression for that green fish soup
Middle Eastern, more than likely one of those joints on S Harlem.
Vietnamese
Calumet Fisheries
H-Mart
EggHolic

He's been here several times in the past, and we've hit Sun Wah, Katy's, plenty of Chinatown spots, but he's usually with his family, that aren't very adventurous at all - to put it mildly. One thing he has said after we'd taken him to a good handful of places, "It seems the little holes in the wall are way better than the fancy places."

He's a smart kid, obviously

So, anything anyone would kinda "target" for a divey ethnic joint / market (with hot food) that's a little more on the exotic side? One of my thoughts was Zaragoza, but, I snuck there by myself a few weeks ago, and I think he'd rather go back to Chaparrita than try Zaragoza.

You mention you’ve been to a lot of C-town spots but have you done Dim Sum? If not, I’d definitely hit Phoenix for the full cart experience. I also like Dolo but you just order off the menu there which is efficient, but not quite the same.

If you can make the trek, In-On-Thai is quite different than the other LTH faves—so worth a trip for the various crispy fish salads and other specialties even if you’ve “done” that cuisine.

For Vietnamese, there’s both the places with “regular” menus and the Banh Mi places—if he hasn’t had one, a stop at Nhu Lan would be good.

I’ll keep thinking about others—he’s a lucky guy to have you as his food Sherpa !!!

seebee wrote:...

Still on the list, in order of importance in my mind so far:
Ethiopian (somewhere)
Dongpo Impression for that green fish soup
Middle Eastern, more than likely one of those joints on S Harlem.
Vietnamese
Calumet Fisheries
H-Mart
EggHolic

...
So, anything anyone would kinda "target" for a divey ethnic joint / market (with hot food) that's a little more on the exotic side? One of my thoughts was Zaragoza, but, I snuck there by myself a few weeks ago, and I think he'd rather go back to Chaparrita than try Zaragoza.

Head up to Uptown. You could have goat at the Zaragoza at Broadway and Lawrence, Ethiopian at Demera across the street. Kill some time and calories by walking up Broadway towards Argyle. Grocery shop at Park to Shop and Tai Nam. Stop at In-on-Thai for a snack then wander on Argyle to see if anything else catches your eye.

Maybe a few Howard Street places? Badou Senegalese (2049 W Howard St Chicago, IL) is next door to Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining (2043 West Howard Street, Chicago, IL), and roughly across the street from Good To Go Jamaican Cuisine (711 Howard Evanston IL).

Thanks!

Dim sum is a fantastic idea, but that'll be more for the whole family when they visit. It's tame enough for them, but still an experience.

Badou is definitely an option that was on my mind, but I like the idea of going to a place that has the "family style" options, and I'm kinda wanting him to try injera, which I'm not 100% sure Badou has. I just remember injera being shockingly good and interesting the first time I had it (and I kinda want it, too.)

In On Thai (never been) sounds great to get "weirder" with it. That might be a winner.

You could try Korean corn dogs, at least as a snack--there are many more options around than there used to be (there's now even a Kong Dog downtown).

seebee wrote:In On Thai (never been) sounds great to get "weirder" with it. That might be a winner.

In-On Thai is superb. There are a lot of great items on the menu, but be sure to order the Crispy Fish with Jungle Salad.

You also mentioned Ethiopian upthread - I recommend checking out Axum, which is in the former Ras Dashen space. The decor in the dining room is rather sterile/generic, but the food is expertly prepared with fresh ingredients.

tapler wrote:In-On Thai is superb.

’
In-On Thai is in the same conversation as Zaragoza, La Chaparrita, RHR, Uncle John’s, Sun Wah, Katsu and a few other tip-top-tier places.

G Wiv wrote:

tapler wrote:In-On Thai is superb.

’
In-On Thai is in the same conversation as Zaragoza, La Chaparrita, RHR, Uncle John’s, Sun Wah, Katsu and a few other tip-top-tier places.

Are you toying with us by noting Katsu?

I slept on In On Thai for waaay too long. Wowed us all. Crispy Fish/Jungle Salad was a stunner, but the basil pork with bamboo was a table favorite. Nothing was not a hit, tho.

I sadly admit I haven't been since pre-pandemic, but Nhà Hàng was always a pretty quintessential "ethnic dive" for me (can someone come up with a better term for "ethnic"?). Used to get a lot of love around here but I haven't seen any posts in a while. I plan to take my mom there when she visits in a couple weeks. Hope they're still going strong.

”ethnic dive" for me (can someone come up with a better term for "ethnic"?).

Global/International?

Personally the term ethnic doesn't bother me, since all food is ethnic in origin, its just a shortcut that we have always use when referring to food that is perhaps cheap and usually different from the norm, brought to us by the immigrants of the moment, but I suppose it really is a rather inelegant expression.

Luckyguy wrote:I sadly admit I haven't been since pre-pandemic, but Nhà Hàng …………Hope they're still going strong.

I’ve been 7-8 times during and post pandemic. Good as ever. Nha Hang has expanded into the next storefront and the next generation seems to be running day to day. All good though.

Nha Hang, count me a fan!

Thanks for the intel, Gary. I think my mom, a Tampa-based retiree, will find the experience eye-opening.

So, which Ethiopian (or perhaps if not, then African in general) place approaches the conversation of Chaparrita, In On Thai, Zaragoza, RHR, etc?

its no longer politically correct to say "ethnic"
my apologies
I suggest "specialty" or "niche"

HPGlutster2 wrote:its no longer politically correct to say "ethnic"
my apologies
I suggest "specialty" or "niche"

International.

nr706 wrote:Maybe a few Howard Street places? Badou Senegalese (2049 W Howard St Chicago, IL) is next door to Khmai Cambodian Fine Dining (2043 West Howard Street, Chicago, IL), and roughly across the street from Good To Go Jamaican Cuisine (711 Howard Evanston IL).

Firefighters were called to the Good to Go Jamaican restaurant, on the 700 block of Howard Street, shortly before midnight.
Officials said a fire started in the kitchen spread to the ceiling.

https://wgntv.com/evanston/evanston-res ... rd-street/

HPGlutster2 wrote:its no longer politically correct to say "ethnic"
my apologies
I suggest "specialty" or "niche"

I think a lot of that changed last November 5.
But for the politically correct:

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar- ... minorities

-Richard

budrichard wrote:But for the politically correct:

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar- ... minorities

That article doesn't really address how to say "ethnic". Maybe the read-between-the-lines is that it's incorrect to group all non-White American stuff into one group.

The other takeaway is that it's better to be specific and hyperfactual. So instead of writing, for example,

Montrose Market is a Polish supermarket

one would write, at the risk of long-windedness,

Montrose Market carries a variety of foods imported from Poland and central European countries along with deli foods and meat items made in traditional Polish styles.