Arturo's Tacos

Arturo’s Tacos
WOW! This was my favorite meal of the whole Chicago trip. Arturo’s Tacos is a twenty-four hour restaurant that serves up authentic, reasonably priced, Mexican and Latin American cuisine with fast, efficient, service. The portions are huge and everything meets or exceeds expectation. I was surprised to see tacos filled with brains, tripe, and tongue, as these are typical of the American view of Mexican food. I ordered the chorizo torta, a dish that is masterfully handled by Dayton’s own Mex-a-Hole so they had big shoes to will. In addition to this huge sandwich I ordered a taco langua (tongue.)

The torta was filled to the max with wonderful house-made chorizo that was really strong on clove. Steve informed me that this was the case prior to eating it and to be honest I was weary. Clove is not a spice I ordinarily enjoy especially when used in savory dishes. The clove was definitely the main flavor in this sausage but it was in complimented the fattiness and the spiciness of the meat. The bread used to make a torta is a rich, eggy, brioche, like bread. Shredded lettuce, diced tomato, and sour cream served as the garnish on the sandwich and helped to cool the heat of the chorizo.

The taco langua was fantastic. The texture of tongue is often stringy and chewy but not this version. The meat was braised well and was so soft it fell apart in your mouth. The taste of tongue is similar to regular beef only much more intense. When I was in culinary school I spent ten days eating nothing but organ meat and tongue was one of the offal products that I truly enjoy. These tender bites were topped with mild farmer’s cheese, fresh chopped cilantro, and diced onion for texture. Then everything was wrapped up in a house-made white corn tortilla.

My dining companions enjoyed carne asada, chorizo, and vegetable tacos in addition to cheese quesadillas. The service here was quick and pleasant. Everything was very laid back and our waitress did a great job. 10 out of 10!!!