Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Day 2: Pilsen


Hola! That's Pilsen for "Hello." In case I have not made it painfully obvious, today's neighborhood was Pilsen. Pilsen is located on the lower-west side of Chicago, approximately one mile from my house. Due to the proximity of Pilsen to my "casa," and the fact that the "sol" was out, instead of taking the bus to Pilsen, I walked. This proved to be very interesting because the second I turned West onto 18th street, most of the stores and advertisments I saw were in Spanish. Even the ice cream cart pushed down 18th street was labeled "Helados." I have lived no more than a mile from Pilsen ever since sixth grade, and yet I have only ever been to Pilsen on middle school Spanish class trips. But I think I will start going more on my own now because Pilsen has a very interesting look. Pilsen is famous for its murals (one of which is depicted above). Many of them depict doctors and college graduates, and famous, strong, Mexican historical leaders. Others depict The Virgin, which is the typical religious symbol of Mexico:

Pilsen is also known for its many restaurants. One restaurant has been written up on Metromix.com, and in the Chicago Sun Times, and has been recommended to me by three different people independently of each other. This restaurant is called Nuevo Leon and it is located at 1515 W. 18th St:


Even the outside of the restaurant is very characteristic of the neighborhood. The bright colors and elaborate paintings are inescapable throughout Pilsen. The name "Nuevo Leon" comes from the name of a state located in northeastern Mexico. The restaurant is modeled after this state. The waitresses even wear a version of the traditional outfit from Nuevo Leon which looks something like this:

The waitresses in the restaurant wear something slightly different, although I now realize that I did not get a good picture of my waitress. I was seated in an area of the restaurant that was surrounded by murals. The wall in front of the bathrooms had a painting of two parrots:


And the wall across from where I was seated looked like this:

The ambiance was very nice, and the food was fantastic. Upon being seated, our waitress brought us a bowl of chips and two types of salsa. The first was just a standard pico de gallo, which was okay, but the second type was a different type of salsa that had a more roasted flavor. It was much spicier than the first type, and I preferred it. Then, they brought out a small appetizer. This appetizer changes from day to day, but today the appetizer was a meatball and a piece of potato in a green chile dressing. Please excuse the poor picture quality. By the time I had discovered the macro lens on my digital camera, my appetizer had been eaten:

In order to obtain some variety in the food ordered, I brought my dad with me. We ordered the "Nachos Dias" which was 6 mini-quesadillas covered in a red chile sauce with guacamole and sour cream on top:

Next, I ordered beef Enchiladas with red chile ancho sauce. This came with rice and beans.


My dad ordered the combination platter, which included one beef taco, one bean tostada, one tamale, and one cheese enchilada. He also ordered, for us to split, a chile relleno, which is a large pepper filled with cheese and spinach:

The total bill came out to $27 for two people, plus we brought a large plate of food home, because our eyes are significanty larger than our stomachs. Then, on the way home, I passed by a panderia, which is basically a pastry shop, where I bought a large cookie of which I forgot to take a picture. All in all, Pilsen is quite beautiful with an interesting history and a lot of delicious food.

Tomorrow I will be going to Greektown. I have no idea where to eat in Greektown, so PLEASE leave your suggestions. And my dad will not be free to keep me company while I eat tomorrow, so PLEASE eat with me.

6 comments:

  1. Go to the Greek Islands! Or Athena or Rhodites (not sure of that spelling...). They're all at about Madison and Halstead ish.
    Aimee I want to eat with you!

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  2. Get some saganaki! It comes to the table and then they light it and they say "Ooopah!" and it's cool.

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  3. Hey, do you have a date for tomorrow yet? You go during lunch, right? I might be interested...

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  4. hey aimee! I do want to eat with you, but in case you're trying to call me, I lost my phone. :(
    I definitely also recommend Greek Islands and saganaki. I would love to come with you but I don't know how to get in touch!!

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  5. I would love to eat with you but I have to work. Also I think we are taking someone out to eat tomorrow at the Medicci. I would much rather have Greek though...
    Glad you learned to use the macro; your pictures look much better!

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  6. aimee! nuevo leon is my favorite restaurant in all of chicago! good choice, love the blog.

    amy (solomon)

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