A coworker brought these into work and I have been thinking about them for weeks! I used to pass…read morethis location going between the grocery stores on Cermak and never thought to stop by. Finally today I had a chance to park in the loading zone and grab a few of what was left: green and red salsa pork tamales and then 1 of each of the sweet ones for my kids. The pork tamales were great and had a lot of flavor. My daughter loved the strawberry and will try the other ones later. I will be back!

I usually think the great tamales are sold only on the streets in Pilsen, I normally see pop-ups…read moreand buy a dozen. I saw a store front called "The Tamale Lady" and I had to give it a try. I was surprised how reasonably priced these tamales are. I asked them which is most popular and she told me the green chicken tamales are most ordered. I bought a dozen of the red sauce pork ones also. Both choices are a hit with my family and I been coming here weekly for my tamale crave Payment is Zelle or Cash. Street Parking available too.

Where can I find a tamale guy? I would love to know the address so I can go there. It seems like a…read morebender on the street. Could somebody let me know? Thank you because I love tamales.

The Tamale Guy has been a Chicago staple for over 20 years. I had the opportunity to sample these…read moremade-from-scratch offerings over the holidays when the Chicago History Museum offered pick-up dates for catering orders at the North and Clark Cafe. What better time to unwrap the gift of a tamale than heading into the New Year. The signature tamale varieties available for ordering included cheese, pork, and chicken, along with the famous salsa verde. I opted for chicken and was pleased with my choice. The order came with reheating and freezing instructions. The masa is light and the chicken is fresh and high-quality. The perfect comfort food to add spice and warmth to a Chiago winter! I look forward to sampling some of the other varieties and appreciated this collaboration for spotlighting a locally owned business that I might not otherwise have had the opportunity to try.

Summer is here!!!!…read more Shaved ice at its best. There are few places that I would drive long distances for and this is one of them. If you are familiarized with shaved ice you know what I'm talking and if you don't, well it is about time and this is the place to do it. They have some great flavors and all are made from fresh ingredients. Here is a list of some the flavors they have: tamarind, guayaba, pineapple, peach, strawberry, vanilla, pistachio, eggnog, coconut, mango, coffee, cajeta (milk caramel), pecan among others. I have tried most of them and all are great, but there are few that are my favs. Guayaba is a the top of the list, followed by vanilla with rompope (kinda Mexican eggnog) with condensed milk, truly delicious. According to them the best seller there is the strawberry. You can always add condensed milk to any flavor, just request it. Do not be fooled, there are many raspas on this street. a few days ago on a regular Wednesday afternoon I counted 9 stands, yes 9, from Kedzie to Pulaski alone. I tried many of them (not on Wed., but over time) and none compare to Don Luis'. Raspas Don Luis, the best in Chicago

Tried this at West Fest, stepped outside my comfort zone and just tried it. Man, it was sooooo…read moregood! I could have eaten 5 more. Next time I'll get the large. The service was nice and the food was ready fast!

Tried it at a local festival after looking on Yelp. Total let down. Overpriced, bland, and falls…read moreapart while you eat it Skip and save your money!

A true taste of Mexico away from Mexico. These tacos were so delicious and authentic and they don't…read moreskimp on the meat. We tried asada, pollo, and al pastor and they were all a hit. The meat is made to order and the salsas are so good. You get a variety of spice levels. Take them to go or eat them in your car! This is an outdoor taco stand so there's no seating available.

I was winding down my night out with family and we had a major taco craving! We wanted to try…read moresomething new (to us) that would also be open semi late and was not a full blown dine in. We yelped this and made our way over...this is in the neighborhood which means parking is not the easiest so it may possibly be a double parking blinker situation. It's a little tent with a grill and everything is made to order. There was a nice clip of walk ups and he cooks until no more folks roll up...so although Yelp says 11pm...if there are people ...they will be fed! Since it's in the neighborhood definitely want to be cognizant of not being rowdy. I had 2 carne asada steak tacos and a steak quesadilla! Flavors were on point! I ate a taco out of the trunk of my hatchback and had a quarter of the quesadilla...and was stuffed! Took the rest home and had a whole other meal! Fairly quick, tasty, no frills street tacos! Level of sketchy was mild but as in anywhere..when out later, you'll want to be aware of your surroundings.

Smilin' Clyde brought their hotdog cart to our home party…read more They were excellent. They arrived early and set up their cart with an umbrella and side table. All of the food was excellent. Sarah, the owner was very accommodating with our request - including gluten free options and turkey hotdogs. The severs Jack and Danielle were very nice and set up their cart. They also packed up the leftover food and sides- plenty for the party after they left and beyond. Would hire them again for sure! Thank you!

THIS IS ABOUT CLYDE AS A PERSON. My friends and I parked in a spot on the street Dow town and when…read moreI came back I was blocked in by the Clyde's hot dog vans (2). Both with trunks swung open. There was no way to get out and no drivers in sight. Turns out Clyde and a younger guy were selling hotdogs inside a building with no plan of moving their trucks outside. It took 30 mins to get out of the parking spot, track the hotdog stand down, and for Clyde to move 1 car.... Still blocked. It is the man in the picture on his website AKA Clyde. Will not eat here.

We started visiting the new Maxwell Street Market some time ago and ran across this little vendor…read more Mama Lula makes pupusas right in the stand and heats them up on a griddle. They can be made with cheese, pork meat, and refried beans and any combination of those. You never know what they'll have that Sunday but it will be made fresh and hot. The pupusas are somewhat like a peirogi - a filled dough pocket where the filling can be almost anything. The pockets are made with a cornmeal dough. I think pupusas are native to El Salvador. Anyway you order your pupusas - one, two, three...depends how hungry you are. You get them on a plate and then put on a little pickled cabbage mix called curtido for spunk...add a bit of hot sauce or salsa roja and have a seat at the tables under the tent. This isn't fancy food or pretentious surroundings but the pupusas are well worth the visit. They also have coffee and pop to buy. Our party of four had one coffee and split six pupusas - all for $13. You won't beat it for many reasons. The only problem is we cannot find Mama Lula's in a storefront. We think this might be the only place you can get her pupusas. So whether you spell it pupusas or papusas...get yourself down here and give them a try.

Well, the veggies were fresh but the GREASE was NOT. I could 1000% taste fish in the sandwich. Meh…read more Especially as a vegan. Not like I really want to taste that. The bread was crispy, the veggies were good but the overall flavor was ruined by the fact that I had a fishy aftertaste. The service was fast. They weren't as busy as some of the other trucks but they were almost one of the last ones from the direction I was walking from. Ambiance was the beautiful outdoor campus of University of Chicago. Couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Next time different food truck for me!

Yay! Thanks to our parent committee for sponsoring our teacher appreciation lunch with Chicago…read moreLunchbox Food Truck! The salt and pepper tofu bowl was amazing! The tofu was fried to perfection and smothered with delicious sauce. I'm so glad I got a chance to try this, and even better that the food truck was stationed right outside our school :) can't wait to try their food again!

I was so happy to find fresh tamale cart on the far Northside of the city…read more You've got to get here EARLY to get your pick. The cart arrives at 5:30am. I arrived at 8:30am and he was already out of everything except Chicken. I was able to get 2 dozen. The price is so reasonable...$1.25 each You can find the cart on the NE corner of Clark and Lunt in Rogers Park.

I finally was able to catch them selling tamales! This is very nearby where I live and I decided to…read moremake it an epic Thursday by strolling into work late, and have a great breakfast full of tamales! They are still located at the corner of Lunt and Clark and their sign says Tamales Garibaldi. Just a little fact for everyone that is eager to get these puppies fresh off the press--they start selling them every morning at like 6am-10am (maybe even until 11am). You have to be sure to get there before 10am because they sell out very quickly! I came one time close to 10am and they were completely sold out. Also, the price on them is 1.25 a pop, which is super cheap for tamales! They serve 3 different flavors: chicken, beef, and cheese and peppers. I purchased one chicken and one cheese and peppers. If you are sensitive to spice, do not purchase these because THEY HOT! You can indeed call these puppies hot tamales. The spice level is at an 8.5 on a 10 scale. I love spice but these are indeed extremely spicy so you will want some water to cool it down. They are a bit salty as well, and the chicken tamales didn't have much meat in them but they are still good. I would totally go back and get them! You can't beat the price, they are super flavorful, and hot in temperature. Get you 2 tamales and you are set for breakfast. They also sell something call Champurrado, which I didn't try but it does look delicious--it look like hot chocolate but it's made from corn flour. Next time, I will try it out. At any rate, go check them out and support them!

This fest has really went down. it used to be sooooo much fun! It was moved to 16th street (from…read more18th street), and turned from an expression of culture and the Pilsen neighborhood to just another fest selling things. It was much smaller than previous years with less food choices and fewer authentic vendors and had bad music, at least during the daytime when I went. I usually stay to hear the musical lineups but this was so boring I stayed long enough for the kids to get tacos and look at the 3 shops that were there. They even had some band singing sweet dreams singing the wrong words! I hope the fest will go back the way it was then I'd return. If not I'd say skip it.

There are a ton of festivals that happen during the summer in the Chicagoland area and Pilsen Fest…read moreis one of them! I enjoyed listening to various types of performances from rock, DJing, to an amazing musical family band called Cielito Lindo. The band's age ranged from about 7 years old to the father's age, and they were amazing at harmonizing together. There is a lot of cultural aspects to this festival including Chinelos, a dance from one of the Mexican regions. It was so much fun to participate in! There are various businesses from Pilsen area that participate to sell food including Taqueria y Restaurant El Buen Valle, which had delicious tacos, and had tons of drink options like agua fresca and alcohol. It's only a few blocks long, so it's very contained and easy to get around. Would definitely come back next year.