This little grocery store is a little dank, the selection isn't great. Its basically a mini mart that smells greasy all the time. I think most of its foot traffic during the week comes from coffee sales - you can buy a small cup of cinnamon brewed coffee for less than a dollar (it may have gone up in recent times) - which is convenient because it's right by the metra electric stop.
So why on Earth would I rate this place so high?
Friends, this is the very location of the best tamales rojos EVAR. This is the golden standard against which I rate all other tamales. For you uninformed lot, tamales rojos - or "red tamales" are a slightly spicy pork in a red sauce wrapped in corn dough and fried in what I believe must be lard because the darn things are just too good not to be very fattening. This place has the best meat to masa ratio I've ever had, just slightly more masa than meat, but not so much that the spice is all hidden.
I don't like tamales verdes (green ones) in general, so I can't speak to the ones here. My stepmom says they suck. But the rojos are gold, solid gold. read more