La Cebollita

To be be the heart of Pilsen I feel like this place is lost. Who puts tomatoes in their tacos? For the price it’s not too bad but I feel if you want to eat some more authentic Mexican food there’s plenty of spots around. All I had was the basics. A torta de al pastor and a taco de asada. The tacos are hooked up with alright tasting meat but on the torta I think they can do better (portion size and better seasoning). Overall this place is alright I guess. Probably since I heard it’s a BYOB place makes it better.

Had the best vegetarian options and sopas were big. Definitely will be back. The salas was flavorful.

This was the worst Mexican restaurant i have ever been to in my entire life. I ordered a few steak tacos, chicken tacos and a pollo milanesa dinner. First off i was the only customer in there, so there is no reason for them to mess up my order. The steak for the tacos were over-​cooked to the point where it was crunchy. The chicken tacos were dry. The biggest insult was my pollo milanesa dinner. The chicken was so over-​cooked it was like breaded chicken jerky. There was plastic stuck in the breading. The rice it came with were the scrapping left over in the pot. It was not served with beans but the chicken was oddly set on top of an order of fries, which were probably the only edible part of my meal. I will never return to this restaurant. PLEASE FOR YOUR SAKE DO NOT GO TO «LA CEBOLLITA».

Today I came in for Mexican breakfast. Started with coffee which is not very good. Free chips and salsa hit the spot. For my meal, I usually order red chilaquiles with lomo. But today I switched it up to huevos rancheros. They were very good. But I do like the chilaquiles better.
Underrated authentic Mexican restaurant.
This place is great since it’s never packed and the prices are so cheap. You can get a full breakfast for $ 5 — $ 9 dollars. Who can complain at that price and food is good. My only complaint is the coffee.

Love the tamales here, I usually call beforehand to make sure they still have the ones I’m looking for. Not spicy but flavorful.

I have so much feedback on this place, I had stopped in once before just to try their tacos to go and they were fine so I thought I’d bring the family to try it out since our usual local place is out of commission. It was noon on a Sunday and there was only one other table with customers, that should’ve been a sign. To start, the salt and pepper shakers were crusty and practically empty, it was obvious that it had been a long time since they were last refreshed. We were given stale chips and the salsa did not taste fresh either. My daughter and I ordered the breakfast special that came with eggs, a tamale and potatoes with chorizo. The eggs were passable, but the tamale had a lot of masa and the meat was sparse. The potatoes had clearly been boiled a while ago and just tossed with the chorizo, it did not taste good at all. My husband ordered an omelet which he said was good, but the rice on the side was bland. It just seemed like this place completely gave up and wasn’t even trying. I have no plans to return here. I cannot believe they serve their customers such low-​quality food. Also, the place was empty, there’s no excuse for the salt and pepper shakers to be so gross, the sugar bowl as well and lastly, the menus smelled like they had been wiped down with a dirty dish rag. Such a shame. La Cebollita should be taking full advantage that the super popular restaurant around the corner is temporarily out of business.

I tried this place for the first time last week and it was delish! Definitely a hidden gem. I had the carne asada gorditas and my bf had the carne asada taco dinner. Meat was seasoned perfectly, no «fatty» attached to the meat & the beans & rice were good too. Would definitely go back

If La Cebollita were the only Mexican option in the neighborhood, I would probably give it another star. The horchata is excellent. The fajita quesadilla with steak is hearty and filling, and I really enjoyed the sopes. There’s always ample seating, and the service is pleasant.
My vegetarian partner hasn’t fared as well — the vegetarian version of the dishes he’s tried have generally just had more rice (which isn’t memorable) and beans rather than additional vegetables. We’ve never been there at a time when tamales were available. On our last visit, we both tried to order dishes that turned out to be unavailable, and what I did order came out with the wrong protein (steak instead of shrimp — fine by me, but not what I ordered). The margarita is overpriced for what it was (and for the neighborhood). And the loud TV distracted everyone, detracting from our meal.
We did like La Cebollita, but given the wealth of excellent, authentic Mexican options nearby, I don’t know how soon we’ll be back.

Been here about 8 times tried different dishes haven’t had one i didn’t like, maybe it’s a kept secret never had to wait to get seated, you’ll never find better food for the money.

Soooo good and so underrated. My favorite spot in Pilsen. All those people standing in line at Nueva Leon ought to come here instead. I’ve always had good food from here, but standouts are the tamales, cheese enchiladas (red sauce), and the burrito suiza. My only complaint is the TV– I’m no fan of TVs in restaurants in general and this one tends to be on extra loud. If it was a soccer game, sure, but miscellaneous crime show just distracts from the food.

La Cebollita is my go to place for carne en su jugo! It is an abundant bowl of fulling goodness that warms the soul. I’ve had carne en su jugo at other restaurants, but La Cebollita’s is hands-​down the best I’ve had in Chicago. Their enchiladas verdes de pollo are delicious too, and if your vegetarian, their cheese enchiladas are good as well.
Lots of pay at the box street parking is available. The waitress who is always there is very kind and welcoming. She always gets my order right and is a pleasure to see. To top it off, their prices are very reasonable! I haven’t had all of their dishes, so I can’t recommend everything, but what I have ordered, I do recommend.

I’ve been there a few times, food is okay, some dishes not so much like Mole. I don’t think I’d go back but the staff was very nice all the time.

A great neighborhood spot. The tacos are great and the tamales were outstanding. We’ve done both dine in and carry out. Both were great!

I ordered catering from La Cebollita for my sister in laws bridal shower, and I’m so happy I did! Jose, the owner, called me the morning of to confirm some details and to double check the pick up time. Everything was delicious and the portions incredibly generous. Very professional service, the only down side– No delivery at this time. If thats not a deal breaker for you, however, I highly recommend!

I am visiting Chicago and wanted Mexican food. I’m used to the food in SoCal, but I know that Chicago has a HUGE Mexican population so I decided to try it. A friend old me to go to 18^th and Ashland and just park. He said that there would be tons of food spots. Okaaaaaay … Lol
I parked on Ashland so I didn’t realize that if I had walked a north to the corner there would have been a whole street full of options. We saw La Cebollita and went in. It had a sign that said, «Tamales». It’s a cozy little place with great service. The horchata was delicious, but all the tamales were pork except one cheese kind. The guacamole seemed to have a bit too much lemon and no other spices or seasonings. The food was okay, not bad but not great. I ordered two chicken tacos with rice and beans and a side of guacamole.
I separated my tacos to give me for four of them (there was too much meat for two to hold) and put my guacamole and salsa on ‘em. I won’t make an effort to return, but if I was in the neighborhood again I might get something.

Picked up some take-​out tacos here this past weekend to check another spot off the list in my quest to become Pilsen’s resident taco expert. While these aren’t the best in the neighborhood, they were ok although very plain.
I tried the chicken, the carne asada, and the al pastor. The chicken and the carne asada were good, but did not have much flavor past the meat. The meat was cubed into little pieces and put on the 2 corn tortillas, but was not very moist or flavorful like I would have hoped. The al pastor are usually my favorite; I didn’t care for these particular ones personally, something odd about the marinating sauce, but my boyfriend thought it was ok.
I asked for the toppings to come on the side (lettuce, tomato, cilantro & onion), and they provided a whole other takeout container for them, certainly plenty for the tacos. Service was fairly quick for take-​out. The inside was very dim; I would have liked to see a little bit brighter atmosphere, I almost wasn’t certain the business was even open at first due to the dark environment. This place also serves margaritas in house, I didn’t order one but it’s good to know that this is NOT one of the BYOB spots in the area. Overall, it was just average, and I will probably not hurry back here.

good very good
i like
pilsen so many places to eat
first time i try carne en su jugo
caldo w/​beans, choped carne asada, bacon, grill onions chile de arbol, limon & tortillas next time i will try the margaritas & tamales

I’m taking a diversity class at Roosevelt University for my masters. Our professor has us going on two field trips (yes, graduate students get field trips too!) and at the end of our trip to the National Museum of Mexican American Art, she treated us to an authentic Mexican restaurant in the heart of Pilsen! I was definitely excited for this because I LOVE hole-​in-​the-​wall mexican restaurants! When we arrived, they already had a large table to accomodate us (13 people), and immediately came out with complimentary chips, and two types of salsa. The salsa was very good and gave the table an option of a milder salsa verde and a hotter red salsa. As other reviews said, the chips were a little stale, but I’m going to chalk that up to the Chicago humidity as the temperature has been so wonky the last few days!
With any new mexican restaurant, I judge their food by their most basic, staple food… the taco :) I ordered three tacos, two carne asada and one al pastor. The meat on both was very tasty, seasoned well, and not dry at all (which can happen with even the best mexican restaurants). I was surprised that their standard taco came with lettuce and tomato AND cilantro and onion… kinda a hybrid of mexican and american style? I opted for just the onions and cilantro. The tacos were also very generous with the meat.
Friends around me opted for other fares… the enchiladas which were a very generous portion and you had your option of stuffing, or a giant chimichanga that most people wouldn’t be able to finish!
Overall it was a good experience! If I’m ever back in the Pilsen area, I’d have them again :)

Somehow 12 of us ended up here for a friends birthday dinner.
We all enjoyed the Chips and salsa. The Green salsa was great. we had high expectation from the dinner.
Then came the food…
Portions were great, wish I could say the same about the food.
Food was terrible.
I would rather pay 10 $ to chew on old lady’s chin mole than to eat the mole Pablano. The chicken in the mole sauce died twice — Once when it was killed before cooking and second when it was put in that disgusting mole sauce for cooking.
The rice had completely dried out in the reheating, it honestly was like eating sand. The beans weren’t any better.
When you end up ordering fries in a Mexican restaurant that means definitely something is wrong !
You would be better off eating at a taco bell for ¹⁄₅^th of the price.
One extra star for the Horchata though…
You would like this place only if you’ve reached an age of seniority where you don’t
have sensation in most of your taste buds …

I must be missing something. Everything I tried I did not like, with the exception of the agua de tamarindo. The gordita was super greasy and it came with only lettuce and tomato (beside the filling, of course) — anything else was «extra”$$. The tamales were definitely not the best in Pilsen — if anything, something was off — the masa had a strange consistency… I could only eat ½ of one. I thought it was odd that you had a choice of EITHER rice or beans with a meal (???) when most Mexican restaurants give you a bit of both. I did not like either of the salsas that came with the (kind of stale) chips — but those were complimentary so I won’t harp too much on that.
I don’t know … maybe it’s just me??? Well, I don’t think I will be returning, cause I just don’t get it…