A guide to authentic ethnic food in Chicago

I’m a TripAdvisor expert in Chicago and DC, I have almost 500 contributions in Chicago and 385 in DC. You can check my ratings, reviews and pics here 

Chicago is a very diverse city. I lived in an African American neighborhood (Hyde Park). In the local grocery shop (my beloved Hyde Park Produce) I spoke Spanish with the staff and there I could find ingredients and food from different places in the world. During the time I lived in Chicago, I tried many different cuisines and I met people from different places. Moving from Lisbon, a small and non-diverse city, this was a lifetime experience that I’ll never forget. I got more used to different flavors and opened to try different types of food. Despite the cold weather, Chicago is my fav city.

Nuevo León

The First time I had real Mexican food was in this restaurant.
It's located in a very authentic and colorful Mexican neighborhood, Pilsen. There you can find panaderias and places where you can get your palm read.
If you are taking the metro pay attention to the 18th street station murals.
Sometimes there are long lines, but they move fast.
They give you a couple of small complimentary dishes: chicken soup or small tacos and nachos.
Food is greasy but tasty and it comes in huge portions... It's very decadent!
Queso con chorizo was one of my fav appetizers or even for main dish. It's very filling, especially after all the complimentary appetizers! After you have it,  you will hardly have room for more food. 

If you like Mexican art go to the National Museum of Mexican Art. It's located a few blocks away from the metro station and it's free of charge.
Take a look in the museum shop. It has beautiful Mexican handicrafts.

Birrieria Zaragoza

You need to drive or take a cab. Birrieria Zaragoza is close to Midway airport. I definitely wouldn’t recommend taking public transportation.

This place is a hole – in – the – wall kind of joint. The menu is limited to one dish: juicy goat meat wrapped in tortillas.  This a simple place with simple food but home cooked to perfection. You cannot go wrong.

4 SuyosPeruvian Cuisine

This restaurant became one of my fav Peruvian in Chi. it’s a bit pricey compared with other Peruvian restaurants but the food quality is very good. There you can find exquisite Peruvian dishes that are not so common in other Peruvian restaurants in Chicago. I highly recommend the ceviche, it's very fresh and tasty. 

Paladar

I love Cuban food so I had to try it. Paladar is famous for drinks, namely rum cocktails. But about that I cannot tell much. I'm more on the food side. 

The chicken empanadas are delicious, the filling is very tasty. For main dish I recommend the chivo. It's a slow cooked goat stew that I had with fried yucca and fufu.  

Ruby’s Fast Food

If you are passing by you wouldn't believe that this is one of the best ethnic restaurants in Chicago. It's a tinny place with no decor, just a few tables and a TV. The food is to die for. No fast food, only slow cooked food. On weekends there is a buffet for lunch($8,45/pp) with some options: different types of meat stews, fish, several sides and desserts. 's a good opportunity to taste different types of Filipino food. Everything is great. Try the cassada, I had at least 2 of it. Staff and Filipino people are extremely friendly.

Ruby's was featured on Bizarre Foods tv show. 

Nhu lan

I really like Vietnamese cuisine, namely bahn mi sandwiches. I like the freshness of the mix of raw veggies plus the baguette crispiness. 

This place is extremely small, just 2 tables with a couple of seats each. And it's very busy.

I tasted the pork belly pate and the lemongrass chicken. Both were delicious, very fresh and full of flavor. And we paid around $4 for each.

I also had the mango tapioca smoothie but it was too sugary. 

Santouka (Mitsuwa Mall)

This restaurant is located in a large Japanese mall with several stores and supermarket. I had great ramen noodles in Santouka. It's the busiest restaurant there. I had ramen with salty broth and extra pork belly. The broth was very rich. It was insane.