L' Patron: Tacos You'll Fall In Love With
By Mason Johnson
L' Patron
2815 W Diversey
Logan Square
(773) 252-6335
L' Patron's Facebook
I'd walked past L' Patron before it opened and didn't exactly have high hopes. It looked small, dumpy and--let's face it--Logan Square is already filled with a million places where you can get great Mexican food. "Does Logan Square really need one more mediocre taco place I'm only going to eat at when I'm drunk?" I found myself wondering.
Now that L' Patron has opened, I've realized my initial, stupid reactions were entirely wrong. From the outside, the place looks both clean and inviting. Plus, the food wasn't mediocre whatsoever. So good, in fact, that I'm happy to eat it sober. (L' Patron, feel free to use that quote in an advertisement.)
Ed. Note: We encourage everyone--particularly spoiled gringos like the author--to drink and eat Mexican food responsibly.
L' Patron's tacos come with the traditional basics: meat with fresh onion and cilantro. You're welcome to add just about anything else, from tomatoes to an array of peppers. What's most important is that their produce always tastes fresh. I've gone to plenty of places that have ruined their tacos with disgusting, old, soggy tomatoes, but that won't happen at L' Patron. Besides steak tacos, you can also get marinated pork, marinated chicken, Mexican sausage, beef tongue, ribeye & onion, vegetarian, and fish filet (beer battered tilapia).
You can also get poblana rajas – tacos with strips of roasted peppers, caramelized onions, cheese and roasted tomato sauce. Vegetarian-wise (and Vegan-wise if you forgo the cheese), this is the route to go. Again, their ingredients have been wonderfully fresh the four times I've gone. The poblano peppers on this taco are always juicy and spicy in the best way, without being too hot.
Their burritos, just like everything else I've had, are tasty. They come on flour tortillas that are made at the restaurant. It's important to know that while the tacos come with corn tortillas, you're also welcome to order them with the homemade flour tortillas instead. Also, few places in Chicago have steak as juicy and flavorful as the steak at L' Patron. My favorite steak burritos tend to come from La Pasadita, which also has amazingly juicy steak, but L' Patron just might surpass them in time.
If you're looking for a lighter meal, or maybe have some friends coming over and want a snack, you can get chips (which are always nice and hot) with guacamole. The guac comes in a decent-sized portion and comes with pomegranate seeds, which are a subtle touch that don't really add much, but they don't take away either.
All in all, wow, L' Patron is great. It's not big inside, it's just a counter circling the small restaurant with some stools, but it seems like a comfortable place to eat if you can nab a seat. And, to be perfectly honest, with the quality of the food and the nice people behind the counter, it's going to become increasingly harder to find a seat at the counter as time goes on.
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