I know. I know. My photography skills are flawless.
There are two scenarios where I would see it fit to eat tacos at Puebla Restaurant and Taqueria: 1. You have been out all night, tearing up the town. And, 2. You wake up for work really early and have a craving for tacos.
Why these two scenarios?
Well, there are two answers: 1. It’s open until 6:00 a.m. everyday. And, 2. It’s really not that good.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not terrible. But, on a street like Milwaukee, where taco joints are more prevalent than ironic mustaches, you’ve gotta do something to differentiate yourself from the others…other than outlasting them into the blackout hours of the morning.
Unfortunately, we didn’t go under either of these scenarios. My princess, and two of our friends, Beauty (Nikki) and the Beast (Glen), headed over at a normal dinner time. Since I don’t ever admit to mistakes, I’ll blame the choice of restaurant on the three of them. Jerks.
Located half a block from the heart of Logan Square, Puebla is in a great spot. It’s in a big, open space, with a lot of colorful Mexican decor and plenty of tables….empty tables. It’s nice looking, but has a very stale atmosphere….probably due to the fact that nobody is ever in there.
So, what about those tacos?
I ordered the steak, roast pork and Mexican sausage. If I described each one, I’d sound like a broken record, so I’m just going to say it once, for all three. Everything about the tacos is just aight.
The meats are all cooked ok, but they lack seasoning and flavor. Even the chorizo is plain. No spice from the peppers, no mesquite flavor from the paprika, just an extremely plain tasting sausage. Same with the steak. Ditton on the roast pork.
Puebla’s tortillas aren’t bad, but they are doubled up, which takes away from the taste the meat never had.
The onions and cilantro are spot on, though.
No a la carte, kids.
I’m sure I’ll find myself stumbling into Puebla again at some point, but I doubt I’ll be getting the tacos. One order was enough.
On to the next stop on the Tour…
- Location: 2658 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL (Logan Square)
- Tourists: Josh, Julia, Glen, Nikki
- Tacos sampled: steak, roast pork, Mexican sausage (their choice of words, not mine), (also have ground beef and veggie)
- Toppings: onions and cilantro; lettuce and tomato
- Salsa: salsa roja
- Extras: chips
- Tortillas: corn
- Atmosphere: open, empty, quiet, late late night, bright colors/dull atmosphere
- Price: $8.95/3 taco dinner with beans and rice; no a la carte
- OVERALL RATING: 6.5
taco tourist 