Milanesas

Lots has been done to document good steak and pastor at Chicago's taco stands. Now what about the humble milanesa/milaneza? No antojito filling suffers more in Chicago's taco stands, other than perhaps the chile relleno. A long-ago-fried, gristly breaded cutlet just doesn't come back to life when it's chopped up and griddled, the way that bits of steak, pork or choizo might.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the DF owner/chef at Taco Grill (Ogden in Downer's) take a paper=thin, floppy, breadcrumb-dredged steak out of the fridge and throw it in some oil when I ordered a torta the other day. The sandwich was fantastic because of it (bread, a very long and narrow torpedo I hadn't before seen was good too). It struck me that the only milanesas (other than at sit-down spots) I've seen fried to order were here and at Taq. Puebla. Dona Torta doesn't do it, slicing pre-cooked milanesa into strips.

[PS, a couple of years back, Taco Grill gat a fairly poor review from Steve Dolinski, whom I generally trust. I had heard that the place went uphill, and I think it must have. Part of the pan was about how the food was gringo-ed up. While the place does look more corporate, and has nachos, nice decor and cold beer, the menu has plenty of Mexico-Mexican stuff: DF huaraches, alhambres, enmolados (mole enchiladas), pastor on a spit with onions and pineapple, cesina and carnitas as meat choices; menudo on weekends. The "salsa bar" is a gimmick that really works for me. Maybe 20 kinds, all quite different from each other but familiar (that is, not invented there), plus various vegetables in escabeche. Don't get me wrong, it is kind of a cutesy place housed in a former Long John's, but everything I tasted raged from very good (torta) to OK (cecina taco). Reminded me more of certain "upscale" So Cal. taquerias such as Super Rica than anything I've seen here, where I think the formula for Mexican owners who want to reach out to the non-Mexican community tends more toward the common denominator and taco burrito palace places.]

JeffB

As my office is very nearby I have frequented Taco Grill a few times. In an effort to throw authenticity out the window, I often order the Steak Nachos. I too love the salsa bar, and the pastor.

However, my question is about the preparation for your torta milanesa. I'm not familiar with any other method. All of the taco shops I frequent use this method (Los Burritos Tapatios - Lisle, El Centro - Naperville, El Mexican Burrito - Lisle) I am also not familiar with the roll you described. Most often I find the bread to be about a 4" round mexican roll, not unlike a hamburger bun on steroids, but with texture. Often the freshly fried cutlet warms the other condiments and adds a pleasing greasiness.

It may have been a LJS in the past, but wasn't the last incarnation of that space was a Schlotzky's?

Flip

Flip, most of the popular taco places in town that offer milanesa and/or chiles rellenos as filler options tend to fry up large batches of both early, which is understandable since this is a messy and time-consuming effort. When one orders a taco or torta with milanesa, they pull out a pre-cooked portion and slice it up, warming it on the griddle. This almost always happens where there are several related taquerias being supplied centrally. The thing that I found to be a pleasant surprise at Taco Grill was the frying to order of a previously raw cutlet. (Plus the paper thinness/crispness, which I didn't accentuate but should have.) I assume that frying to order can make sense at a torta "specialist." I would be really surprised to see someone fry up a breaded steak just so a portion of it could be used in a taco.

I mentioned the roll, because it is odd. Not a telera, as you probably are describing, and not a bolillo, pambazo, cemita (either the Pueblan one or the other kind), etc. This roll was especially long and narrow, maybe a foot by 3.5 or 4 inches. Dense, almost like a cheesesteak roll. The narrowness made for an interesting sandwich -- more milanesa was off than on, though the cook did a nice job of getting all of the usual condiments to stay on the roll.

I'll have to look up the other places you mention. Try a torta at TG to see what I'm talking about. I didn't see it until I was out of the restaurant, or I would have asked about the bread.

Wow, not much interest in the milanesa, is there? In recent months I had two memorable tortas milanesas: one quite good, one just awful.

Zacatacos was briefly mentioned in the Al Pastor thread. This taqueria deserves a longer post of its own and it may get one after I've returned a few more times. Their specialty seems to be carne asada, freshly flame-grilled with a few sprinkles of dry seasonings and some squeezes of lime during cooking. There's always a crowd so everything is right off the grill, nothing sits around as far as I can tell.

The milanesa was freshly cooked on the griddle, not deep fried as is sometimes done. After I ordered, the hot griddle was moistened with a few shakes of a spatula dipped into the adjacent deep fat well, and several pieces of breaded meat were laid on. Occasionally another shake of oil would be added but minimal grease was used. The final product was crispy, with beautiful uneven browning at the edges. Both the meat and breading were quite a bit thinner than usual but in some areas of the sandwich it was three-deep. The rest of the torta ingredients were good but nothing out of the ordinary (except perhaps the oval roll with a cross-hatched pattern baked into the top). A fine little place with a limited menu, but what they do they seem to do very well.

From limited experience I always thought the various Los Comales were tolerable or better, certainly not destination dining but generally reliable. Not long ago I had the misfortune to try a torta milanesa at the Archer location. The 'meat' was some sort of heavily-processed, filler-heavy abomination that reminded me of a TV dinner veal cutlet, heavily encased in thick flavorless breading. Really vile. Maybe the rest of the tortas are okay but I'd stay far away from the milanesa.

Zacatacos
5925 S Pulaski Rd (this is the one I've been to)
and
3949 W 71st St (I think this is the original location)
Chicago

Taqueria Los Comales
About 20 locations:
http://www.loscomales.com/en/locations.aspx

Rene, thanks for helping a brother out. Attention must be paid when dealing with milanesas. When they are good they are very good, but when they are bad, it's like you said.