Come for the gorditas, stay for the burritos

here's a rare type of burrito in chicago

Hey, everybody!

Today is Mexican Independence Day, and I thought it’d only make sense to highlight a great Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood. An analysis released by WBEZ last year found that one in five Chicagoans is Mexican — which easily explains the ubiquity of Mexican food in Chicago. And damn, if it’s not incredible. You know it, I know it, we all know it.

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I don’t make money from the newsletter, and instead, you guys fund the basic expenses. I donate the time and the writing to you, in hopes you’ll get motivated to go out and celebrate Chicago’s incredible food culture. Restaurants run on depressingly low margins, so a few meals here and there do make an impact to those businesses, especially for the mom-and-pop places I try to focus on.

What’s particularly cool about today’s pick is that this little place specializes in one main thing, and that’s gorditas. Gorditas are like slightly thicker corn tortillas that open up to create a pocket, which can be stuffed with all sorts of goodies. But the thing is, there’s something else that’s buried on this menu that I still think most people don’t know about — and these special burritos are worth the visit alone.

Gordita’s Loli’s #2 is on Belmont, just east of the intersection of Milwaukee and Belmont, in Avondale.

Gorditas Loli’s (one of three far-flung locations) is kind of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sort of place, since it’s not very big, but the bright yellow exterior should catch your attention.

Step in, and you’ll find it’s a friendly counter space with maybe four tables inside, but if you tell them you plan on dining in, they’ll take your order at the table. I’d recommend you eat there, because the food’s best right when it comes off the griddle.

The two-sided menu here is extremely simple: There’s a main page, featuring meat-filled and vegetarian gorditas, and a flipside, with burritos, one type of taco, and quesadillas. If you want a photo of the menu, just message me; the prices on the menu posted online are inaccurate. Also, photos take up so much space on the newsletter that sometimes the Substack system yells at me for adding too many; I try to stick to the food.

All of the gorditas on the menu are $3.25 each (veggie and meat-filled alike) and are roughly the size of your palm.

The gordita masa, or corn flour dough, is made on-site and cooked to order, which makes them about as fresh as you can get. That’s already a good sign that you’re about to get some home-cooked food. We ordered four of them, two veggie and two meat-filled, just to give you guys a sense of what to expect if you drop in sometime.

Davida and I particularly loved the rajas con queso gordita, which is filled with strips of poblano pepper glued together with melted cheese.

The poblano pepper was cooked, but not to oblivion, and still had a fresh crunch to it. The cheese brought plenty of salt and fat, which made this little chubby guy balanced (“gordita” literally means chubby in Spanish), and I think it’s one that’ll be on our permanent order list.

The bean and cheese gordita is also delicious in a comforting sort of way, because the corn pocket is filled with a creamy and smooth bite, and that’s it.

Other vegetarian options include cactus with egg, potatoes and cheese, mushroom, and plenty more. I really like that there’s so many of these non-meat gorditas available too, because it gives you a lot of variety, plus it reminds you that not all Mexican food has to involve meat.

Speaking of meat, the carnivorous side of the menu tends to favor pork, and to me, some of the can’t-miss gorditas are the ones featuring stewed chicharrón, or pork skin.

We went for the chicharrón in salsa verde this time, but I’ve had both the red and the green, and they’re both great. I am going to say that stewed chicharrón might not be for those who can’t handle soft or gelatinous textures, because it’s basically a fat and collagen-rich filling that you can practically just swallow. But I also love it for that very reason.

I’ve historically just stuck to the pork, but there’s chicken and steak gorditas on the menu as well, which is why we got one filled with carne en chile rojo (steak in red sauce).

The steak itself isn’t anything to write home about, but that red chile sauce, which coats the meat almost like a paste, is terrific. It adds a slightly bitter and complex seasoning that only chile can, and keeps each bite moist, which goes a very long way. It’s like an all-in-one package that doesn’t beg for an extra squirt of salsa.

We’ve also got to take a peek at the other side of the menu, which has burritos, quesadillas, and a lone steak taco on it.

The burritos at Gorditas Loli’s are special ($3.85 each), because they represent a style not often found in Chicago, which are Durango-style burritos.

Durango’s burritos aren’t the massive type you’re probably imagining with meat, refried beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, but rather a much simpler affair. They’re medium-sized flour tortillas filled with a stewed meat filling, can sometimes include an additional swipe of refried beans, and are then tightly rolled and griddled shut.

The result is an open-ended burrito that looks roughly like a flauta. The ones at Gordita’s Lolis are filled with a shredded stewed pork and potatoes in your choice of green or red salsa, and also contain a little bit of mayonnaise, which I find fascinating.

They’re absolutely wonderful, brimming with stewed liquid and tender pork which makes them downright juicy, and that unexpected bit of creamy mayo gives it a rich bump (Rich Bump is my new rap name). I really think these burritos are worth the visit alone, and though I hate to admit it, I usually prioritize stomach space to them over the gorditas because I love them so damn much.

We just went yesterday (at the time of writing this) and I really want to ask Davida if we can walk over there and get a few more but I should probably leave a couple for you guys.

The steak taco ($3.50), which sits solo on the menu, is admittedly not as good as the ones you can from down the street at places like Los Potrillos (which I’ve written about before) and Taqueria Mazamitla.

I’d say spend the extra money on burritos or a gordita instead. The meat could use a lot more seasoning and lacks any griddle crispness — but I will say this thing is loaded to the top.

But man, we really have to talk about this table salsa, because both the green and the red are incredible.

I keep forgetting about how much I love them. The green one is bright, well-salted, and vibrant (which really helps that aforementioned taco, by the way), and the red brings a significant fiery kick to the gorditas and burritos. Based off of their creaminess, I have a feeling they’re emulsified with oil, which I’m guessing is a large part of why I love them so much.

One thing I’ve noticed is that there are no sides served at Gorditas Loli’s. No beans, no rice, no chips, this is all simple handheld street food. If you come around lunchtime, you’ll notice that those who dine in tend to house their food and then leave quickly, or they’re just there to pick up their food and get the fuck back out to do whatever it was they were doing.

No sides means you should add an extra gordita or two to go with your burritos, and you really should, because these prices are incredible. The entire order you see above came out to just over $26 for the two of us, and we got such a satisfying meal that we left feeling as if we’d somehow cheated the place out of money. But that’s just the nature of the place. It’s affordable, fast, and damn good for what you spend.

And man, Mexican food in Chicago is something to be treasured, not just on Mexican Independence Day. Come to think about it, I think it’s about as Chicagoan to grab a taco as it is to get a hot dog or Italian beef. Don’t you?

Gorditas Loli’s #2
3650 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60618

Hours:
Tuesday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

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Okay, no extra notes today. Looks like the weather this week’s gonna be nice, so make sure you all get some walks in along with some patio time and some backyard hangouts. Love you guys, and have a fantastic week.