Minna's from heaven

plus how to get a free upgraded subscription, on me

Hi, everyone!

Thanks for hanging tight while we were in Canada last weekend. We were in Brandon, Manitoba, for a bittersweet reason; we’d been hoping to say goodbye to Davida’s aunt before she passed, but we missed her by one final day.

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A post shared by @dickholedannis

We did make the most of it, however, and spent the time well with Davida’s side of the family, doing a lot of bonding, laughing, and yes, eating. Is trying four types of poutine within three days too much? (The answer is no.)

I’m still playing quite a bit of catch-up, so forgive me if this week’s edition is a bit light on the food portion, though there is some of that too today.

That being said, it’s been a hell of a week for Chicago, and I feel the need to say something, especially because our neighborhood has been the focus of a lot of ICE activity recently. I’m sure that plenty of you have seen horrific news about the raids, but one incident hit much closer to home on October 3rd, when video emerged of masked agents trying to enter the parking lot of Rico Fresh Market on Armitage, in Logan Square.

In that video, you can see one of the agents lamely chuck a few canisters of chemical irritant out the window after being blocked in traffic by a scooter. (Hilariously one canister hits the window frame of their own car and lands just outside their own door. Looks like all those hours playing Call of Duty paid off.)

Unfortunately, friend and reader of The Party Cut, Bill Higgins, and his wife Jessica Dixon, were walking home from preschool with their two-year-old when they got hit with the cloud. Bill and Jessica got a faceful of it (their child thankfully slept through the incident), and eventually ended up being okay, but the whole thing did leave them understandably shaken up. When they got home, they contacted neighbors to let them know of what they witnessed.

Bill told me, via email, about what happened later:

Our neighbors came together. We saw all these people at Funston [Elementary School] on Friday helping the kids get home. The principal at Moos [Elementary School], where our daughter Elle is in pre-K, has set up a system where families can help walk kids to their homes, or get groceries, if other families can’t go out as easily and need help.

The community is 100% united in support of one another, even as these guys are committing crimes and trying to turn our city into the war zone they always falsely accuse it of being. They just need to go home. They’re making all of us unsafe and they aren’t helping with anything good. Just go home guys, go in peace.

Related to The Party Cut is the likely fact that Latino-owned restaurants in our area will be hurting for business, thanks to all the fear that’s been deliberately planted here.

Davida and I have lived in this part of Chicago for seven years now, and have always loved our community. I don’t want to see our neighbors continue to take damage from this, as they’re the ones being targeted. So instead of asking for subscriptions this week, I’m going to ask that you guys go out and support your local Latino-owned restaurants or grocery stores.

Send me a photo of the food and tell me where you went, and I’ll upgrade your Party Cut subscription for an entire year. We can play fast and loose, so delivery and takeout counts too, though I am going to highly encourage you to go in, and keep everyone company by just being around. And hey, maybe I’ll do a collective round-up of where you guys ended up going, if I get enough responses.

You can contact me via Instagram, reply to this edition of the newsletter by email, message me via the Substack app (which I believe allows you to send images), or find me however — most of you know I’m easy to get ahold of.

So in that spirit, here’s my pick for the week, and it’s a place you definitely need to go to if you haven’t been yet.

Minna’s Restaurant is located at Grand and Armitage, just west of Cicero.

Minna’s is an all-female led Mexican restaurant in an old diner space.

I’d been once years ago, and I remember absolutely loving it, specifically for the handmade tortillas. There’s a ton of counter seating facing the flattop grill, with some small booths alongside the wall. When I visited yesterday, every single seat was occupied except for the one tiny booth I managed to snag. I was relieved to see the place was packed.

Anything made with the handmade masa is a must-order, which means a taco, quesadilla, or gordita, is going to be a stunner.

This is the taco de chicharron ($4; handmade tortilla is an additional $0.50). The stewed pork skin at Minna’s is exceptional because it’s not overcooked, which can lead it to be overly gelatinous. Here, each piece holds its shape but still yields to each bite, and the tart salsa verde tones down the richness of the pork. And you want to upgrade to the handmade tortilla, which is thick, chewy, and hearty. It won’t tear or crack on you when you need it most, either (we’ve all been there).

The huaraches (meaning “sandal”) at Minna’s are also excellent.

This one’s the huarache de asada ($13), which is an oblong disc of masa that’s been griddled and topped with refried beans, steak, lettuce, crema, onions, and cotija cheese. You’d think that the toppings would be what makes this thing fly, but no, again it’s the thick masa here, which turns into a satisfying corn cake after being cooked off.

The housemade salsas at Minna’s are also excellent.

I’m going to give a particular shoutout to the dark red (pictured on the far right), and the orange one (pictured on the far left). Though the red one looked potentially threatening, it was deep and sharp with a bit of a bitter undertone, without being too spicy. That orange one, however, caught me off guard at first, because it started off with a flaming kick. I grew accustomed to that quickly and was eventually fine with it, but just watch your back.

My server had to borrow the creamy green salsa for some takeout orders, so I didn’t get a chance to try any — but I’ll make a point of having some next time.

I did want to venture out and try something that wasn’t corn-based, so I also got an order of langostines ($20).

I realize that Minna’s isn’t a seafood restaurant per se, but damn, they nailed these. The prawns aren’t huge, as you can see, but the portion size was big, and they were coated in some seriously flavorful butter. (If I had to hazard a guess, there’s some kind of garlicky adobo seasoning involved.) And because they’re split in half, after you pick out the tails, you can chew on the head portions to coax out the rest of the shellfish flavor.

My server also asked if I wanted some tortillas too, and I asked for just a few. She ended up bringing over the handmade ones at no extra cost, though I’d happily have paid for them. Now I’m kicking myself for not having returned sooner, because somehow, Minna’s is even better than I’d remembered it upon my first visit. I initially learned about Minna’s years ago, after learning that my friend Nick Kindelsperger had gone. He’d been enamored with the restaurant’s squash blossom quesadilla, which I think is still on the menu. When you go, give that a shot.

So don’t forget what I said earlier. Pick a Latin-owned restaurant or grocery store, get something good to eat, and send me a photo. Tell me what you enjoyed, and I’ll tack an upgraded year of the newsletter on to your existing subscription. And if you’re one of those people who easily gets overwhelmed with decisions, here are more than a few spots that we’ve been to that are Party Cut-approved:

• Tropical Taste, Humboldt Park

• Amatitlan Restaurante, Albany Park

• No Pasa Nada, Mayfair

• Gorditas Loli’s #2, Avondale

• Carnitas Don Pedro, Pilsen

• Los Potrillos grocery store, Avondale

• Barca Birrieria y Restaurant, Belmont Cragin

Or, just do as we do, and step into a place that looks interesting when you’re hungry. But this time, do it with a purpose — find a place with people who could use your support right now. It’s the least we can do for our neighbors.

Minna’s Restaurant
5046 W Armitage Ave
Chicago, IL 60639
(773) 417-7602

Hours:
Sunday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Monday - Saturday: 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

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That wraps it up for this week’s edition of The Party Cut! If any of you know where to get a proper poutine in Chicago (not some weird cheffed up version), let me know. I still don’t understand why poutine is ignored down here, it’s so good.

And if the newsletter has been useful to you, don’t forget to share it on social media. It’s still a labor of love more than anything, but having more readers is always welcome:

Finally, I’ll put the subscribe button down here if you’re willing to support the newsletter, but please focus on community first right now:

Okay. You guys take care of yourselves and each other. Love you, and see you next week.