Sizzlenuts here, happy to be a contributor to the GCL, and especially to write about such a fine establishment as Big Star (1531 N Damen Ave). I recently moved to Chicago from Austin, TX. The ATX is a great place, and I miss it. I miss the Mexican food; I miss Country music; and I miss Lone Star beer.[1] However, The Big Star goes a long way towards filling all three of those holes in my heart.
This place pretty much has it all, for realzies. While it’s a chic-hip type bar in design, it’s full of casual, scruffy, friendly, attractive people.[2] A nice contrast to the trendy-type lighting fixtures, on all the tables and bars are the remaining cardboard packs from sixers of Lone Star, with the tubes of salsa in the bottle slots. To top it off, the stereo was playing the sweet sounds of classic Country music at an appropriate volume. It’s like they had me in mind, those charmers.
It is run very efficiently. If you have a party of 4 or more, you can sit at a table. If not, find a spot against which to stand or lean, or pull up a stool to the bar or a counter. You order food from a belle of a bartender, tell her where you are situated, and the food is brought to you. Speaking of the bar, the drink menu has sufficient high-end nice beers and liqs, but also, they offer Platz for 2 bucks and, of course, Lonies for 3 (so we didn’t sample the good stuff).
Of course, all of this would have been nice, but eventually unimportant if the food did not live up. However, given that this place is run by the guy behind The Publican, Avec and Blackbird, I had little doubt that it would. The menu is simple and short. The first half is tacos, a list of about 5. The second half was other stuff; I wasn’t really attending. There were three of us eating: Sizzlenuts, Chittlins and Crooklyn Himself. We ordered a round of tacos. Crooklyn Himself is a vegetarian, and so there was only one option amongst the 5, the poblano. I ordered a braised lamb, and a pastor. Chittlins ordered a pastor and a pork belly. Unfortunately, because at the time I was unaware that we were going to be doing an entry about the place, I took no pics, nor remember all the fixin’s in each taco, but I remember enough to recommend them all.
The taco’s are 2 or 3 dollars. Given the setting, and the renownness of the chef, the quality of the ingredients, that’s exemplary. The tacos came out, and there were small, explaining the price a bit. But, eating four would be a full meal, and you’re still not looking at much money. [3] Chittlins and Crooklyn Himself raved about their tacos. Mine were also excellent. The lamb came out with braising juices in a cup, in which to dip. The lamb was shredded, flavorful, and tender, competitive with the birria plate from Borrego de Oro (my favorite dish at my favorite Mexican place in Austin). In the end, I might score Borrego a notch ahead, but sentimentality might be clouding my judgment. The pastor, however, was better than any in Austin. This sounds like more of a compliment than it is, as Austin’s biggest Mexican weakness is the consistently schlubby pastor. But, Chittlins is from LA, which probably has the world’s best Pastor, and he says that this was just as good. That’s an endorsement.
We left for a bit, going to another bar in search of something that was unclear to me.[4] 90 minutes or so later we came back to the Big Star for more. I ordered a poblano and a pork belly. The poblano was as good as the meats. Basically, it is a wave of sensual, silky creaminess that turns into a burning spice. It is quite hot, but the heat does not take away from the flavor. The pork belly was fatty and good, but you know, it’s pork belly; pork belly is fatty and good. The tacos needed no salsas, so to finish of the evenings consuming,we ordered some chips to act as salsa vessels. The salsas were universally liked.
We left The Big Star for a second time with nothing but positive things to say. Crooklyn Himself was satisfied, knowing that his weekend visit to a flyover state was not in vain. Chittlins felt good about himself, which was good to see given his recent bouts with social-anxiety and depression. And I left feeling a little less homesick.[5]
[1] The first two are objective; The Mexican and Country is good in Texas. Missing Lone Star beer is purely sentimental; High Life, PBR, etc are all essentially equivalent.
[2] The trim isn’t Austin-grade, but that’s one area that will always be missed.
[3] I fear that such low prices won’t last long. It just opened. The cheap prices will get everyone going there, but maybe 6 months from now, everything goes up a dollar or two. You say “it’s so good, and it’s still pretty cheap.” That’s how they get you. (it should be mentioned I’m cheap, paranoid, and a Jew).
[4] Ok, that’s a lie. Chittlins was on poon patrol.
[5] Of course, live Texas Swing, and attractive girls willing to talk to me would go even further (no one makes ‘em sexier and friendlier than Austin).
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