Damn, that Uncle Julio’s Hacienda on North and Clybourn is a chain. I guess it always felt like one a little, but I tried not to believe it. How could you tell?
I think it’s pretty decent Tex-Mex and it’s always packed with trendy Lincoln Park folks. I didn’t think those Lincoln Park people frequented chain-type places, except for the North Face store. Speaking of that, I was watching this show about Mount Everest the other night, and I had to do a double take; I had never seen so many North Face fleece jackets in one place outside of the Crate & Barrel store on North Avenue. Wow!
Yeah, Uncle Julio’s is a chain out of Texas. There are like 10 or 15 of them in Texas, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, and Georgia. There’s actually another Chicagoland location in Lombard. I’m not an anti-chain snob or anything (just ask Chili’s). It’s just that this blog is specifically about food from Chicagoland (which includes McDonald’s and Portillo’s because those were born in our region).
Oh well, the Ceviche Royale was great. It consisted of shrimp, tilapia, scallops, cilantro, onions, tomato, and garlic lemon juice. As a nice kicker, they always bring some fresh flour tortillas. I took the cerviche and loaded it into a soft, warm flour tortilla and topped it with the frijoles a la charra that my brother-in-law got as a side. How about that for an improvised fish taco? Is that weird? How do you feel about inventing an entree from an appetizer and a side dish? Does that make me a creative genius or a kitchen usurper?