The Food Guy: El Xangarrito in Ravenswood
by Steve Dolinsky / NBC-5 Chicago / May 26, 2023
Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen in Chicago, but every now and then, I come across a hidden gem.
Just two cooks run the small kitchen at El Xangarrito, a straightforward Mexican restaurant on a Ravenswood side street. One of them is Rogelio Benitez, a veteran of several Lettuce Entertain You restaurants. He and his wife opened the restaurant during the pandemic, with a combination of his recipes and her front-of-the-house hospitality.
Just two cooks run the small kitchen at El Xangarrito, a straightforward Mexican restaurant on a Ravenswood side street. One of them is Rogelio Benitez, a veteran of several Lettuce Entertain You restaurants. He and his wife opened the restaurant during the pandemic, with a combination of his recipes and her front-of-the-house hospitality.
“We thought that we could start up a restaurant to showcase his food, his ideas,” said Erika, Rogelio’s wife and the co-owner of El Xangarrito.
Ceviche is like a whiff of the tropics, painted by Seurat. Plump shrimp is combined with fresh cilantro, mango, red peppers and cukes; a squeeze of fresh lime then a vigorous toss, plus cubes of fresh avocado, then mounded in a ring mold for presentation points, surrounded by a mild tamarind sauce and crowned with micro greens. You know what those tortilla chips are for. Read more and Watch HERE
