Barajas Sazon

A hidden Gem on the west edge of Rogers Park.
Who could imagine that a little place on the corner of Touhy and Clark would have it all, the most AMAZING cheeseburgers AND mexican to die for AND Greek chicken with potatoes and rice that any American, Mexican or Greek grandmother would be proud of! Cute and clean, family-​run (mom’s on delivery, daughter is serving, Dad’s in the kitchen). Nothing fancy here, but the prices are AWESOME!
Please just don’t tell too many people or this place will be too busy to get in the door. (They are also, no surprise, multi-​lingual) and I think, it’s B.Y.O.B. Did I forget, they have parking– SWEET!
(and a note for Kevin R.- use the fresh salsas and guac on those tacos. It makes all the difference.)
Only a year old, but I think they have just what Rogers needs– good, cheap food for everyone.

The food is good. The staff is nice, if generally a bit quiet. I often order the burritos suizo. I usually have leftovers, which is a plus for me.

I’d hoped to find a decent cheap Mexican place near me, but I’ll have to keep looking. The beans weren’t completely cooked, the rice was crunchy, and the meat was bland and greasy. I actually couldn’t finish the chicken burrito from this place — I lost my appetite completely by the time I was halfway through.
It’s crazy cheap so perhaps it might be worth it for items that are simple to cook like pizza puffs but I’d rather try one of the other Mexican places on Clark.

Woohoo! A restaurant in Rogers Park that delivers into Evanston.
I ordered from grubhub last weekend: steak taco dinner, chips and salsa, and a bacon cheeseburger. The price tag on all of this was past reasonable. The delivery was VERY fast considering the distance, so it seems like they could whip orders out ridiculously fast if you lived in RP.
The food was delivered by a nice lady with a smile, which was kind of awesome, ’cause I’m used to getting delivery from zero personality, soulless folks.
I’ll definitely be ordering again. After looking up their name, I’ve decided it’s quite apt; the tacos were flush with cliantro — but very good.

This is a neighborhood grill specializing in Mexican food with other standard grill fare like ribs, chicken, gyros, Italian beef and sausage and burgers.
For my first try I ordered a taco salad in the large tortilla shell with steak and a cheeseburger. The cheeseburger was OK, however, the taco salad was horrible. The tortilla shell was overcooked and oily and the steak was rubbery and much too salty. No salsa was included and instead, that typical awful red and green hot sauce which I didn’t even use. There wasn’t even any cheese on the salad.
This place is only a block away from my home, so I will try them again, but I am already wary of their Mexican food.
After my second order I have come to the conclusion this place is absolutely the WORST. I ordered two cheeseburgers and an order or fries.
Now how do you screw up an order that simple?
The fries are sprinkled with some sort of Italian type herb making them taste weird. The cheeseburgers had no cheese and the grossest wet limp lettuce I’ve ever had. The lettuce was so wet the bun was soggy, making it completely disgusting, like eating food that had been in someone else’s mouth.
To make matters worse they wrap everything in foil which causes condensation from the hot food making it all the more soggy.
I’ve eaten here twice and both times have felt sick afterwards. I will never eat there again and don’t expect this place to be in business long, because it’s obvious they haven’t a clue if they can’t even get an order of cheeseburgers and fries right!
Avoid like the plague!

BARAJA CLOSED TWO YEARS AGO. HAVEN’T TRIED THE PLACE THAT’S IN THEIR OLD LOCATION.
Baraja/​Sazon opened about two weeks ago in East Rogers Park and we are thrilled to have such a creative and wonderful new spot available for fast-​food pick up that is excellent and oh-​so reasonable. They accept credit cards, including American Express.
Our son was delighted with their fajitas the week they opened. Two days ago I had an excellent dinner consisting of one chicken tostada (wisely packed separately to maintain its crispness), a nice chicken enchilada and a vegetable taco – (in the future, I’ll order the chicken on everything). A great salsa verde, good beans and rice accompaniments. (I’ll try their guacamole next time-​I know it’s as fresh as can be.) My husband ordered a grilled chicken breast dinner with pita bread and rice. The chicken was juicy and tender and perfectly seasoned, the portion was very generous. so was the rice. While we were waiting, I requested a teeny slice of gyros (for future reference) – it was excellent. Perfectly seasoned, fresh, tender.
The place is beautifully clean, has a reasonable number of tables and a handsome granite serving counter. Gina, the owner/​manager is helpful and exuberant. Her husband is the chef and they are eager to please and DO. Their full menu is not quite set yet and I, personally, think it’s almost too broad. Hot dogs, hamburgers, gyros, italian Beef, Mexican soups, tacos, tostadas, sopas, enchiladas, chile relleno, mariscos and on and on. Then again, there’s definitely something for everyone to like — even our youngest granddaughter!
Our only criticism is of their outdoor signage which doesn’t let you know that their specialty is as a Mexican Grill… I’m sure they’ll add that important information soon. We also hope they add tortilla soup to the menu and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that mole will be available, too.
It’s certain that we’ll return soon. We’ll probably hang a fifth star on our review after a second or third visit.
Barajas/​Sazon deserves to thrive. It should become a neighborhood «institution» in short order.
Merle KharaschGross