El Milagro Tortilla

El Milagro is all about providing a wide variety of great Mexican dishes and efficient service in a vibrant space. I have no idea why anyone would call this a hole in the wall. It’s bright, extremely clean, and has a variety of Mexican art on the walls. That being said, El Milagro is not fancy. You order at a counter, sit down, and your food is brought to you. Many of the options are on a cafeteria-​style line of steam tables, and that’s fine by me. You can see exactly what you’re going to get, and in my view that’s a good thing. There’s no guesswork involved — you either like the way it looks or you don’t. But even if none of those items appeal, they have excellent grilled steak burritos and a lot of other options as well. You aren’t going to walk out of there disappointed.
One very nice thing is that El Milagro sells fresh tamales every day, with a rotating list of specials. I can’t say that every tamale I’ve had there is perfect, but the vast majority of the ones I’ve sampled compare very favorably to the best and freshest tamales in town (i.e. the tamales guys who sell their wares at tons of bars and other businesses in Wicker Park, etc.
I’m sure others have mentioned this too, but be very careful when ordering tacos. They are not the cheapest in town, but I have never had a taco filled to beyond the capacity of your average sized corn tortilla. One of these could easily make a very filling lunch. The addition of fresh cabbage on top is also a refreshing change from the average taco you get.
I’ve only given El Milagro four stars for the following reasons: not all of their tamales are great (as in one or two have been overly dry), and the fact that the restaurant closes at 7 pm. I wish they were open later, especially given their extreme popularity during lunch hours. I’d happily go there more if they closed at 9 pm instead.
This is easily one of the very best restaurants in Pilsen. You get amazing food for very reasonable prices in a friendly, welcoming place. Just don’t be surprised if you walk out of there feeling unbelievably full, very happy, and already planning your next visit.

Awesome Super great value.
I visit El Milagros at least 3 times a month.
I recommend the steak (skirt steak) or Chicken (chicken breast) platters. The platters come with beans, rice, mexican slaw and 4 tortillas. Flour tortillas are made in the factory next door.
The stews tacos are very heavy 2 tacos will fill a grown man.
If you eat in they have unlimited fountain drinks and if you are a cheapo you can fill up your own water cup provided. I have noticed a lot of senior citizens filling their water cups with soda what should i do???
Many people order their family’s dinner by phone double check your order. I have on multiple occasion found missing items in my order.
For tacos this place is probably the best place for affordable tacos in Pilsen. I am not including those fancy places with 3 inch taco an an ounce of meat my fellow Unilocalers rave about.
Burritos aint bad either and tamales are great for family events too.

I’m going to cut to the chase here:
Super affordable large quantities of authentic food. NOTHING IN THIS SENTENCE IS WRONG.
El Milagro works basically cafeteria-​style here: order at the counter, see your food being prepped, grab a number and a table, done.
I’m really writing to commit my love of the following two things to text:
— their tortillas
— their chile relleno which is done _​perfectly_​
Unilocal note: truly the only thing that didn’t pass the «YUMMMM» test here were the potato tacos. Bland and not worth the stomach-​room given the other deliciousness surrounding.

Great tamales (especially the Rajas), which is not true everywhere. The chili verde dinner is also quite good. The tacos are enormous, and really, you should order about half of what you think you need because it is easy to get too much – although last time we were there we just took home a dozen tamales – why not, they are so delicious. The chili rellenos are excellent.

I walked into something totally unexpected. It was like a lunch room style from high school where they had all the pre cooked food behind the counter ready to be served upon ordering. A very weird set up. Their tacos are $ 3.50 and already come with beans and rice with whatever meat you order. Although I usually eat my arrachera like that at a BBQ I’ve never seen that before at a restaurant. I also ordered a Lengua which they said is already in a salsa and couldn’t get the Lengua plain like at any other taqueria.
Now the customer service was great, the place was clean and the food was not nasty, it is just not my cup of tea. The lack of not having the usually meats like al pastor, tripas and them being served without cilantro and onions will make me not come here at all. It got 2 stars instead of 1 because the food wasn’t nasty.

Bomb tacos. Feels like you are eating a whole meal since you have the rice and beans on the taco as well. I love the shredded lettuce and I’m not even a lettuce fan. My fave meats are the steak and chicken. I love the grilled flavor of the meats here. Enjoy.

First, I have to say HOLY CRAP THESE TACOS ARE HUGE.
They don’t play around. They give you beans, rice, lettuce and tomatoes. It’s a dinner in two corn (or flour — your choice) tortillas.
I usually go for the pork which basically melts in your mouth and breaks apart easily. The carne asada is a generous part of meat. Getting two tacos is super filling, but worth it.
The tamales are pretty good too. They are made in house and so moist and yummy. I recommend the chicken or pork tamales.
It should be on everyone’s list in Chicago to try tacos! For what you get, the price is totally worth it.

Adorable restaurant in Pilsen with delicious Mexican food!
$ 3.50 for one steak taco. Sounds steep until you realize your one steak taco has rice and beans on it plus a HUGE slab of delicioussss steak. My first time I ordered two tacos without realizing this and could barely make a dent in the second taco.
Ambiance is casual. You order from the counter and they bring it to your table. Sometimes they have a full mariachi band playing/​singing and it’s awesome! Feels like you’re on a Mexican getaway eating amazing food.
Highly recommend this restaurant!

Re-​visit from last time I left a review. yes the food is reasonably priced. their tamales are still comfort food not to be missed but their steak. chicken is overly seasoned… Im a salsa girl and here they only serve a pico de gallo which is not bad but nowhere near as spicy as real pico de gallo should be.
Their pickled lettuce is still a nice addition to the entrees…
Unfortunately, when I tried their fideo soup (noodle soup) you could instantly taste the sodium-​laden canned tomato sauce they used… no wonder my two kids refused to eat more than a spoonful.
I hate leaving negative reviews to an establishment that has been around as long as they have, but its like the quality is being taken down a notch…
I know Mexican food isnt always the healthiest. but the sugary horchata. overly salted steak and chicken is
totally a turn off… when you’re trying to be mindful of what were eating.

Thank god for El Milagro — cheap and authentic and worth the walk over — always our go-​to spot for Second Friday dinners :)

Walk-​up counter. Everything looked great in the «cafeteria like line window», but I made a panic order and got a Carne Asada Torta, I would say not the best i ever had, but A-​ok.
Next time I will try tacos, tamales or a special

HUGE Tacos, and not ones with just lettuce and cheese on them and real pieces of steak! They do come in at $ 3.50 a taco, but they are huge! Just 2 should be more than enough to fill you up. they come with beans, rice and some sort of cabbage slaw on top.
Be warned though, the place is kind of a hole in the wall, and it’s almost cafeteria style, but hey, the food tastes great!

Whoever is the manager here sucks! Bathrooms here are dirty! I waited 30 mins for my food!!! They had it to go! Even though I had a number to put on the table! The Manager put the blame on the cashier but never communicated when I was going to get my FOOD! He is an absolute idiot! What’s worse, when I asked for my money back, they had the Nerve to charge me for my drinks! My mother and I did not eat ALL day because we were in the hospital day!!!
Solution: say I’m sorry right away to the customer and at least give them something for free for waiting so long! Terrible Customer Service! I will never ever go back!!!

You’ve probably perused your local grocery store (i.e., Mariano’s, Jewel, the like) and wanting to make some type of Mexican food (i.e., nachos, quesadillas, fajitas, the like), you ended up getting a bag of El Milagro’s finest chips, corn tortillas, or flour tortillas. What if I told you that you could get the exact same product at a 50% discount. Is that something you might be interested in?
El Milagro, a staple of Chicago, actually sells its products direct retail at its location in the Pilsen. You can walk out with a bagful of chips and tortillas (not to mention more DIY products like masa and chipotle peppers) for pennies on the dollar. Don’t factor in that gas money, since you’ll most assuredly be stopping by one of the Pilsen’s many offerings for lunch.
As for the taqueria, El Milagro’s is only okay. The setup is a weird cafeteria style, where during busy hours you order at one end and mosey on down, while others you can order straight from the cashier. Though the taqueria most definitely uses the delicious El Milagro tortillas, the meat simply isn’t as good here. Most egregiously, the asada is way too tough to be deliciously edible. The burrito comes for a song when compared to the rent-​raised burrito prices in, say, Wicker Park, but again, the taste is lacking.
So if you’re stopping by the Pilsen, get the direct retail products at El Milagro and fill your belly elsewhere.

Steaks tacos delicious. It’s a hole piece of steak wrapped in a corn she’ll of goodness

El Milagro Tortilla isn’t the fanciest Mexican restaurant in the Chicagoland area, but if you want some authentic Mexican food at a decent price this is definitely the place for you. Once you walk in, you will notice a line forming by what appears to be a cafeteria line. You will be able to see and smell almost all the different types of food they offer. You will find all the items you see in front of you and all other dishes they offer on the huge menu posted behind them.
I opted for a horchata and two tacos: puerco en salsa verde (pork in green sauce) and guisado de res (Mexican beef stew in special tomato sauce). I wasn’t a fan of the horchata. It was watered down and had way too much cinnamon. For the tacos, I thought they were delicious. Each taco was topped with beans, rice, cabbage, and choice of meat. Typically, I’m not a fan of pork or beef stew but my friend kept on insisting I had to give it a try. I’m so glad I did because they were delicious. The pork and the beef were extremely tender and bursting with flavor.
You must be wondering why these tacos are more expensive than your typical tacos ($ 3.10/each). Well… you see the tacos here are huge and stuffed to the point you need to eat with a fork and knife. It is definitely good bang for your buck. WARNING: if you are not a fan of saucy meat then I would opt out of the two tacos I got and probably go with something simpler like chicken or steak. I also heard great things about their tamales. You can bet that I will be coming back to give them a try.

Lors d’une escapade dans le quartier mexicain de Chicago, la taquería El Milagro est une très bonne cantina si vous souhaitez déguster la cuisine mexicaine typique: les chicharrones en sauce, la langue de bœuf sont bien cuisinés si on apprécie ces abats. Le bœuf en sauce de chile del arbol, c’est une véritable tuerie si on aime le piment. Et pour les amateurs, le mole poblano au poulet est absolument correct. Les plats sont copieux et tout à fait raisonnables, environ 3,15 $ pour une barquette contenant 2 tortillas et le plat de viande accompagné de riz, frijoles (haricots rouges) et salade. Quant à la version servie sur une assiette, c’est 6,30 $ le plat complet. Sans oublier le pico de gallo qui agrémente les plats.
Quant aux boissons, à volonté les sodas pour 1,85 $; en revanche les jus d’orgeat (horchata) ou de fleurs d’hibiscus (jamaica) sont servis au verre à 2,30 $.
Une bonne adresse à retenir après la visite du musée d’art mexicain.

Quick, decent food at good prices. The short cafeteria line makes me feel like I’m back in high school, but the food is much better. The fact that it’s a cafeteria also means that you don’t have to tip, which is good for the wallet. I like that there is a wide variety of people that eat here.
Unfortunately, the workers on the line were no more friendly than the workers at the high school cafeteria. I speak Spanish at a lower intermediate level, and the person at the register didn’t even reply in Spanish. I’m not so bad that it would have slowed down the line.
I was there at about 3 PM on a Saturday afternoon. I had the chili relleno. It looks great behind the glass, but when they brought it to my table, it turned out that the breading was very thick and very dry. Maybe I was there too late and it had been sitting out for a long time without a lid on it.
The place was better on another occasion when I went there a few years back. I’ll have to try it again, maybe earlier in the day when the food is fresher.

I used to think that I didn’t like corn tortillas. El Milagro showed me that I do.
I was hungry after my lovely massage at Verde and this place was a few blocks away so I stopped by. The tacos were delicious!!! I had the pollo, bistec and puerco con salsa Verde. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I might have to go with the pork. It’s not easy to get pork as tender and flavorful as they make it. And on a whim I chose corn tortillas rather than my usual flour: it was a good call!
In conclusion, yum.

El Milagro has the single best chicken taco I think I have ever eaten in my entire life. I’ve been here three times now (can’t believe it hasn’t been more) and every single time has been more amazing than the last. The chicken is char grilled and it’s a big slab of chicken they put on each taco. The slaw that comes on it is a great accompaniment. I tried a steak taco today, it was also excellent but I still prefer the chicken. Last time I tried a steak torta, again it was great but as I was eating it I was kicking myself for not just getting a second taco instead of the torta.
Come here if you want excellent tacos!

This is the first place I took my sister to when she visited from Texas. Houston has nothing on Chicago when it comes to Mexican food, and I have the privilege of living in arguably the Mecca of Mexican food in Chicago. El Milagro being a microcosm of that. They embody everything she misses about food in Chicago.
She took my suggestion and ordered the steak burrito. Not only is it the best burrito in Pilsen, but maybe of all time. Because it’s hard to top grilled arracherra stuffed into a giant tortilla with other fillings for under $ 5. You will assuredly get hungrier when looking at all the delicious food behind the glass, and may become indecisive on what to order. No worries. It happens. I’m pretty sure it’s hard to make a bad decision.
It could be a madhouse depending on what time you come here, and they do close earlier than some places, so be cognizant of their hours. They have a little store connected to buy tortillas, chips, etc. which is cool.
If you’re coming to Pilsen to chow down, it’s imperative you add this gem to your list.