La Cecina Restaurant

Terrible service! Walked in and sat down. The waitress saw us walk in and sit and just simply ignored us. I had to get up after 10 minutes and ask for a menu. She finally came back and told us she would be back with the chips and salsa and to take our orders. Lol she never came back. Another 15 minutes. As we watched her giggle and talk to her coworker I looked at my girl and said let’s get out of here. Best decision we made. Pretty poor service for such high prices now. And as we prepared to leave another table walked in and she set them up quickly. The staff saw we got up and leave and not even an effort to stop or apologize. We will never go again. And we used to go at least one weekend a month. Btw we even saw a baby roach by the window. Definitely never going back! Bound to become the next nuevo leon!

If you ever find yourself in the Back of the Yards neighborhood this is a great place for lunch. I love breakfast at all times so I went with the Huevos Rancheros and a fresh beet and carrot juice drink. They give you chips and salsa which are a great way to start your meal especially if you’re starving. The juice was okay but the food was delicious. They serve your plate with warm handmade tortillas. YUM! I went around 1 pm and it was pretty busy so service was a bit slow and we had three different waitresses help us during our meal which I thought was weird. I understand it gets busy but one attentive waitress instead of 3 nonattentive waitresses would have been great.

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Chicago, hands down.
My boyfriend and I tend to drive out here randomly when the mood strikes, it’s even been known that on days where I’ve had flailing job interviews or am generally feeling down in the dumps, taking a trip to Cecina makes me feel better.
I’m crazy for chile rellenos. I tend to gauge my favorite Mexican places on if they have that or how good it is. La Cecina has my FAVORITE chile rellenos EVER. I don’t know what it is, but it’s just the most perfect plate of food I have ever laid my eyes on. Better than Nuevo Leon in Pilsen, which is another go-​to when going down to the south side can’t cut it for the day.
The service is fantastic, I speak spotty/​sad Spanish and I’ve always had waitresses who make me feel welcome even if I’m speaking English/​said spotty Spanish. They’re very professional and generally excellent, the owner of the restaurant should feel lucky to have such commendable staff.
It is notable that one time I came in here with my boyfriend and his family and ordered mole enchiladas, which is generally the opposite direction of where I usually go when I eat but hey, why not. When the enchiladas came out to me there was a waft of burnt-​smell. The mole sauce was torched, like insanely burnt it wasn’t even edible. The wondrous servers I mentioned took it back and replaced them with red enchiladas no problem, but I suppose the chefs might wanna think twice before trying to get away serving burnt food.
All in all, I adore this place. Just writing this review makes me hungry…

I came here for a fundraiser dinner a few weeks ago and though I’m not sure which dishes from the menu were served that night at the buffet, I can tell you that it was all delicious! Their horchata is very good. I liked the beans and rice as well. I had the Torta De Milanesa (breaded-​steak sandwich) later on a separate occasion and it was also yummy.

Having eaten at many Mexican restaurants in Little Village over the past twenty years, and finding the quality going downhill, I was happily surprised at discovering «La Cecina» on 47^th St in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
This place is without a doubt my new go to place for authentic home style Mexican food. The fresh chips on the table and the moderately spicy salsa is great. The handmade and warm tortillas served with each entrée are the best. All home and hand made. All fresh. All the best I’ve ever had.
The menu is extensive. Many beef, chicken, and fish entrees. Many. A lot. Did I say extensive? I’ve tried most of the beef dishes. Hard to say which is best. All good. Large portions. Hard to finish. That’s a good thing. The coffee is nice too. It has that cinnamon tone that is so fresh.
The waitresses are very friendly and there’s a free parking area across the street so no need to pay for Daley’s parking meter joke that was played on every consumer and business that depend on street parking. Don’t get me started!
The only downside is the décor. It’s plain. It’s cheap. Just a little bit of love could make it much more inviting, and have it look as good as it tastes. But it’s clean, and I can overlook the cafeteria looks for the superior chow.
Ay chihuahua, what are you waiting for? Oh and one more thing… They have «bulls testicles» on the menu. And no I haven’t had the «balls» to try it, but one day…

*Note* They took the awning off so you might miss it like we did.
Came here on New Years Day since it was one of the places open. It was bigger than I imagined.
Horchata — This was pretty good. Not too sweet.
Chicken Soup — Since I was sick, I went with a soup. It had a little kick to it and the meat was tender and not dry.
Cecina Special — I’ve never had cecina before and it was a bit salty and good.
Service was prompt. The waitress forgot my horchata and when my guy asked she apologized and went to get it right away.
I have to say the prices are a bit higher than most places, but I would come back again. They do have daily specials too.

We go here time and time again.
Most of the time the service is great and the food comes to the table in a timely matter.
The food is honestly delicious here. The tortillas are handmade, always the best.
Cecina tacos are there specialty and will not disappoint.
Don’t let the location deter you, if you are near by you should give it a try.

I love this place! A great place to hang around with friends and chat, never felt pressured to leave or felt «kicked out». Refill on coffee with canela and nachos! The last time I went with a friend I spent $ 13, can’t get better than that!

Went with my friends for a casual afternoon lunch. Good place to get that spontaneous but filling lunch!

I rode my bike to 47^th st. to eat at La Cecina. Its located in the Chicago neighborhood, «Back of the Yards,» which refers to the old stockyards. The South Side has a lot of industry as reflected in the chemical smells. To start off I had the jugo 7 vidas– beet, celery, apple, orange, carrot, perejil and pineapple. Perejil is parsley. The drink tasted healthy and good but was too viscous to cleanse my throat from the ride down. Served first with warm tortilla chips and salsa de mulcajete.
The caldo de pollo flavor was so bright. It helped that it was served with almost half a juicy lime plus lots of chopped onion and cilantro. The squash, zuchini, carrots and potatoes were also cut small. The broth flavor was light and it sang more with the vegetables than the meat. I drank a glass of horchata at this point– the house horchata had flecks of spice, really good.
The torta ahogada was something I had to try– its the signature dish at my restaurant. Instead of pork carnitas, the meat we use, I ordered the torta with cecina. The specialty of La Cecina– salted cured thin cut steak. The tomato sauce was wicked spicy– the chile seeds are visible in the photo. The salty steak was cut by the spicy acidic sauce, creamy avocado and cooled off with sour cream. At my restaurant the torta ahogada is not available for take out– it is dine in only. There was some joy in taking my torta cecina ahogada to go for the 8 mile trek home.

I loved coming to the restaurant the food is always fresh and tasty. However, we placed our order and it was wrong. When we advised the waitress, she insisted she was right. She then went on about saying if you want I will change it, but I will have to eat this later on or pay for it. Really? who does that, try to make a costumer feel guilty? It will be awhile before I go back.

The neighborhood mexican joint to go to on the southside. I’ve been coming here for years, since I was a baby. Everything on the menu is excellent. Might want to bring someone to order who speaks spanish or if you speak it even better! This is as authentic as Mexican food gets.

Ordered take out from here right before they closed one night. I had the shrimp ceviche and the fish ceviche. Both the dishs were very bland and the fish did not taste fresh. Not sure if I came on a bad day or a bad time but with all the other choices in the area I probably won’t be back.

After pulling up to find that I had to possibly drop some coin for street parking outside of La Cecina, I was luckily pointed out by a nice guy who said something along the lines of «despues de a las seis, no hay problemas.»
Sweet! Looks like this meal is going to start off right. Because though this strip of 47^th is a commercial zone, I found it sad that LAZ had made their way down to Back of the Yards. The good news is it is during normal business hours which we avoided.
Entrance into La Cecina was made with some smiles and that oh so casual «please, sit where you would like,» which always gives us a tough time. We don’t like to choose things, or rather, we take a while to choose things. This was a sign of things to come with our meal and did amount to my usual over-​ordering, and therefore: over eating.
To sum up– this place is damn good! The flavors are all there, and the menu is extensive. We were surprised to see the variety of ingredients available as well (think oysters on the half shell, frogs legs, bulls testicles, huitlacoche– which is a type of yummy corn fungus, and a few other things that you won’t find anywhere).
I tried their namesake, the cecina which is a flattened, salted, marinated piece of steak. What I was impressed with was that unlike a lot of cecina I have had in the past, this stuff wasn’t dry or tough. Seriously– I have had some cecina that has basically been beef jerky. They served it up to me in Guerrero style (guacamole, pico de gallo, salad, freshly made maza tortillas, and slow cooked beans on the side– not refried) and I loved it. She opted for a thicker cut of steak that I must say was very tender, juicy, and flavorful. Topped with a somewhat spicy sauce that included nopales (cactus) — this was a great dish.
We also tried some huaraches al pastor (kind of like over topped, elongated tacos served «open face» that has spit roasted, marinated pork and topped with salad and queso) which were awesome, and a quesadilla con huitlacoche (the aforementioned corn fungus which would be like mixing really mellow mushrooms with squid ink… sound strange, but is really very good).
I got to practice a bit of my broken español by reading all the different signs of the food around the place (which was clean and «seasonally festive») and the server was even kind enough not to laugh too hard at some of our poor guesses (I forgot that «hongos» were mushrooms, instead thinking they were oysters).
Oh, and for those of you who don’t know what «despues de a las seis, no hay problemas» means… Get yourself down to La Cecina and have one of the nice girls translate for you and teach you a bit of Spanish while you munch on some of the best Mexican food you can find in the city.

Nope, it’s not pretty.
No flower beds, fountains, ponds, bird houses or white picked fences. This, my friends, is not your typical backyard.
THIS — is «Back of the Yards». The ‘hood. And you’d better be ready for it.
Actually this stretch of 47^th street is not that bad. There are restaurants everywhere, a few bars, families in the street and last night you could almost smell spring in the air.
La Cecina doesn’t require a nice neighborhood though. The beauty of its food is enough to make it stand strong and proud, almost at the corner with Damen.
Quick word of advice: If you are blue-​phobic, or if Smurfs give you nightmare you shouldn’t make the trek down. Something happened in there, and it’s hard to watch without sunglasses. To put it plainly: it’s ugly. For a couple of seconds I hesitated to sit down. Blue awning, blue chairs, blue walls… VERY blue walls. Easter bunnies everywhere. Tired look.
We are far from Bayless’s fabulousness.
But just style-​wise. Because I will come back, again and again. I found here some of the best Mexican fare in the city. The specialty is — duh — cecina, or strips of beef that have been pounded thin, marinated then grilled. Served with guacamole, pico de gallo and scrumptious home-​made tortillas (the smell of masa was intoxicating and followed me in my dreams), you can have it plain or rolled with chorizo and cheese (rellana) and topped with a cactus sauce (campesina). The carne is just as good, juicy, tender and perfectly cooked.
Other winners?!?
— quesadilla de huitlacoche (corn fungus) which can be served ‘natural’ or ‘frita’ (deep fried).
A-​mah-​zing.
— horchata and other aguas naturales
— fresh juices
— sopes al pastor sprinkled with chihuahua cheese, crisp cabbage and juicy tomatoes
Their menu is impressive and I cannot wait to return to try their fish (whole and fillet), the caldos and the parrilladas, a seafood or meat feast for two that comes up to a mere $ 30.
And the queso fundito, the ceviche, the moles, the…
Use your common sense and just come here. You’ll see what I am talking about.

Great place to enjoy a dinner or lunch for a good price. This place offers everything from tacos to steak and seafood. Good for sort of gatherings and events. Everyone there is very friendly and offers great customer service… I recommend their of menu cholesterol torta it has a mixture of everything that’s so bad for your body yet taste so good. Highly recommended!!!

This week, my friend Mike + I found ourselves in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, hunting for a burrito + a large horchata that could top last Sunday’s choice (Little Village’s El Chisme, on 26^th).
For those of you unfamiliar, the Back of the Yards neighborhood is located on Chicago’s south side (approx. 8 miles southwest of the Loop) + one of Chicago’s founding neighborhoods of the «American Industrial Revolution» (it strongly resembles the backdrop to a Bruce Springsteen album… Namely Nebraska). It’s also the former meat packing capital of the country up until the 1960s (and not in the N. Halsted way). The Union Stock Yards were founded back in 1865 and were the inspiration for Upton Sinclair’s bestselling novel «The Jungle». The original stockyard gates still stand + there’s a large plot of stacked old rail cars… On a humid/​rainy night you can still smell meat.
Isn’t that charming?
We passed by a handful of Mexican restaurants, in the predominantly Mexican neighborhood. The most promising being La CeCina, located @ 1934 W. 47^th St. …Full of neon, black gates over the windows and signs I couldn’t read (aside from «pollo» this/“pollo” that) …I said «promising,» right? Well, it was packed… Generally good sign.
We found parking right away + went inside where we were greeted by Amy Winehouse’s Mexican twin who quickly showed us a table amongst the blaringly bright blue walls. Within seconds we had chips and a mortar of red salsa. The chips were warm + the salsa had a nice kick. We were impressed + I chose to overlook the Costco-​sized bottle of Heinz ketchup by my side.
I ordered the «burrito vegetariano» which promised «rice, tomato, lettuce, beans, avocado, pico de gallo» and per request no queso or crema. I added a horchata + Mike ordered the same but with carrot juice (which he was happy about since the last burrito spot didn’t offer it). The menu was surprisingly extensive… Everything from breakfast options, pastas, soups/​salads, fish/​whole fish, carnes rojas, aves, cocteles (shrimp, oysters + a combo of both) + the usual standards (quesadillas, tacos, tortas). The house specialty is CeCina Estilo Guerrero: «grilled thin steak served w/​guacamole, pico de gallo, whole pinto beans + homemade tortillas».
Quick tip when ordering horchata: Always ask for a LARGE… Otherwise, you’ll get a standard plastic Pepsi cup. Though oddly enough when ordering carrot juice this rule doesn’t apply because it automatically arrives in a Big Gulp sized container.
That said, always ask for LARGE when ordering horchata at La CeCina because it’s honestly the best I’ve had… possibly ever. It was what horchata should be: homemade/​fresh and with flecks of spice.
La CeCina promotes itself as a «family restaurant,» and while we waited for our food we couldn’t help but notice that every other table was full of just that, families. Kids were dancing in front of the jukebox (Let’s just say that someone was a little heavy handed with the ol quarters + their love for Selena).
Señorita Winehouse arrived with our food in good time (I had tamed the lions in my stomach with my horchata + warm chips).
Ok, do you remember as a child being in any sort of required school recital? For me I was in kindergarten showing of Stone Soup. I played «Villager #2» or «potato girl». Dressed like an extra from «Little House On the Prairie. Afterwards, a horribly shy child way back when, I remember my Mom fawning all over me as my cheeks grew hot + I wanted to cry into my bonnet.
«You were great, honey!» my Mother said… In that somewhat wavering tone. The same tone she would use years later when I got my first pimple… Smack-​dab in the middle of my forehead, like some angry red third eyeball. «I can hardly notice, Mandy!».
La CeCina’s burrito: «It was great …». Honestly? It sufficed… I couldn’t find the avocado (though Mike later swore it was there), standard iceberg lettuce (namely the white parts), the tomatoes were fresh and the beans were a pale purple w/​the consistency of toothpaste. The tortilla was the saving grace: homemade, warm and crisp with a nice chew. Bonus: No Grease.
Mike «loved,» his burrito + commented that he preferred the setting, «It looks like they really put a lot of work into this place to make it their own.»
We sat for awhile (Mike had a lot of carrot juice to drink) …Señorita Winehouse cleared the table + asked how everything was… In unison with phony grins, Mike + I said «It was great!».
It was ok and luckily the price was right, our meal totaled under $ 10, without tip (And yes, we did tip).
Before leaving, I ordered a LARGE horchata to go… Which I happily slurped down amidst fireworks, car horns honking, torrential downpour + the bright lights of Chicago’s skyline.
I would go back for the LARGE horchata on even the most humid, rainy + meat-​reeking day.