The Jibarito Stop

Puerto Rican in Pilsen?! I’m there! Just happened to be in the area and while I already thought I would stop for carnitas, I found this place on Unilocal and opted for the «other» roast pork. Pernil is one of my favorite dishes and I ordered it sandwiched between fried plantains. You get a couple options to choose from here like type of cheese (American, chihuahua, or pepper jack) and rices (white with stewed kidney beans or yellow with pigeon peas). Not usually one for experimenting with my jibarito, I went out there and tried the pepper jack. It had a really creamy melt and a little pepper flavor, but I probably won’t order cheese at all next time.
The pernil was tasty and juicy. Sometimes it can be salty or dry, but I wasn’t disappointed. They also managed to crank it out pretty quickly-​24 minutes on my meter were enough to sit and eat.
I kept a star because the plantain was a little soft for my taste. I prefer my to stones to be pretty crispy.
Some tips: if you’re not into garlic make sure you tell them no mojo on the sandwich, it is covered in it.
There is pork in the arroz con gandules.
Go really Puerto Rico and try the coco rico or Kola champagne with your meal.

It’s a relief that I don’t have to travel all the way up north for a tasty jibarito. The meat was coked just right and the plantain was crunchy and not oily. It comes with your choice of white or yellow rice. I chose the yellow and it was mist and fluffy. I certainly hope that this place stays. Will definitely go again.

Haven’t ate yet… Taking long time for food to come. Negative reviews for service thou! Employee In a terrible mood just screamed at me and my daughter because we didn’t see restroom light outside of the restroom!!! Never again

This food is so damn good I want to move next door. The Empanada Shrimp are serious business. Plantains are silky moist and the sauce is fire.

We need these types of restaurant in Indianapolis please :). Only have one and the food is umm kinda ok miss my Chicago !

I used to go out to Humboldt Park for my fix of Puerto Rican food, but this little Pilsen gem has stolen my heart. The jibaritos are perfect, the arroz con gandules and alcapurrias taste just like my family’s recipes. The staff is always friendly, the music is a plus, and the neighborhood is beautiful.
This is my new favorite, I recommend it to anyone looking for a delicious meal.

The Jibarito here was excellent! I loved it, and would certainly come again. Highly recommended.

Now, being from the suburbs, I am not a jibarito veteran or anything, but I have had a few, and this one was the best that I’ve ever had.
Steak was tender and juicy… not tough like it can be. And the pigeon rice was MAGNIFICENT! Bacon-​y and al dente and scrumptious. I will be coming into Pilsen with the family for this again sometime very soon.

Very delicious!
Tried the chicken and steak sandwich. Chicken was definitely the star out of the two!
Only regret is not getting an extra order of arroz con gandules, we devoured it!

I had the Canasta, which is 2 empanadas and rice. I had the shrimp filling and ordered it with arroz con gandules= DELICIOUS! I also ordered an alcapurria, this one was a little too dry for my taste, but the flavor was good.
To sum it up, the service was very friendly and welcoming. The food was flavorful. I will definitely be back to try the jibarito and other items on the menu.
(I drove here from the Midway airport area and it was worth the drive.)
P.S.
Street parking is limited.

Living in Hyde Park you don’t have any Puerto Rican restaurants in the area. Moving away from family, I really missed Puerto Rican food. Grub Hub changed that, and my boyfriend and I ordered a couple of hours ago. Let me tell you, the food was absolutely delicious!
Beef empanadas were cooked to perfection, the papa rellenas were mouth drooling and the jibarito meat was so well seasoned. Couldn’t have changed anything. Not to mention the arroz con gandules brought me back to my grandma’s cooking. Definitely will be ordering again from The Jibarito Stop.

The jibarito is a food that has engaged me since I started this Unilocal sh*t back in ’08. Ya know, back before they gave ROTD & elite status to these alleged speakers of English who don’t spell out the entire word «you.» Yeah, I just thew a ton of shade. One last time, you got bodied by a Unilocalin’ jigga.
I hadn’t had The Jibarito Stop when they were just a food truck, so other than simply knowing what the hell a jibarito is, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I just knew having a Puerto Rican place in Pilsen was cool. For those of you who don’t understand the significance of that statement, this is Puerto Rican food in a largely Mexican (at least for now) ‘hood. They are not the same. It’s sad I have to explain that to your unworldly ass.
Soon as I got to the crib with the food, they already passed the Puerto Rican cuisine litmus test. I could smell the garlic before taking the food out of the bag. This is a good thing. If you have something against garlic, f**k your two cents unless it’s going toward the bill. After almost maiming my mouth by a toothpick I didn’t realize was holding the sandwich together because it was camouflaged by the plantain, I realized the taste was definitely there. I enjoyed half a steak and pernil (lechón) jibarito. The steak was just fine, but the pernil was Jesus H. f**k good. It’s the best lechón I’ve had, no lie. I like that you can chose between 3 different cheeses, because something about melted yellow American cheese on Latin cuisine irks me. I opted for chihuahua, because why wouldn’t I? Pepper jack was tempting though.
The inside of this joint is aesthetically nice, but slightly odd. It’s got this very modern feel with just a touch of Latin. It’s pretty indicative of Pilsen now. Yanno, «I’m white but I totes moved here because culture… but not too much culture. I come from money.»
I’m still bias toward my jibarito spot on Western and Fullerton, but I’ll be damned if this dark-​horse of a Puerto Rican joint on 18^th st. isn’t up there with the best of ‘em. Them closing early during the early part of their launch, laziness, and being a creature of habit is what took me so long to try them out, but I’m glad I finally did.
If you’re on the north side, stay where you are. You’re probably annoying anyway. If you’re on the south side and want Puerto Rican food, here you go. Get you some.

Food was really good. I wish the plantains were fresh. I make jibaritos all the time so I could tell. I still loved it though. I think it will take a lot for me to hate a jibarito. Haha. Rice was good too. I enjoyed my food very much. Still very new so I know it will only improve from here on out. Best of luck! :)

me and a coworker was talking about food 1 day and he asked me if i like PR food. and after i said yes and asked him if he know of a good place, he recommended this spot.
I ended up going right after work since it wasn’t far from me.
I ordered the steak sandwich. 2 chicken and 2 beef and cheese empenadas.
the steak sandwich came with rice. if I recall, u have a couple options of the type of rice you want. I chose the pigeon rice. the steak sandwich was good. oily but good!
the empenadas was also tasty. they didn’t not cheap out on the ingredients. well packed empenadas.
would definitely come back here again!

This is my new favorite food. I discovered it 5 days ago and have eaten it 4 out of 5 days, if I’m honest. All I have to say is da-​da-​da-​DAMMMMMMMN. And two blocks from my house. My grocery budget henceforth shall be rolled in to buying food from here. The jibarito is like a little tiny puppy angel coming down to earth to cuddle you. But you know what, its actually even better than that. Jibarito Stop; mic drop. All other local restaurants ARE OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE!!! I ought to kiss their chefs on the mouth for these beautiful, divine, perfect creations they serve me every time. Is it too far to say that I love the chefs for their jibaritos? Because secretly, I do. Sorry not sorry.
My only sore spot with this place is the scarcity of the flan. Its the damn hunger games trying to get just one. They are always out of stock or i need to fight a pigeon, baby, or grandma to get the one left. Increase your flan production!!! Its pissing me off!
Yes, I’m the psycho who calls once a day to ask about your flan!

Yup! Still delicious! This place has continued to expand their hours (now open until 8 p.m.) and make great food. The pernil jibarito is my number one go-​to; I would bathe in that garlic oil, if anyone would ever come near me again. Good food for a good price, fast takeout, and hits the spot for a quick and tasty Puerto Rican meal.

This review is for the B&M spot, not their former food truck — kind of weird that it’s not separate, but it’s the same food I assume.
Finally finally finally, I can get jibaritos without having to hop on the train all the way to Humboldt Park (though the train to Pilsen is almost the same length of time). For those who don’t know, a jibarito is a sandwich with meat (usually steak, can be pork or chicken), cheese, lettuce, tomato, and garlic mayo. The big game changer is it uses plantains instead of bread, which is sturdier than bread and provides a satisfying break when you bite into it. It’s an original of the Chicago Puerto Rican community.
My first jibarito experience was at the Taste of Chicago, so obviously I’ve started at the bottom and worked my way up. While Pilsen is more Mexican while Humboldt is Puerto Rican, the jibarito holds up well in unfamiliar territory. Most jibaritos I’ve had have been overly greasy, and hard to manage. Here they’re not greasy at all and are wisely pre-​cut in half. I’m still not sure if I liked the steak or pork better because both were great. Also, the arroz con gandules (yellow rice with peas and ham) is a definite must.
While it seems they’ve retired their food truck, they’ve gone from a place you hunt down to a must-​visit shop. This is one place I’m going to start bringing out of town friends besides the obligatory Portillo’s and Lou’s.

A few month ago the Pink line was all messed up. I met a young lady and we started talking about work. Because of the trains snafu it looked like she was going to be late for her new job.
She worked/​works at The Jibarito Shop. I told her I would stop by, well today is that day.
Once you get off the Pink line at 18^th go left one block. The restaurant is about 400 feet from the corner of Paulina.
The space and large comfortable and clean. As soon as you walk in you are greeted by a handsome gentleman whose customer service skills heck or maybe his looks melted my heart. They have intentions on the wall for those not sure what or how to order.
I ordered the Steak Jibarito w/​chihuahua cheese, yellow rice and gondolas. $ 8.99 and a side of sweet plantains $ 1.75. You see my picture of my food, $ 11 and I know I’ll have some leftover for dinner. The steak is tender and seasoned very well. The garlic oil on the jibarito is just enough. I wish I had asked about the rice, I don’t eat pork and it look like I have pieces of bacon in my rice.
I received my order in under 15 mins and once again I was serviced by mister handsome. As I gathered my items to leave a women was at the counter with a big smile she said «thank you» how refreshing to receive that type of customer service today. This is a place I don’t mind spending my money and I plan to have my book club monthly meeting there.
Everything was outstanding, Jibarito shop thank you for making my Saturday

If you are on the south side you MUST check out Jibarito Stop. The former food truck turned restaurant is casual, fast, reasonably priced, and sooooo delicious. It was a welcome addition to the south side which is almost devoid of any Puerto Rican restaurants. There isn’t a ton of seating so I wouldn’t recommend bringing a large group but I would recommend bringing someone who likes to share so that you can really taste the menu. The staff is pretty awesome, and we’re really helpful with recommendations.
I went with a friend who got the steak jibarito, and I ordered empanada platter, and tostones, and a papa rellena. Yes I’m greedy; don’t judge me. Tip: try the Garlic oil with your tostones with a pinch of salt. Besides the over cooked tostones, everything I ordered was delicious, and came in well under $ 20. Next time I go, I’m getting my own jibarito.

Came by today randomly as I was walking by the place and ready for lunch. I had totally forgotten about this place, but it was one I had been wanting to try. I went with the steak jibarito sandwich with queso chihuahua. It said «breadless» so I was interested to see what the sandwich was going to be like… they had fried plantains as the bread. The sandwich and extra sauce was excellent! I’m not a big rice person, so I asked if I could substitute the rice it came with for sweet plantains instead and they did it no problem.
I was told it’d be about 15 minutes because there were a few orders before mine; it was really only about five minutes so that was a pleasant surprise! I will totally come back and bring friends as well. Great lunch spot!