TECALITLAN MEXICAN KITCHEN & MARGARITA BAR

Tecalitlan moves after 50 years in West Town to Lincoln Park | Eater Chicago

"I've watched the cherished Mexican restaurant relocate from its nearly 50-year West Town home into a more modern space at 1538 N. Clybourn Avenue in the New City development, where second-generation owners siblings Karla Garcia and chef Juan Carlos Garcia Jr. reopened in July 2021 after their father, Carlos Garcia Sr., founded it in 1973. To adapt they added a bar and cocktails and launched Sabores de Mexico, a monthly ticketed series that features a rotating three- to four-course menu spotlighting a different Mexican state with cocktail and beer pairings; the series debuted with Oaxaca, and Garcia Jr.'s Oaxacan lineup included three moles — including a mole rojo that required thirty ingredients — gilding salmon and chicken, alongside crisp tlayudas, mini tamales steamed in banana leaves, and beer from Mexican American brewery Casa Humilde. The move followed an arduous search (a temporary virtual kitchen in Humboldt Park and touring more than two dozen storefronts) and has faced setbacks such as a removed banner, the omicron surge and shifting mandates, and a pandemic-era winter lull, though AMC's planned takeover and reopening of the nearby theater could help; tickets for upcoming Michoacan (April) and Puebla (May) dinners are available via Tock." - Naomi Waxman