Mini reviews: Quick looks at Taylor’s Tacos, Marina’s Bistro and Egg Tuck
As we say farewell to 2023 and jump into 2024, the Tribune Food team took a look back at the new restaurants that, for one reason or another, we weren’t able to cover last year.
So here are three mini restaurant reviews, listed alphabetically, in our annual catch-up. We visited each of these establishments just once, instead of our usual two visits for larger reviews, and as such we did not award stars.
— Kayla Samoy, food editor
Egg Tuck
If there’s one activity I tend to spend too much time on, it’s scrolling through TikTok. But when a gooey, cheesy breakfast sandwich popped up on my feed, I was egg-cited to give it a try.
The Korean-inspired street food at Egg Tuck — touted as some of the best in Los Angeles before making the jump to Chicago — lived up to the social media hype.
Co-owner Nicole Kim opened the Michigan Avenue location last month with the help of the chain’s founder Ryan Son. While visiting L.A., Kim said she tried the food and thought it could become a popular brunch spot in Chicago, as an in-between of sit-down and fast food restaurants.
“It’s in the middle,” Kim said. “It’s something you can grab and go and it’s freshly made.” She also said she was excited to bring a trendy Asian eatery to the city.
While almost every dish contains eggs, the centerpiece of the menu are the egg sandwiches, and for good reason. Each one comes with a sizable, crispy brioche bun, nearly overflowing with soft scrambled eggs, spicy aioli and egg sauce. There’s protein add-ons, including bacon, ham or tteok-galbi, a beef short-rib patty. They’re all also $10 or less.
I ordered the basic egg sandwich, and while the taste wasn’t quite what I expected — it leans much more sweet than savory — it was delicious. Kim said the bacon and cheese is their bestseller by far.
But the star of the show was the $6 “famous egg tots.” The tater tots were topped with two over-medium eggs and chives, along with the spicy aioli and egg sauce combo. They had the slight spiciness that I love in breakfast food. Kim had an apt description, calling them a spin on loaded fries. It also paired nicely with the $6 iced vanilla chai latte, a sweet drink with the right amount of vanilla that I’ll definitely go back for.
“It’s a simple idea,” she said. “We have these so fluffy eggs, why not put them on top of the tater tots so you can have the soft and crunch taste at the same time”
Unlike in L.A., Kim said some of their other bestsellers — especially around lunchtime — are the Royal West burger-wich and Royal burrito, which contain the short rib. I ordered the $10.50 burrito, and found the combination of flavors a bit too sweet and overpowering for my taste, although it was certainly filling.
The brightly decorated restaurant is perfect for people who enjoy a hearty, relatively affordable breakfast. There’s some seating, but takeout and food delivery appeared to be the more popular option. The store is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There’s also plans to expand, Kim said. They’re preparing to open another location in Lincoln Park in about a month and one at the University of Illinois Chicago in the spring. — Rebecca Johnson
326 North Michigan Ave., 872-318-2108, eggtuck.com
Marina’s Bistro and Rum Bar
Nestled in the Uptown neighborhood’s Magnolia Plaza strip mall, chef-owner Eric Roldan opened Marina’s Bistro and Rum Bar in August. The cozy and lamplit space features classic and modern takes on iconic Puerto Rican dishes such as mofongo and pastelillos, and a bar that whips up handcrafted rum-based cocktails.
Roldan said the restaurant began as Marina’s Cafe, an Avondale ghost kitchen in 2021. The chef won a $245,000 Chicago Recovery Plan grant in 2022, which allowed him to finish construction on the restaurant. Over two years later, Marina’s Bistro pays homage to his mother, who taught Roldan how to cook and passed away when he was young.
Marina’s gives you all the chill party vibes and sense of island pride — conversations in English and Spanish rise and lull to the tune of salsa hits. Above you there are decorative vines, wrought iron chandeliers and exposed wood beams in the style of Old San Juan. The bar space, which sits about four patrons, has wall art that pays homage to the island’s 78 municipalities. From a back wall, a portrait of Roldan’s mother, Marina, gazes lovingly.
I was greeted with complimentary and very snackable plantain chips served with vegan guava butter. My order of pollo al ajillo, or chicken marinated with garlic and onion, was well seasoned and served in a precious silver pan.
“The secret to it is slow temperature,” Roldan told me later, saying the whole process takes 48 hours. “That’s how we get that (tender) consistency.”
To accompany the juicy chicken, I ordered the tostones, which were salty and crispy on the outside but maintained their soft interior. Rounding out this trio, the arroz con gandules, or yellow rice cooked with pigeon peas and sofrito, was a perfect complement to the chicken.
The variety of the rum-focused drink menu matches and at times supersedes all these savory and filling dishes. Marina’s uses the rum brands Don Q, Barrilito and Bacardi, Roldan said.
The La Playita passion fruit cocktail came stacked with a wedge of lime and fresh mint sprig atop white rum, lime, puree, soda and speckles of passion fruit seeds. It reminded me of pineapple-flavored Fanta.
Don’t leave without trying The Yabucoa, also made with white rum, and soursop, a fruit in the custard apple family that’s native to the Caribbean region. Marina’s drink was milk-colored, a little bit tangy and yet refreshing, and also neatly presented with a pink flower.
There are also mocktails that sound more than basic, with notes of coconut milk, agave nectar and fruit puree freshly squeezed in-house.
I can see Marina’s adding to the splendor of Uptown’s diverse dining options. It has the added bonus of being steps away from the “L.”
Look out for Roldan’s specials for Chicago Restaurant Week, including the aforementioned pollo, a patio as the months turn warmer and maybe even live music. — Lauryn Azu
4554 N. Magnolia Ave., 773-739-9161, marinasbistrochicago.com
Taylor’s Tacos
It was the year of Taylor, as in tacos of course.
You may have seen the taco that Taylor Mason calls Sexy Crispy Shrimp. Possibly in all its gorgeous fried glory at Taylor’s Tacos, the shop she opened with her wife Maya Mason in Chicago last Cinco de Mayo. Or perhaps you caught the surf versus turf battle it won against the campechano by Taqueria Chingón on “Good Morning America.”
The taco lives up to the hype, with ethereal tempura-esque shrimp topped with a hot pink tangle of Maya’s Pickled Red Cabbage.
“It’s extra crispy, because we fry it in rice flour,” said Taylor Mason, chef and founder. “That was super important to us to make sure that everyone could enjoy it, even with different allergies.”
She dresses most of the tacos with her lovely crema-laced, tomato-based Secret Salsa plus cotija cheese, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
Her namesake restaurant is not a traditional taco shop in the neighborhood still best known as Little Italy. It’s the only Black, queer women-owned business in the city that specializes in street-style tacos with soul.
“It’s a fusion of the authentic Mexican street-style taco, and the Black taco,” said Mason, a West Side woman who first fell in love with the traditional taco experience when she went to Pepperdine University on a full basketball scholarship in Malibu, California. “The Black taco is the flour tortilla, the ground meat, the lettuce, the tomato, the onion, the cheese and definitely the sour cream and then your chunky red salsa of choice.”
Her wife can’t go without Ortega salsa on a Black taco, said the chef.
“We fry our tortillas kind of the old school abuela way,” said Mason. She made her first signature taco a decade ago, a journey through pop-ups and catering. They now use a deep fryer to cook for about seven seconds then shake them off.
They’re not hard-shell tacos, but that brief baptism brings out a toastiness to the corn tortillas sourced from Tortilleria El Rey in Little Village.
“We like to say crispy, but malleable,” said the chef.
As terrific as the tacos are, I have become obsessed with the Not Taco Special that changes weekly.
It can be anything from nachos to tostadas to burritos, said Mason. They’ve also done shrimp boils, as well as outrageous loaded fries on an early visit, to beautiful rice and beans on a recent visit, which were served with their Holy Sh*t Tortilla Chips.
“We’ve done a lot of different things,” the chef said. “But nachos, I think it’s probably the most recurring.”
They’re also built on a bed of those intensely seasoned crackly crunchy tortilla chips.
“We really wanted to again pay homage to Mexican culture,” said Mason, who was also inspired by Mexican candy that can be spicy, sour and salty as well as sweet. “The Tajín and chamoy kind of vibe.”
The chef also had Black culture in mind, and at her fingertips.
“I love the seasoning to be on my hands,” she added.
The secret ingredient is sugar, which makes them a touch too sweet for my taste on the savory menu, but they’re still tweaking the recipe.
Especially when dipped in the silky guacamole, a surprisingly small sauce cup size on a menu that’s otherwise so generous.
That generosity extends to the exquisite EloTAY. Her take on elotes is a half pint cup of corn off the cob finished with traditional mayonnaise, Tajín and lime, but instead of Parkay, Kraft Parmesan and chile powder, you’ll find butter, cotija and Tay’s Way seasoning.
“Maya kicks me, because she says technically it should be called EsquiTays,” said the chef laughing.
When you visit Taylor’s Tacos (on Taylor Street!) do note that the entrance is downstairs to the lower level of a vintage brick building, so it’s not wheelchair accessible, but they have curbside pickup available. And there’s a tiny private outdoor patio when weather permits, hopefully by the next Cinco de Mayo. — Louisa Kung Liu Chu
1512 W. Taylor St., 312-526-3903, taylorstacoschicago.com
rjohnson@chicagotribune.com; lazu@chicagotribune.com; lchu@chicagotribune.com
Big screen or home stream, takeout or dine-in, Tribune writers are here to steer you toward your next great experience. Sign up for your free weekly Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here.
