Cemitas Puebla

The main reason we went to Cemitas Puebla now is because we had a Living Social coupon (kind of like Groupon) that we wanted to use. We had been there over 2 years ago and had enjoyed it immensely - also it has been featured on all sorts of Chicago food shows and on the Food Network Diners, Drive Ins and Dives show.


Cheese Chalupas

Cemitas Puebla is located at 3619 W North Avenue in Chicago.  They are the only Mexican restaurant in Chicago serving cemitas, in fact they may be the only place outside of Mexico.  A cemita is a Mexican sandwich, originating from Puebla, Mexico.  It is different from a torta due to the type of sesame seed bread/roll it is served on.  At Cemitas Puebla you can get a cemita with various types of meats, avocado, chipotle peppers and Oaxacan cheese.

Our Living Social coupon included 2 cemitas sandwiches and an order of cheese chalupas. We picked the carne asada and the arabe (roasted pork) cemitas.  They were both great.  On the table there are 3 different types of salsa you can put on your food depending on how hot you want it.  The chalupas were corn tortillas with salsa verde and cheese on them.  If they hadn't been included in our deal we may have either ordered another cemita or a taco.

Roasted Pork Cemita

Final thoughts on Cemitas Puebla:
Food - great tasting food that is unique, it takes us 1/2 hour to get there (more if there is traffic) so we wish it were closer so we wouldn't be waiting 2 years between visits
Service - very quick, when you walk in the owner asks if you have been there before, if not he goes through the menu with you and explains what a cemita is and what they cooked for Guy Fieri when he was filming for Diners, Drive ins and Dives.  It is very nice, especially if you don't know what the restaurant is about

Atmosphere - order at a counter and then your food is brought to you, there is street parking in front or on the side streets.  Now on our second visit here we noticed that they have updated the flooring and the furniture so it looks a little classier inside.



Cane Asada Cemita