City Consensus · Chicago
Jibarito in Chicago
Community consensus
The consensus is still forming.
Top Tier Editorial has a take on Jibarito in Chicago below. The community ranking opens up once a few locals have weighed in.
Top 4 Jibarito in Chicago
The jibarito — a steak sandwich using fried-plantain slabs for bread — was invented in Humboldt Park in 1996, making it Chicago's newest truly local sandwich. A narrow but deep canon.
- #1
Borinquen
North Center
“The originator: Juan 'Pete' Figueroa invented the jibarito at the Figueroa family's Humboldt Park Borinquen Restaurant in 1996; the family reopened on North Western as Borinquen Lounge and the steak-and-garlic original remains the definitional version.”
- #2
Papa's Cache Sabroso
Humboldt Park
“The Humboldt Park BYOB that has held down the Paseo Boricua jibarito throne since 2001 — steak, chicken or vegetarian layered between fried green plantains with garlic mayo, listed on virtually every Chicago jibarito guide.”
- #3
Jibaritos y Más
Logan Square
“The Logan Square specialist Infatuation routinely credits with one of the city's best jibaritos; the family-run shop is also locally beloved for donating meals daily to neighbors in Humboldt Park and Logan Square.”
- #4
Nellie’s Restaurant
Humboldt Park
“Pablo and Cindy Espinosa's 2006 Humboldt Park diner is the breakfast-jibarito standard-bearer on Division Street — a morning-service plantain sandwich stacked with eggs, cheese and your choice of meat.”