Mendez’s mother and stepfather opened the store in 2001 and named it after Mendez’s stepgrandmother, whose nickname roughly translates to “the short girl.” Mendez’s mother eventually inherited the nickname, and now Mendez herself is known as “La Chaparrita.”
The No-Frills Corner Grocery Serving Some of Chicago’s Tastiest Tacos
Gonzalo Guzman
September 18, 2026
Angelina Mendez, the owner of La Chaparrita Grocery in Little Village. Credit: Gonzalo Guzman for WTTW
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La Chaparrita Grocery’s name is deceiving: rather than dry goods or fresh produce, a taquería serving some of Chicago’s tastiest tacos takes center stage inside the nondescript corner store at Whipple and 25th streets in Little Village. Owner Angelina Mendez, 57, says that, while the business started out as a grocery store, today it’s 95% taquería and 5% tienda.
Photographer Gonzalo Guzman and translator Lionel Majano visited to find out why La Chaparrita still has "grocery" in the name and what makes customers keep discovering it – and coming back.
All images by Gonzalo Guzman for WTTW.
Before the store had a dedicated kitchen, Mendez and her husband would sell tacos out front to help boost sales. After being shut down by the police multiple times for serving food without a permit, they decided it was time to formally open up shop inside. Around 2005, the taquería was officially established, serving Mexico City-style tacos with fillings such as suadero (boneless chuck), longaniza (sausage), al pastor (pork), tripa (tripe), cabeza (head), and lengua (tongue).
According to Mendez, a Mexico City-style taco starts with meat prepared in a large comal with oil, salt, lime, and broth flavored with spices from the longaniza. Toppings are limited to fresh cilantro, crunchy raw onion, and salsas: you won’t find lettuce, sour cream, or cheese on these tacos.
In charge of manning the comal is taquero César Castillo, 56, who has been with La Chaparrita for 20 years. Typically the first to arrive each morning – usually with a smile on his face – Castillo says customers keep coming back because the tacos are just like what you get in Mexico City.
This sentiment was echoed by Andrea and Uvaldo, who have been coming to La Chaparrita for the last two years, since moving to Chicago from California. “The tacos here are amazing,” says Uvaldo. “On my trip to Ciudad de México a couple of years ago, I had really good suadero, and this is the closest I've been able to find to that authentic, good flavor.”
Another customer favorite: the tripa. Some patrons request it fried extra crispy like bacon.
La Chaparrita Grocery has been featured by numerous news outlets and best of lists, including on a 2018 episode of WTTW’s Check Please. But it was their inclusion on Netflix’s Taco Chronicles in 2022 that brought in a new wave of customers.
The show’s episode on Chicago featured La Chaparrita alongside Carnitas Uruapan, Rubi’s on 18th St., and Birrieria Zaragoza. While La Chaparrita was featured for only four minutes, Mendez says the response was like a bomb. On their busiest days, when they can serve over 600 tacos, she sometimes works from 11:00 am until 6:30 pm before things slow down enough for her to catch a breath and eat something herself.
With all of the media attention, both traditional and social, La Chaparrita has also seen a shift in their typical clientele. Mendez says that in the early days, all of their customers were Latinos from the neighborhood. Today she estimates that 70% of their diners are non-Latinos, many of whom have found the store through social media. Jake brought his four coworkers on their lunch break from a biotech startup in Fulton Market after seeing how highly the spot was rated on the social media restaurant app Beli and getting several recommendations from friends.
When Nashville residents Jose, Alejandra, and Jonathan decided to take a spontaneous weekend trip to Chicago, they went to TikTok for suggestions on where to dine and found La Chaparrita. A TikTok post from user @donutmamii highlighting the taquería has over 500,000 views.
While many guests were experiencing the taquería for the first time, Jair has made popping in once a month from the North Side for suadero and cecina (salted steak) tacos part of his regular routine over the past five years.
Jorge Martinez has been a loyal patron since 2012, and can often be found sitting at the front counter as his go-to order of suadero and longaniza sizzles on la plancha just a few feet away. “I always love to sit here next to César,” says Martinez. “I know him, we joke around, and I don’t know, it’s just a sort of family environment.”
When the taquería first opened, there were just a handful of seats and tables inside La Chaparrita. But as the popularity of the tacos grew, the taquería slowly took over more and more of the store. Some people have suggested that Mendez get rid of the store entirely to make space for the dining room, but as long as she is in charge she says the spot will retain its original DNA as La Chaparrita Grocery in both name and atmosphere. It is a representation of Mexico, she says, and the Lotería and other odds and ends available in the store resonate emotionally with customers.
Mendez’s sister owns a full-service restaurant called La Chaparrita #2, but at the original store the menu will stay true to the essence of Mexico City: flavorful meat, fresh cilantro and onions, a squeeze of lime – and no cheese.
