It appeared to be nothing but family and friends eating at Cafe 28 the other night, seeing that the owner warmly greeted and briefly sat with just about every table in the place.
The visitors may have simply been neighborhood people who come back often to the kind of just-around-the-corner restaurant where the door is propped open to catch the warm air and it’s easy to stop in for a meal, a glass of wine from the bottle you brought (liquor license on the way), and a seat by the window where you can read the paper.
It’s that kind of casual here. The tile-topped wooden service counter elbows up to a refrigerated display case holding soda and a few desserts. One of the cooks wanders out to chat with the servers when the room isn’t too busy; maybe sometimes an employee pulls down one of the cookbooks stacked on the shelf over the counter.
Open since October 1995, Cafe 28 doesn’t make any grand statements.
Nothing in the room indicates the Latin flavor of the menu until the document itself is presented. On it, a fairly short list of choices ranges from Southwestern-seasoned sauteed vegetables and Mexican tamales to Caribbean-styled pork with pineapple salsa and coconut rice.
This is at dinner, the meal at our visit; Cafe 28 also is open for breakfast (eggs and pancakes) and lunch (salads, sandwiches and hot specials).
To start, the South of the Border won tons ($3.75), arrive hot and crunchy but slightly less exciting than advertised. Won ton wrappers are filled with just trace amounts of chopped poblano chilies, sliced sauteed mushrooms and cheese. Deep-frying makes the won tons puff up, only to collapse into a lot of air when bitten into; the flavor is there, faintly, and could make a much bigger impact if made by a more generous hand.
More of a mouthful are the green tamales ($5.25), cylinders of ground corn and cheese heavily flecked with chopped peppers and served on corn-husk boats. Lighten the bitesfor the texture only, this isn’t a hot dishwith dabs of sour cream.
After your “primero,” pick an entree, one of the “especiales.” You’ll find a few Latin culinary terms on the menu that aren’t explained and are certainly less familiar than the salsa fresca you see on every bar menu.
But for the most part, our choices were exotic in name only. The arroz con pollo imperial ($8.25) (chicken and rice to us country folk) is heaped on the plate, warm and filling, but with a one-note tomato flavor. The chicken is tender and the yellow rice soft with juices, but everything needs more spice; salt, even.
Likewise the ropa vieja ($9.50), a slow-cooked dish of shredded beef, is billed as having “plenty of garlic, spices, peppers and onions” but doesn’t really taste of anything so pungent. Better to be bland with the sides of white rice and black beans, which together could make a simple meal, especially if served with a big plate of the fried plantains. Here, they are really splendid; sliced and cooked to pillowy softness with a caramelized char at the edges. Yum.
Dessert options are limited. Keep an eye out for the baked goods on display, such as a sliced marble poundcake; at breakfast, pick up a warm, buttery scone, made in-house, for a great start.
Cafe 28
(one fork)
1800 W. Irving Park Rd.
773-528-2883
Hours: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Mon.; 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tues.-Sat.; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sun.
Credit cards: A, M, V
Ratings: 4 forks: Top of the class 3 forks: Better than most2 forks: Very good fare 1 fork: Middle of the road
