Photography: (interior) Rip Garcia Photography; (jibarito) Jasmine Deleon
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
In 1996, Juan “Peter” Figueroa, the owner of a Puerto Rican restaurant in Humboldt Park, came up with a curious invention inspired by a sandwich from his home island: a pile of thinly sliced marinated pork, beef, or chicken topped with cheese, onion, tomato, shredded lettuce, and garlic aïoli and pressed between two flattened pieces of fried plantain. He called his creation the jibarito, named after the island’s jibaros, or rural folks. Imitators have since abounded all over town, but only Borinquen, now in a new location, serves a sandwich made from the original recipe. From $7; 3811 N. Western Ave., North Center