A Borin-Chicago original

Chicago has always been known for great food and innovation in the culinary world, and its Latino community has made a notable contribution to the city’s list of originals.

The Jibarito, a Puerto Rican-Chicago signature dish, is a unique treat: tender seasoned steak, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, cheese and mayonnaise piled into a sandwich composed of two crispy strips of fried, green plantains smeared with garlic sauce.

Juan “Pete” Figueroa invented the Jibarito at his restaurant, Borinquen, in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. He drew his inspiration for the sandwich from many different Puerto Rican recipes. The sandwich has become so popular that it is now a staple in most Chicago Latin American restaurants offering sandwiches.

Figueroa doesn't seem to mind other restaurants copying and selling his delicious creation. “The way I see it, I’m never going to be able to feed the whole city," he says. "So I’m content with my share. Also, I’m humbled by the fact that so many restaurants have adopted my idea — as long as they do good work.”

The lesser-known mate to the Jibarito is the yet-to-be-famous Jibarita: with all the delicious ingredients as its male counterpart, it’s made with sweet plantains and requires a knife and fork to enjoy.

Café enlisted a team of in-house tasters (and some friends and relatives) to go out and taste the city’s various Jibaritos. The following is an evaluation of a select list of restaurants serving this original sandwich. They took into consideration six key elements when rating the sandwiches: the freshness and crispness of the plantain, the garlic sauce, the freshness of the vegetables, the tenderness and seasoning of the steak, the cheese and the messy factor.

Café Team of Tasters: Gina Santana, Julian Posada, Jenille Ramos, Alejandro Riera, Marillia Gutierrez, Ariel Gutierrez, Alberto Treviño, Vera Napoleon, Denise Carrasco and Jeremy Volk.

Borinquen Restaurant
1720 N. California Ave., Chicago
(773) 227-6038
www.borinquenjibaro.com

Platano: The plaintain was well seasoned, crispy on the outside, but a bit too greasy. We loved its thickness.

Special Sauce: The garlic oil sauce was used and, although it provided extra flavor, it contributed to the greasy factor.

Steak: The steak was well seasoned and tender, but was overwhelmed by the garlic sauce, the cheese and the mayo.

Vegetables: Crispy and fresh lettuce and tomato provided a necessary balance.

Cheese: More than flavor, the yellow American cheese mostly provided texture. Some of us are not exactly sure if it was necessary, some of us did not mind its presence at all.

Messy Factor: It's a sandwich made with tostones... of course it's going to be messy! But the overall flavor and originality makes up for it. On our second visit we were surprised at how well all the elements held together. There was no slipping and sliding of ingredients as we happily munched away.

TOTAL RATING: 4 Cafecitos

Papa's Cache Sabroso
2517 W. Division St., Chicago
(773) 862-8313

Platano: The thin plaintains were cooked to perfection: crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Special Sauce: No special garlic oil sauce was detected. Not that it needed it, though. The overall flavor was well balanced. Kudos for the addition of the caramelized onions to the recipe in our second visit.

Steak: Juicy, tender, thin and well seasoned, the steak ruled this sandwich.

Vegetables: Fresh, crispy and plenty.

Cheese: In our first visit, we were served the jibarito the traditional way: with yellow American cheese. It did not overpower the flavors at all and blended just right. Oh, but where we in for a surprise when we went there a week later: White American cheese was used, but the flavor was barely detected.

Messy Factor: Considering how well all the elements come together, how there is virtually no special garlic sauce included, we were surprised at how the steak sometimes seemed to slip away from the sandwich. Not that we mind.

TOTAL RATING: 5 Cafecitos

Ponce Place (formerly known as El Vigia)
3612 W. North Ave., Chicago
(773) 698-8314

Platano: Came out hot and fresh, but was not crisp enough and quickly fell apart upon raising the sandwich to take a bite. The thickness was good, and it was perfectly ripened for a rich, natural flavor.

Special Sauce: A pasty spread as opposed to a chopped garlic and oil mixture. Very tasty. Good balance of oil to garlic ratio.

Steak: A very generous portion of meat piled high. It was dry, yet tender. The flavor was rather bland.

Vegetables: Lettuce and tomato were fresh and tasty. Lettuce was chopped and plentiful which made the jibarito slippery.

Cheese: No cheese, instead there was a generous helping of delicious grilled onions.

Messy Factor: Pile of meat combined with lots of chopped lettuce and grilled onions made for a very slippery, sloppy Jibarito. After the third bite and five napkins, we had to completely give up and use fork and knife. Not much in terms of presentation.

TOTAL RATING: 2 Cafecitos

La Bomba Restaurant
3221 W. Armitage Ave., Chicago
(773) 394-0106

Platano: Crispy and fresh, but not enough of it to be considered the covering for a sandwich. Good thickness lent for a nice crisp.

Steak: Thin, yet somewhat tough, with vinegar seasoning.

Special Sauce: Good garlic sauce, but the sandwich could have used more of it.

Vegetables: Fresh, nice crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes, although our serving was too light on the latter. Loved the added touch of grilled onions.

Cheese: None, unless you ask for it.

Messy Factor: Not at all.

TOTAL RATING: 3 Cafecitos

Cocina Boricua
2420 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago
(773) 235-7377

Platano: Served quickly and hot, but not crispy and a little too oily. It also lacked flavor.

Special Sauce: The sauce for some of our Cafeteros was too greasy and oily for their liking, although others enjoyed the excess sauce.

Steak: The steak had little juice and was a little fatty but still tender. Some found the steak to be “low-quality taco style” but good.

Vegetables: One of our tasters did not like the small pieces of lettuce because they got soggy fast. Others found the vegetables very fresh.

Cheese: We loved the white cheese used in the Jibarito.

Messy Factor: The sandwich was cut in half and was very difficult to handle. One of our tasters had to restack the sandwich several times. Others did not mind the mess and enjoyed the extra mayo. 

TOTAL RATING: 3 Cafecitos

Café Central
1437 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago
(773) 243-6776

Platano: Very crispy, hot and fresh platanos. Great presentation: soft inside and the right thickness.

Special Sauce: Some of our tasters loved the garlic sauce and felt the right amount was used. Others wanted more.

Steak: We found the steak very juicy, tender and most edible and wanted more of it. One of our tasters was given a lechon jibarito instead of a steak one and found it equally good.

Vegetables: We really enjoyed the freshness of the vegetables, the big thin slices of tomato and the nicely grilled onions.

Cheese: The cheese looked like Velveeta: not bad but not good either.

Messy Factor: Cut in half and nicely displayed, the Jibarito was not a mess.

TOTAL RATING: 4 Cafecitos