22 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe anchor glencoe glencoeanchor.com Daily reading... Stay informed on your schools and your sports teams every day with unmatched coverage at GlencoeAnchor.com ...With extra credit Access to 7 local-news sites, Breaking News alerts, Best-of emails and more Support your favorite hometown news for just $3.25/month Starting at $3 25 a month! Subscribe today at GlencoeAnchor.com/Plus or scan the QR for a direct link
glencoeanchor.com dining out the glencoe anchor | August 15, 2019 | 23 La Plancha Loca plants roots in Highwood following Taco Fest success Olivia Vallone Editorial Intern 2 The building at 548 Sheridan Road was a diner, dry cleaner, two hair salons and a Metro PCS store before finally becoming home to the unique taqueria La Plancha Loca. Jorge Blancas owns the shop and runs it with his son Jorge Jr., both of Northfield. They decided to name their taqueria La Plancha Loca since in Spanish, “plancha” can mean flat top, which is what they cook their tacos on, and Jorge was called “loco” by his close friends because of how much he worked. Plus, the name is catchy and hard to forget, according to Jorge. “We built everything as a family you know,” Jorge Jr. said. “Which is really cool, everything is handmade.” The pair started their taco business by catering different events. Eventually they worked their way up to participating in the North Shore Taco Fest and won two years in a row. “That really motivated us to open this place cause we were like ‘OK, the taco fest is happening here and this is where we’re getting the support and we want to open [the taqueria] in Highwood,’” Jorge Jr. said. So far, Jorge and Jorge Jr. have had their store open for three months after working on it and building it for almost a year. They are grateful for the support from the Highwood community and have gotten a lot of positive feedback. La Plancha Loca is a very family-oriented business, all the taco recipes they got from living in La Plancha Loca offers fried shrimp tacos ($3.50 each), served with a slaw and peppers on top of a corn tortilla. Photos by Erin Yarnall/22nd Century Media Michoacán, Mexico. Before they opened, Jorge Jr.’s grandmothers came in from Mexico to do a quality assurance check on the salsas and other food to be served. Jorge reported that they passed the test. “Growing up in Mexico, the tacos here really didn’t compare,” Jorge Jr. said. “So we decided to open up a taqueria and bring authentic flavors from our home.” Jorge Jr. explained that a normal taqueria is not supposed to be a sit down place like a restaurant. Visitors are supposed to be able to talk right to the cooks in the kitchen and see the tacos they ordered being made right in front of them. La Plancha Loca gives customers that exact authentic experience. Along with the authentic food and experience, Jorge has decorations all over the taqueria to remind everyone of Michoacán. The little sombreros and pictures on the wall are from their hometown in Mexico. La Plancha Loca 548 Sheridan Road, Highwood (847) 748-8028 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday 10-12 a.m. Friday- Saturday 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday A group from 22nd Century Media were invited to try some of La Plancha Loca’s signature dishes. The family brought out some of their favorite original tacos. The chef first brought out some homemade chips with guacamole, pico de gallo and three different homemade salsas. One of them is an avocado salsa which has a surprise kick at the end. The first taco Jorge wanted us to try was the Gringa ($3.50), which is al pastor (marinated pork) with melted cheese on a flour tortilla. “It’s almost like a Mexican shawarma,” Jorge Jr. said about the meat in the taco. “It actually came from shawarma, they brought it from over there to Mexico and Mexicans loved it. They just put their own spice to it and put it on a spin and that’s Al Pastor.” Though they have almost every meat imaginable to fill their tacos, Jorge and his son want to have something for everyone. Therefore, they have a vegan taco available called the vegetariano ($2.99), which one of our editors, who is a vegetarian, loved. Inside this taco they have soy chorizo, which tastes almost exactly like the real thing. According to Jorge Jr., they plan to add more vegetarian options in the future to accomodate all eaters. Next, Jorge Jr. brought out some of his own creations for us to sample. He had the idea for the two shrimp tacos on the menu, the fried shrimp ($3.50) and the plancha shrimp ($3.50). The fried shrimp is so thick that the chef put the meat on two tortillas so it The restaurant’s vegetariano taco ($2.99 each) is allvegetarian, made with soy chorizo and topped with Mexican cactus, onion and cilantro. The gringas ($3.50 each) are flour tortillas filled with al pastor and Chihuahua cheese. The al pastor taco ($2.60 each) is made with marinated pork and served on a corn tortilla with cilantro and onion. would be enough to cover the fish. The plancha shrimp on the other hand is cooked on the flat top grill. La Plancha Loca also has regular al pastor ($2.60), campechano ($2.60), diablos ($2.99) and Jorge’s favorite, lengua ($2.99), among many others. Right before the editors left, Jorge Jr. mentioned that the taqueria had plans to switch to reusable containers in place of plastic bags in the coming months. La Plancha Loca also has a Taco Tuesday deal, when select tacos are $2 a piece.
- Page 1: ® fresh new look Construction proj
- Page 4 and 5: 4 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe a
- Page 6 and 7: 6 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe a
- Page 8 and 9: 8 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe a
- Page 10 and 11: 10 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 12 and 13: 12 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 14 and 15: 14 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 16 and 17: 16 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 18 and 19: 18 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 20 and 21: 20 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 24 and 25: 24 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 26 and 27: 26 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 28 and 29: 28 | August 15, 2019 | The glencoe
- Page 30 and 31: to them or ask her teammates, “Oh
- Page 32: the glencoe anchor | August 15, 201