My Top 2 Places For Goat Birria In Chicago (According To A Local)

Birria is one of those meaty, slow-cooked comfort foods that hits pretty much any time of year. It's rich, warm, and full of complex chiles and spices. Though you can get beef versions, goat (aka birria de chivo) is my favorite because the meat has a mildly gamey element that gives it a distinct personality. There's a handful of Mexican restaurants in Chicago that serve it, but I just can't tear myself away from two regular spots, both of which are independently-run, family-owned establishments whose dishes taste like genuine home cooking. 

The first restaurant is called Barca Birrieria y Restaurant, and it's located in the northwest side of the city on the border between Kilbourn Park and Belmont Cragin. The place is quite small, with a counter and just a few tall tables, but its birria is standout. It's tender, impossibly juicy, and the consomme served with it is a light, brothy companion to the shreds of meat. You can get it in a really fun birria eggroll (which comes with a chile de árbol aioli) or in quesabirria format (those photogenic, cheesy birria dipping tacos that even Taco Bell got in on once), but my favorite is simply the birria plate, which is accompanied with handmade tortillas that are fluffy and aromatic, nearly floral in scent. Simply build your own taco (a trio of salsas, lime, onions, and cilantro come alongside), dip it in the consomme, and fill your soul with the goat meat you never knew you needed.

If there's one birria specialist that consistently comes up on best restaurant lists in Chicago, it's Birrieria Zaragoza. This restaurant is run by the Zaragoza family, and though they used to have two locations (the original one on the south side of the city is currently closed due to a fire), there's still one operating in Uptown in a former diner space. Its menu is very simple — mainly featuring small or large bowls or plates of birria. You can get bone-in or deboned goat meat, but I prefer bone-in to gnaw on the little extra bits of softened connective tissue. (That's probably a graphic way to describe it, but you carne aficionados know what I mean.)

The consomme here is light and clean, but my absolute favorite part of the menu is the option to get cabeza (specifically, head meat) in either a singular taco or plate form. Cabeza is particularly tender, soft, and full of flavor. You can also order a special salsa de molcajete which is made hot and served in a stone bowl known as a molcajete. Something to note is that both Barca and Birrieria Zaragoza manage to cook the goat perfectly to the point where it's barely gamey at all; you know it's not beef, but it's not musky either. When visitors come in from out of town, I oftentimes take them to either place, as both places serve such great plates of carefully-crafted food. Plus it feels like a hug, and that's how you know you're in the right place.