Mercadito & Chilam Balam

When a normal person is thinking about picking out a restaurant that won't upset their stomach...Mexican would most likely not make the list. On the contrary, for the gluten intolerant, Mexican is a tasty savior. Corn is naturally gluten-free, so if you choose either an authentic or upscale Mexican restaurant, they typically offer flour free corn tortillas.

This is the case with two new Mexican places that are swiftly making a name for themselves in Chicago. Mercadito is in River North on Kinzie and Chilam Balam is in Lakeview on Broadway.

The best things about Mercadito were the fun atmosphere (pictured left) and the Carnitas tacos (Michoacan style braised berkshire pork, chile de arbol coleslaw, toasted peanuts).

What made Chilam Balam great was the super attentive waitstaff and the Corn masa memeles w/ smokey black bean puree, goat cheese, and arbol chile salsa.

On top of all that, both places are very affordable.