Taqueria Chingon to Close in Bucktown

Despite national and local acclaim, one of Chicago’s best taquerias is closing at the end of the month. Taqueria Chingón, a small taco shop in Bucktown will shutter on Tuesday, November 26.

Co-owner Oliver Poilevey says he chef Marcos Ascencio discussed three options — to continue with the status quo and try to make things work, to reconcept, or to sell the building. They opted for No. 3.

“Life’s too short to deal with this, and we’re just not making enough money, and it seems like the odds are stacked against us for, at least, this current iteration,” Poilevey says.

Owned by the family behind the iconic French restaurant Le Bouchon, Chingón opened in December 2020 as carryout-only at 2234 N. Western Avenue. Even during prime COVID, the restaurant rose in the ranks as one of the top spots for tacos in the city due to attention to detail and quality ingredients. The taqueria provided a launching pad for Poilevey and Ascencio to open two acclaimed restaurants, Obelix in River North and Mariscos San Pedro in Pilsen. Chingón provided Ascencio, a Chicago native, with a larger stage. The food was reminiscent of the backyard barbecues the chef would throw at home.

Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago

Oliver and his brother, Nicolas Poilvey, run Le Bouchon, a family-owned staple since 1993. The younger generation has applied their stamp on the restaurant, which is dressing up for Halloween as Red Lobster. Reservations are fully booked.

Detractors still see tacos as cheap eats, oblivious to the time and labor. They’ve been programmed by Taco Bell at an early age. At Chingón, premium came with a higher price, a zone where the staff was comfortable residing — the goal was to give Chicago something different. An octopus taco carved off the trompo is an example.

There’s hope that Poilevey and Ascencio could bring the restaurant back to a new location. Poilevey says it would be great to partner with someone with capital like they’re doing in Pilsen with 16” on Center and Mariscos San Pedro. He insisted that the restaurant in Thalia Hall, which opened over the summer, has zero impact on the decision to close Chingón.

Though they were doing some prep work for Chingón at a downstairs kitchen in Obelix, the Poileveys’ River North restaurant, there still wasn’t enough room. More space for the kitchen and indoor seating — something Chingón doesn’t possess — are essential for future success. Without indoor seating, the winters are quiet for the restaurant.

“This winter, we’re just going to kind of just chill out a little bit and just focus on what we have,” Poilevey says. “I’m really, really confident that there will be a 2.0 somewhere and that we’ll be able to hit the ground running.”

Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago

Increased competition is another factor. For example, Tacombi — a chain backed by millions from Shake Shake founder Danny Meyer — arrived in Chicago last year. They’ve been receiving recent attention after the chain announced a special collaboration with El Califa de León, Mexico City’s only Michelin-starred taqueria. Partnering with El Califa lends credibility to Tacombi, a chain with 19 locations in New York, Chicago, Florida, and the D.C. area. They have plans for 60 new locations in the next five years or so. Taco chains like Tacombi, Bodega, and Velvet Taco have saturated Chicago. Poilevey also mentions Big Star, the taco brand from One Off Hospitality Group, which has locations in Wicker Park, West Town, and Wrigleyville.

“If you’re Big Star, you’re selling — you know — a bunch of margaritas every day,” Poilevey says. “You can make it that way. But if you’re not, then it’s just the price of food, the prices of labor for making food. It’s just hard to make it as a small business.”

From 2020 to 2023, or so, the city of Chicago was backed up with permit requests dealing with the pandemic. Poilevey says it took an abnormal amount of time, two years, to secure a liquor license for Chingón — which happened in 2023. Apparently, a previous landlord remodeled the space — they moved a door — without the required city permit. The city took its frustrations out on Chingón, even though they had nothing to do with the change, and delayed issuing the liquor license. That delay stained Chingón’s reputation, as customers typecast the restaurant as a to-go-only operation, rather than what Poilevey imagined, a place to hang out with drinks on the patio.

Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago

Beyond the advantage of consistent liquor sales, delivery plays a big role in the modern restaurant with third-party delivery companies wielding increasing influence. That’s created a different breed of competition when chains, that can better afford the fees administered by DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub, are pitted against independents.

Poilevey says the city’s recklessness played another role last summer when crews severed a sewer line causing flooding to his property: “We basically had to cancel the whole summer because the city fucked up,” he says.

It also prevented Poilevey from renting out the house behind the restaurant. They paid about $25,000 in repairs without any accountability or aid from the city: “I’m getting pretty jaded with this city, as far as, like — you know — being friendly toward small businesses like us,” Poilevey says.

“I just wish the city was just a little bit more helpful and friendly, and wanted us to succeed a little bit more,” he adds. “I don’t want a whole city full of chain restaurants.”

Taqueria Chingón, closing on November 26 at 2234 N. Western Avenue