PILSEN — A new restaurant and bar focused on Mexican street fare is now open on Blue Island Avenue in Pilsen.
Francisco "Paco" Ruiz, owner of popular Bullhead Cantina in Humboldt Park, opened Twisted Bull in the old Efebina's Cafe last week. Ruiz, a longtime restaurateur and former architect who grew up in Little Village, said he has long dreamed of opening a restaurant in Pilsen.
"I would come here with my father and eat tacos in the early '80s," Ruiz remembered. "I always wanted to come back and do a restaurant that was Mexican but incorporates the American culture as well — both of great worlds together."
Ruiz is a first generation Mexican-American who graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago and Kendall College, and his parents immigrated to the United States from San Luis Potesi in central Mexico, he said. Twisted Bull's menu is influenced by the region, he said.
Francisco "Paco" Ruiz, owner of Bullhead Cantina in Humboldt Park, opened Twisted Bull in Pilsen last week. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
The menu includes a variety of traditional Mexican street food, including elote — Mexican grilled corn on the cob ($4) — chips and guacamole with roasted poblano peppers ($8), a street torta ($8), homemade tamales (2 for $8) and carnitas tacos ($3 each).
The bar also offers up a number of vegetarian options, including a cactus salad ($8) grilled sweet potato and portobello tacos ($3 each).
Twisted Bull will also feature a daily $7 special featuring a taco, a shot of whiskey and a PBR, Schlitz or Old Style tallboy. Craft cocktails are $2 off every Friday, Ruiz said.
During the day, the restaurant will continue to offer coffee to serve Efebina's Cafe's former clientele and it will continue to feature local art.
Bullhead Cantina at 1143 N. California Ave. opened in 2012.
With a kitchen that stays open late, Twisted Bull is open 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays and Sundays, and 11 a.m.-1:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed Mondays.
The bar at Twisted Bull in Pilsen. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
Twisted Bull is now open at 1640 S. Blue Island Ave. in Pilsen. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
Twisted Bull is now open at 1640 S. Blue Island Ave. in Pilsen. [DNAinfo/Stephanie Lulay]
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