Chicago's Jibarito falls apart in Puerto Rico
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The Jibarito sandwich with a side of trifongo at La Fonda del Jibarito in San Juan Puerto Rico. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
I recently spent a few days in Puerto Rico visiting family and eating lots of food including an island version of the Chicago-invented jibarito sandwich.
Backstory: Humboldt Park restaurateur Juan C. Figueroa started serving this steak sandwich using fried green plantain planks as bread in the mid-1990s at his Puerto Rican restaurant Borinquen.
- In the intervening decades it has spread to cities all over the country and even back to Puerto Rico, where I found it in San Juan's old city at a spot called Restaurante el Jibarito or La Fonda del Jibarito depending on which sign at this location you follow.
The sandwich: Disappointing. The plantain planks came out broken and filled with — not ribeye, pork or any of other Chicago faves but — some weird cheesy Salisbury steak for $19.95.
- Yes, but the sandwich does come with a tasty trifongo (breadfruit, plantain and yuca fritter) on the side. Has anyone ever seen this in Chicago?
The bottom line: When trying "Chicago treats" in other cities, I often brace for the worst but here I expected something better.
- I guess we can chalk it up to another delicacy Chicago does better than any other place in the world.