Primo Chuki’s

simply the best al pastor anywhere… primo chuki is very friendly you gotts comebin and say que «pasa primo!»

So, so good. If I could give them 6 stars I totally would. The reason this taqueria is amazing is because they make everything fresh to order and all their food is made with a lot of care and quality. Their chef is outstanding and he’s very friendly to all his guests. I’ve found myself eating here for dinner as well as lunch and late night meals. The prices are great (most tacos are less than $ 2), and it’s not some flashy hipster taco joint. It’s local, real, honest and high-​quality and that’s what makes a great restaurant. Try the chorizo taco or chorizo anything and you won’t regret it! Have a little bit of the red salsa, it’s super spicy but tastes great. PRIMO!

I come here all the time on my lunch break. The front of this taqueria is poorly laid out — there’s nowhere to form a line for the cash register because service desk is so close to the window. They serve refried beans with their tortilla chips, which I find odd but delicious all the same. Their burritos and tacos get the job done. The servers are friendly and accommodating.

Yep. Fresh ingredients and flavorful, perfectly presented food (burritos that don’t fall apart!) Cool staff, fast service, open late. Go.

Excellent tacos and very friendly service. Can be a little slow on water refills but that’s not really why you come in the door. Al pastor is delicious and highly recommended.

The best Tacos in Lincoln Square! Plus that red hot sauce is outstanding. Primo is always so kind to his guests he greets them all when they enter his restaurant. Great service, dine in or carry out. And those Candies at the register are authentic Mexican sweet candies. I know them well my great aunt used to make them back in Mexico. Authentic delicious food and a great price. Enough said! Gracias Primo!

I live very nearby and visit Primo Chuki’s often. I’m always satisfied with the quickly prepared and delicious food. Today, however, I walked in late in the evening and the man whom I assume is Primo himself was standing near the grill with his jacket on, clearly preparing to leave. Before I could react he greeted me with a smile and immediately took his jacket off, stopped over at the hand-​sink, then returned to the grill. One of the regular cashiers took my order, and within 15 minutes my food was finished, and as delicious as ever.
I know this isn’t the biggest deal in the world, but it really meant a lot to me. These are good, hard working folks who make fantastic food. Give them a shot.

Increible!
While this place looks more like something you would stumble into in the wee hours of the morning it’s quite phenomenal no matter what your substance intake. Huge tacos for under $ 2 a piece, done your way, traditional or grill. Flavorful meats! Their chorizo es muy bueno and the the chicken and steak tacos are delicioso. Rumor has it the al pastor is some of the best in the land — guess I’ll have to go find out myself.
Drunk? Sober? Come on over! Less than $ 10 and your own your way to Flavortown!

Wow! La comida esta exquisita y el ambiente muy agradable, el servicio muy bueno. Me la pase increíble. Muchas gracias por traernos nuestra comida mexicana. y es BYOB.

I’ve driven by this place for quite some time. Man, am I glad that I stopped in for lunch today! $ 1.50 tacos on Tuesday and Thursday. Had the al pastor after seeing the beautiful hunk on the spit. Probably the best that I’ve ever eaten outside of Mexico. Beware of the red sauce, it’s FLAMING HOT!

Their Al Pastor burritos are the best, and the people who work there are really nice.
I also like that they’re open later than many places in the area. Great late night drunk food.

Solid Solid Solid no thrill Mexican in Ravenswood/​Uptown.
The Al Pastor is the real deal and the ladies behind the counter are always nice to me.
I like to roll up in the mini-​van and bring steak tacos home to my bride as well. She’s always thankful.

Driving past one night I caught the name on the sign and thought the name resembled that of a friend’s dog. Dog’s name is pronounced «Chooki». It’s probably a far ways off, but due to its similar sound, I decided to order some take-​out. It was late night and I was headed farther West, in the direction of another late night taqueria on Lawrence. But, seeing as that there were a number of people exiting, I thought «why not» try something different. For some reason, although they kept late hours, many lights were off and the scene didn’t look inviting.
I got my usual take-​out order. Chicken burrito with slices of jalapeño and a lengua taco. (I’m always curious as to whether a taco shop can prepare lengua (cow tongue, properly.) I’ve said this in other reviews of taco shops but something of a consistent nightmare is when I ask for chilis or jalapeño slices to be added to my burrito. I feel that they, as counter people, would get this often request, but for some reason the cooks acts like its a foreign request. Perhaps this is a request best made in espanol! I’ve come across Latinos that had the same request. A little spice!
So, I get home carrying my spoils in a brown bag and before I make it to the front door, splat went my burrito hitting the ground! It was wrapped but soiled and wet. At some point, my burrito had had its period. Leaking juices from its wrapping and causing the bag to tear. I don’t freak out when shit happens, I just deal. So I walked calmly into the house, got a plate, returned and brought the burrito inside. (Are you wondering about my taco? The taco was okay, I caught it before it hit the floor. But it too was soiled in burrito juice.) Apparently, because of the way the bag was packed, all the sauces inside the burrito started to leak out making everything messy.
Imagine how wet it gets for a doctor when delivering a baby. That’s essentially how my burrito eating went down. Hands and face soiled. I needed a fuckin’ bib. But, here’s where I have to interject with talking about the jalapeño slices I requested earlier.
So, for some dumbass reason, the cook added an entire jalapeño into my burrito. He didn’t bother cutting it into slices or dicing it. Instead, he made cuts into its sides lengthwise and inserted the whole (fucking) thing into the base of the burrito. It was a big ass jalapeño (4−5″ in length). My first bite got an enormous chunk of spicy jalapeño. Immediately, the roof of my mouth, my throat and my tongue burned! Pleasure became poison and I spit the contents of my mouth. (Most times when ordering and requesting a spicy element, cooks will offer diced jalapeño or slices of it to be added into a burrito or topped on a taco. Cooks or chefs that care, understand how hot a jalapeño can be and wouldn’t want to ruin the experience with too much pepper. Much of the time with these diner-​type-​taquerias, they can be fucking lazy. Instead of cutting down a jalapeño, they’d rather throw whatever crap into it.)
30 minutes later once resentment and spice poisoning subsided, I finished eating. Yes, I removed the whole jalapeño. My stomach ached, however.
Seeing the glowing reviews by other reviewers makes me ponder whether I should (have) ordered my food bland. They offered decent tasting salsas that could add heat, if needed.
One last gripe. at the order counter was a display case of desserts. The desserts /​snacks in that case were Indian Ghee sweets. Not Mexican or of Latin origination. I inquired about them and whether they were Mexican. The counter-​person said, «Yes, they are Mexcan!» Are you sure? I’ve never seen these in any other shop nor have I seen Mexican sweets like these, you make it here? «No, the owner brings it here from somewhere else» Yeah, I’m thinking Devon avenue. (I think it’s cool to see integration of other cultures’ foods shared, but give correct information and if you don’t know, be honest. Since there are Latinos that often work kitchens across many cultures of foods, I’m sure there are chefs out there with knowledge of preparing many types of foods.)
Perhaps by ordering bland foods or straight off the menu in the future, I could appreciate their work. Or… well, fuck that noise, there are plenty of other taco joints to try.

Excellent al pastor AND parking!
Very unassuming storefront on Lawrence ave serves great al pastor. Steak tacos were serviceable but the pastor is the best I’ve had in the city.
Unique offering-​refried beans with your chips. Delicious!
Only downside is the place is small with competing televisions and unsupervised kids (at least today anyway) so it was chaotic. The solution? Take out.
Very affordable-​tacos are $ 1.90, except on tue-​thur when they are $ 1.50. I’ll definitely make this a regular stop!

Primo Chucki’s these are probably the best tacos I ever had. I ordered 3 tacos — 1 chorizo & 2 steak tacos they were delicious. The seasoning was awesome with just the right amount. They also give you chips with a seasoned bean dip in lieu of salsa. The red sauce has some real kick. I loved it
The prices are very reasonable and great food. I have to come back and try some other dishes

As good as the reviews say it is. GREAT CHICAGO TACOS!
We stopped here after a night of partying and we are so glad we did. I have only one thing to say…
AL PASTOR ON THE SPIT!!! Authentic, AMAZING, Fresh even at 12am, and most importantly CUT TO ORDER. (A lot of places cut it in advance and reheat)
The steak was really good too, not the best I’ve ever had but worthy enough to come back again.
Green Salsa was GOOD! Fresh Cilantro and Onions! Will be coming back to this place for sure to try more things!

Primo’s serves up al pastor tacos that are tough to beat at this price point. They’re only $ 1.50 on Tues & Thurs. Staff is friendly, generous portions and the ingredients are all very fresh. Check them out if you’re looking for al pastor on the Northside.

Very nice server :)
$ 6.99 3 taco dinner: (best to least)
1) Al pastor was very flavorful… still again, needed salting.
2) Carne asada taco is good but still needs salting?
3) Lengua taco needs more flavor/​salting
4) Cabeza taco also needs flavor/​salting
I don’t know if the cook forgot to salt my meats? But that’d be a kind of weird thing to forget about. Or maybe that’s a feat here? To choose your own level of salting?
Anyway, besides sauce and lime, I’ve rarely had to do my own legwork of salting a taco (prob had to do it one other time). It’s unfortunate because they place a good amount of [tender] meats in their tacos, it just needs salting. And that’s a lot coming from me – I’m very sensitive with over-​salting. If they fix this, this place would be my go-​to.

Yes to Primo Chuki’s! We eat here a couple times a month, because the food is excellent, Chuki is so friendly, and as my partner’s grandmother said, with food this cheap, you can hardly afford to eat at home.
There are a lot of vegetarian options (chilaquiles, enchiladas, torta, taco, burrito, tostada, chiles rellenos), and we usually go with the veggie tacos or burrito, which come stuffed with refried beans, rice, avocado, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, and red and green salsa, both of which are fabulous.
The veggie tacos are only $ 1.90, except Tuesdays and Thursdays, when all tacos are $ 1.50. You will be stuffed on 3; sometimes 2 will fill me up. The burrito is less than $ 6 and huge. Almost too much to eat in one sitting (but I always do anyway).
We usually take our food to go because we live nearby, but they do have table service. And a parking lot, if you come by car. Free Wi-​Fi too!
Also, they are open late! I think they close at 2 or 3 am.

It is a real boon to have reliable taquerias so close to my house, especially on wintry work-​from-​home days. (Although I hope that we have left those behind us for a while.) Primo Chucki’s is newer and takes its place near the head of the Lawrence Avenue Taco Corridor pantheon.
The carnitas and the chicken were a little weak, although I appreciated the real quality pulled chicken meat. After that it is nothing but hits. Chorizo, great. Asada, even better. Al pastor, superb! Chucki’s asada is neither bland nor chewy like most places.
On top of the super tacos, the green salsa is muy bueno. The red doesn’t taste like anything but heat to me, but the green is perfectly balanced and jazzes up all of the tacos very nicely.
The tall guy behind the grill always shouts warm greetings and thank-​yous. Making customers feel appreciated is a plus!

Primo Chucki’s serves up some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. The staff is also incredibly friendly. Their red salsa is not something to mess around with.
I could go on and on about how great they are, but then you’re wasting your time reading this… when you could be heading over there and chowing down on some fantastic Al Pastor Tacos ($ 1.50 on Tues/​Thurs!)