News of the dead goat strung up on the arm of the Harry Caray statue at Wrigley Field is more of a stomach-churner than an appetite whetter. But from this gory lemon, we intend to make lemonade: if you really are dedicated to overturning the Curse of the Billy Goat, may we suggest you go for something delicious rather than destructive?
Here are some of our picks for the best goat-based dishes to be found — but you’re on your own if you want to smuggle them into the park.
A good place to start is any of Chicago’s birrierias, Mexican restaurants that specialized in slow-roasted or stewed goat meat, extravagantly spiced and available in tacos, platters, soups, or however else the meat decides it wants to be served. Birrieria Reyes de Ocotlan is an old standby, and LTH-approved. Also worth checking out: Birria Huentitan, ‘El Guero’ at Maxwell Street Market on Sundays (that is, if you’re up for braving two sets of insane crowds in one day), and Birrieria Estila Jalisco.
If Mexican-style goat isn’t your style, swing by Caribbean American Bakery — they sell their curry goat patties (think empanadas, but with a flaky yellow pastry made with beef suet) by the case — enough for you to feed goat to your entire bleacher section. If it’s your day, you can get goat-head soup at Good to Go, where curry goat is also always on the menu, and at the almost Wrigley-adjacent Bolat African Cuisine, goat features as an option in a number of dishes, including a goat-pepper soup, goat with various rices, and fufu with peanut and goat.
At Chopal Kabab and Steak, goat gets spiced up subcontinental-style, served stewed with spinach or ground into rice. Ditto at the newly opened Chicago Curry House, where goat gets stewed bone-in with traditional Nepalese flavorings and spices.
[Small: paraflyer/Flickr]
