Little Village

Chicago is home to a huge and vibrant Mexican-American community, but nowhere is that more readily and genuinely felt than the Little Village neighborhood on the city’s West Side. A tiled, terra cotta gateway emblazoned with ‘bienvenidos’ warmly welcomes visitors to experience the supermarkets, taquerias and countless carts and vendors hawking churros, tamales and other authentic Mexican street foods. As one might expect, the annual Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo fiestas in Little Village are among the biggest such celebrations in the city.

Little Village/South Lawndale: A Fiesta for the Senses

Written by Alan Solomon, with research assistance from the Chicago Neighborhood Tourism Project.

The terra cotta gateway at 26th Street, the one with the tiled roof, says "Bienvenidos" -- and suddenly it's as if you're not in Chicago anymore.

This is Little Village, the kinder, gentler name given the community once known as (and still officially listed as) South Lawndale. Park the car and walk, and listen, and sniff, and taste . . . and enjoy.

According to the 2000 census, Chicago has more than 500,000 residents of Mexican descent. Of the communities where the concentration is strong (and there are several throughout the city), none feels as thoroughly Mexican as this one.

It begins west of California Avenue at 26th Street. Within a couple of blocks, Mexican flags fly. Or droop, depending on the Chicago winds.

The mural on the wall of El Milagro Tortilleria, unlike many murals in these communities, doesn't portray the myths and legends of pre-Columbian Mexico or popular post-revolutionary themes; this mural, with its contemporary faces, celebrates this Chicago neighborhood. 

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