Lili's Diner

Chilaquiles

My mouth is watering all over again. This is the ultimate in hangover food -- cheesy, spicy, eggy, chewy, hot and toothsome. If there were bacon in it, I might weep. But actually, this is one of those rare instances where bacon would be gilding the cheese-clogged lily, pun intended. You can't swing an empty Wild Turkey bottle in the streets of Chicago without hitting a place serving up their version of chilaquiles. Here in Springfield, they are a little harder to come by. Lili's serves up a truly delightful interpretation of the dish, perhaps one of the best I've ever had: tortilla chips stewed in a spicy red tomato sauce with peppers, onions and cross-sections of pickled jalapeno, topped with eggs (in this case scrambled) and melted cheese. And that's real cheese, folks. Not cheese sauce. Big difference.

Even with the jalapenos and zippy Ranchero sauce, the dish was not overly hot. There was just enough kick to wake up the tastebuds -- and just enough cheese to temper the heat on the occasions when it did get a little spicy. The sides comprised a large serving of Mexican rice and some very tasty refried beans. Sour cream, tortillas and chopped red onion came on the side but I didn't even touch those. I only had eyes for the chilaquiles. This is an enormous amount of very good food or $5.99. I embarrassed myself with the quantity I ate.

Although it's not mentioned on the menu, they are also available with a tomatillo-garlic-onion verde sauce (which I had on another visit) and they are incredible. The ranchero sauce is heartier and more spicy, but the verde sings. It sings, people. I recommend it in every and all incarnations.