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Black bean taco with sweet potatoes, onions, vegan chipotle aioli, cilantro, and lime come three-to-an-order.
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Three tacos, one vegetarian, top the bill of fare. Companion pretzels with your choice of hot mustard or jalapeno cream cheese completed the tiny menu.
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Chef Brendan Kirby reserved a small corner of the bar for taco pick-ups.
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Kirby smoked whole chickens and pulled it for these beauties. He topped the chicken with a peppery-hot mango salsa, cilantro and lime, all on a soft flour tortilla.
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Civil-style Companion pretzels with house-made hot mustard. Alternately, you can order jalapeno cream cheese as your dip of choice.
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Two brave souls braved the stiff wind along with their taco-loving golden retriever who didn't seem to mind.
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Easter’s blustery winds whipped flags around the entry to Civil Life Brewing Company.
No doubt about it. Tacos are hot. Mission Taco Joint and Seoul Taco both added a second location in the past year. Taco Circus and Fort Taco opened.
April winds ushered in the first Taco Sunday at The Civil Life Brewing Company providing much comfort and joy on Easter afternoon. Alas, spring means the end of the popular Soup Sundays, but the tacos Brendan Kirby concocted brought spring to the plate. The lighter fare registered pitch perfect on a balmy day. Kirby’s kitchen-mate at Civil Life, Tony Collida, was welcoming spring to the plate at Wrigley Field at the Chicago Cubs opener but he will be part of the taco tag-team throughout the summer.
Here’s the plan moving forward. Civil Life will offer three varieties of tacos each week, three to a plate. Soft flour tortillas wrap up the not too fat, not too skinny fillings with a just-right balance of protein. Toppings accentuate the flavors in each. Careful attention to detail makes for handsome tacos, too.
As always, the politically polite brewery offers one vegetarian option and two choices for the carnivores.
You didn’t have to be a vegetarian to appreciate the black bean and sweet potato tacos Kirby offered on the inaugural Taco Sunday. Here’s how scrupulosity plays in the kitchen at Civil Life. Kirby cuts the sweet potatoes and onions in a dice similar in size to the black beans. He roasts the diced potatoes and seasons the beans just so. He makes the happy call to layer the two main ingredients rather than toss them together, which creates a visually pleasing taco. He whips up a vegan chipotle aioli, slices crunchy radishes into thin rounds and garnishes all with cilantro and lime wedges.
Kirby showcased two of my favorite foods in the smoked chicken tacos – pulled chicken and mango salsa, diced and spiced. Add chopped onions, a sprig or two of cilantro and a lime wedge. Need we say more?
Avenue tacos of smoked pulled pork topped with a spicy slaw, cilantro and onions proved a winner all-around. One friend loved the spicy slaw, with its crisp bite and pops of extra heat every now and again. Another favored the smoky pork with the vinegary hit from the slaw. I asked about the name.
“We call these avenue tacos because we don’t have the proper street cred to call them street tacos,” Kirby explained. Politely correct, as always.
“We have thousands of options for tacos. Last summer, the tacos outsold our Sunday offerings every time, so we decided we’d have tacos every Sunday. We’ve got the capabilities to smoke the meats and fish, even the vegetables, if we like. We can be inventive with sauces and toppings.”
As the weather warms, look for Taco Sundays to heat up. Wash down the tacos with a pint of Civil Life beer, or choose a glass of wine from the well-curated list at the brewery tasting room where civility, and wildly good tacos, reign on Sundays.
The Civil Life Brewing Company
3714 Holt
No business phone
Tue - Thurs: 4 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Fri - Sat: noon - 11 p.m.
Sun: noon - 7 p.m.
Closed Mon
Cash Only; ATM on premises
Website: thecivillife.com
Facebook: The Civil Life Brewing Company
Twitter: @TheCivilLife
