- Mike Sula
- The mole bar at Cremeria La Ordeña #2
Back in October, when I wrote about the great southwest-side Guerrerense grocery Cremeria La Ordeña, owner Nicolas Aguado mentioned that he and partner Luciano Dominguez were scouting locations in Albany Park for a second spot to sell their hard-to-find cheeses, meats, beans, and moles. Yet I had no idea Ordeña #2 would top the original location in its amazing mole selection. Located on a bustling stretch of Lawrence Avenue, the store has a long mole bar with 13—count ’em!—different imported moles (not counting the packaged Teloloapan brand). North-siders take heed: that’s five more than the south-side location, which makes Albany Park the mole capital of Chicago. All are sold by weight and are available for sampling before purchase.
- Mike Sula
- Cremeria La Ordeña #2’s mole especial in action
I recently took home their mole especial because it packed a slow burn underneath the slightly bitter chocolate, and wasn’t as sweet as some of the others.
- Mike Sula
- House-made chorizo and rellena moronga, Cremeria La Ordeña #2
Ordeña #2 has nearly the entire collection of treasures that the south-side location does (though I didn’t see any jumiles): all the great dairy products, fantastic chorizo, a blood sausage called rellena moronga, some 13 different kinds of dried beans, candied fruit, nuts and other seasoned snackables, and a bunch of other things I hadn’t seen before, like big jars of huitlacoche, ground canary seeds (good for diabetes and hypertension), tiny purple tomatillos, bee pollen, and on and on.
- Mike Sula
- Beans and dairy, Cremeria La Ordeña #2
- Mike Sula
- La vaca
The cow has come north too.
- Mike Sula
- Cremeria La Ordeña #2
Cremeria La Ordeña #2, 3810 W. Lawrence, 872-208-5581, Mon-Sat 9 AM-8 PM; Sunday 9 am-6 pm.