Hidden in a strip mall close to O’Hare International Airport, the small beachy oasis of a storefront offers a shortcut to the Mexican Pacific seashore through an array of ceviches that features fish, shrimp, octopus, and a mix of these in different permutations. With its street-food focus, the eatery features plates that range from ceviche tostadas, cevicharrón (ceviche served on the popular fried wheat flour snack that is commonly found street side in Mexico), and for the carb-conscious, pepilocos- a portion of ceviche over sliced cucumbers. Orders arrive with a selection of bottled salsas. Takeout trays for larger groups are also available. And for those who cannot eat raw shellfish, there is also a cooked option. The sibling owners incorporate their favorite family recipes, like their popular spicy aguachile marinade, made in-house with serrano chilis. 

Chef Mauricio Trujillo captures the flavors of summer with a ceviche that includes passion fruit, mango, jicama, and pickled onions, nodding to ingredient combinations usually found on the Mexican Gulf Coast that would later become popular throughout Mexico. “This is a light plate for hot weather,” says Trujillo, whose recipe entails blanching the shrimp to ensure the right consistency. With a small menu featuring Mexican-inspired dishes, the former Northbrook eatery is now in Lincoln Park, nestled in a cul-de-sac. Mesa Urbana’s secluded patio setting adds a backdrop to the vacation vibes that ceviche invokes. The plate will remain on the menu through the end of September.

The chic restaurant by renowned vegan chef Mathew Kenney pushes the boundaries of ceviche (and what you might think it should be) with remarkably convincing ingredients and textures. The organic plant-based eatery’s take on this dish features mango, yuzu, avocado, and coconut, which stands in for shrimp. The views of Lake Michigan add to the mood of a seaside staycation. 

Kie-Gol-Lanee (“Old Stone” in the Zapotec dialect), is the phonetic spelling of Santa María Quiegolani, a small Oaxacan village in Oaxaca’s southern sierra. Siblings María and Reynel Mendoza and María’s husband, Léonides Ramos, hail from Santa María Quiegolani, where they learned to cook. Reynel’s wife Sandra, Kie-Gol-Lanee’s fourth co-owner,  was born in Guatemala. Passed on through generations of cooks, many of the team’s recipes are not written down. And while it might be easy to get distracted by offerings like grasshoppers, rabbit, and tlayudas, ceviche tostadas is a plate cooked for parties in Quiegolani and one of only a handful of seafood-based options at the restaurant. The dish is made with shrimp that is subtly spiced up with jalapeños. The ceviche arrives on three hand-made crispy tostadas.

It is all about the fire from the kitchen to the mezcal at Leña Brava, which pays homage to the flavors of Baja California, a place rich in aquatic diversity. Chef Andrés Padilla credits former Leña Brava chef Steven Sandoval with creating both the aguachile and the ceviche featured currently on the menu. There is a twist in the aguachile at this West Loop restaurant — instead of shrimp, the dish incorporates delicately sliced fish. To contrast with the brightness of the aguachile, the ceviche is smoky and smooth, showcasing Mediterranean flavors like tomatoes, olives, and capers. To add to the smokiness brought forward by the fire-roasted ingredients — and surprisingly not from Baja — the dishes are served with tlayuda tostadas. According to chef Padilla, “The perfect ceviche requires balance, attention, and care. The quality of ingredients is important, as is knowing how to work with them.”

Famous for its burgers, this Pilsen gastropub surprises with its seafood dishes.  Pi18en’s, aguachile is inspired by the exuberant port of San Blas in Riviera Nayarit. For this dish, chef César González sources sustainable shrimp from local vendors, which are butterflied or thinly sliced so that each piece can absorb the aguachile sauce. Finished with fresh serrano peppers and cucumbers, served on two fried tortilla tacos, the dish is simultaneously fresh and spicy.