Pilsen on a Saturday

Southwest of the Loop along 18th Street. Chicago's great immigrant neighborhood for 150 years — Czech, then Polish, then Mexican, each wave layering culture onto brick like coats of paint on a door that keeps getting more interesting. The murals are the autobiography: Aztec gods and Catholic saints sharing walls with Frida Kahlo and farmworker portraits.

Carnitas Don Pedro on 18th has been converting non-believers since 1983. Pork slow-cooked until it surrenders, into tortillas made that morning, salsa verde that hits like a green firecracker. Order a kilo for the table. Thalia Hall — restored 1892 theater with gilded balconies, designed for opera, now serves indie rock with the same acoustic fidelity.

The National Museum of Mexican Art on 19th Street is free and stunning — pre-Columbian ceramics to contemporary installation, curated with a confidence that would anchor any museum in a city twice this size. The bakeries — Nuevo Leon, La Casa del Pueblo — sell conchas for pocket change. Buy a bag, walk to Harrison Park, eat on a bench while soccer games unfold and the El rattles overhead.