Former Taco Joint Was Former Hamburger Joint
By Samantha Abernethy in Food on Mar 20, 2013 10:20PM
The original location of La Pasadita at 1141 N. Ashland closed recently. Now before you panic, remember there are two more across the street. Anyway, construction work on the building revealed that bright yellow and black paint job was hiding old tiled signage from an old hamburger joint called Snappy Service System. The folks in the Forgotten Chicago forums did some digging to discover it was a Missouri-based White Castle imitator from the 1930s. According to The Hamburger: A History, the White Castle system was "easy to emulate" and many burger chains copped its style, including its architecture.
The tiny stand on the east side of Ashland was the original location, opened in 1976, and the family has rented the property all these years. In 1983, the owner bought the property across the street at 1160 N. Ashland "just in case anything ever happens" to the original, David Espinoza told DNAinfo. Then in 1991, a developer offered the property at 1132 N. Ashland, and "We figured, why not just buy it, so there would not be anyone competing with us so close?" Espinoza said.
Now after 35 years, Espinoza decided to shut down the original, saying, "I thought, why are we helping someone else pay their mortgage [with our rent] when we have our own to pay across the street?"