Drop Pin • Manny 'Muscles' Rodriguez
Drop Pin is one of our recurring segments where we ask our favorite Chicagoans to give us the 411 on their most treasured places in the city. This time around, we connected with Manny Muscles, who’s been a staple of the community since opening the boutique Jugrnaut in 2007. He also likes to DJ in his spare time, and has put out a number of mixes including his latest, “Paper Planes & Champagne,” and “Your Girl’s Favorite Mixtape” series.
Sprinkles Cupcakes
Sprinkles Cupcakes in the Gold Coast neighborhood is high on Muscles’ list. He had his first high-end cupcake experience at the 24-hour eatery, which features a cupcake ATM and an always-evolving menu. And what’s absolutely clutch about them is they deliver — who wouldn’t want a cupcake brought to them after a long day’s work? Chocolate marshmallow is his favorite, and his suggestion is you microwave that jawn.
Molly’s Cupcakes
North of Sprinkles Cupcakes is Molly’s Cupcakes, Muscle’s other prized cupcakery. Molly’s doesn’t go for those simple cupcakes though: The center of their sugary treats are stuffed with various fillings like tiramisu, mint chocolate chip, and apple pie. He suggests both the birthday cake filling and chocolate peanut butter.
El Milagro
Muscles favors the neighborhood spot El Milagro because their tacos taste just like his mom’s, a.k.a. the best tacos in the city. The tacos contain big slices of meat, and the steak tacos, or arracherra, are particularly flame. Peep the Pilsen restaurant to get a feel of Muscles’ mama’s tacos.