Dinner at Mixteco

Much to my lament, Toronto has a serious lack of quality Mexican food. We have other types of Latin American cuisine in the city but it rarely hits the heights of restaurants I’ve visited in the States. As such, I was very, very excited to head to Mixteco in Chicago for something beyond the tacos and burritos that are so common up here. Every dish was fantastic and I think the meal is right up there with the best Mexican I’ve had, surpassing some great places I’ve been to in California. Oh, and Fridays are BYO. Excellent food + BYO with no corkage – what can beat that?

Guacamole Con Chicharron

The guacamole was prepared with tomato, serrano chiles, cilantro, onions and lime and served with pork chicharron and a side of in-house fried chips. Delicious and with just the right balance of heat, citrus, and herbs. Oh, and chicharron too – who can say no to those? Great start to the evening!

Tamales De Pollo

Chicken tamales were topped with tomatillo sauce and queso fresco. Let’s just say they were so good we had to order another round.

Uchepos Gratinados

A slightly different take on tamales finished off our appetizers. Uchepos Gratinados are corn tamales with creamy poblano sauce, monterey dry cheese and esquites. There was a bit of braised pork in the bottom as well. All three starters were really enjoyable and I’d be hard pressed to pick a favourite.

Chuleta En Mole Negro

My main was a grilled pork chop with oaxaca black mole served with roasted yams. While I would have preferred the pork chop to be more on the medium side, the flavours presented were rich, complex, and fantastic – especially the mole.

Cochinita Pibil

My friends had some fantastic dishes as well. Cochinita Pibil is slow roasted pork marinated with achiote and sour orange juice and was served with black beans, pickled onions, habanero salsa, and some fresh soft tortillas. Every culture has braised meats somewhere in the repertoire, and this was delicious. I especially liked the pickled onions to offset the richness of everything else on the plate.

Carne Asada

When I hear the words “carne asada,” I automatically think grilled skirt steak, sliced thinly and served with tortillas and some condiments (salsa verde in particular). That was definitely not the case this time around. A wood grilled ribeye steak was served with guacamole, refried black beans and tomatillo serrano salsa. I prefer this iteration.

Camarones Poblanos

Last up were some nicely grilled black tiger shrimp served with poblano cream sauce and potato rajas, garnished with roasted red peppers. The sauce was killer. I could have sopped up every last bit of the sauce with a bunch of bread.

Loved Mixteco. Loved it. The food was great, the service prompt, and it was very, very reasonable. The four of us were stuffed when we left (even had some leftovers to take with us!) and ate for about $100. What a steal! Reservations are STRONGLY recommended on a Friday night as the place was lined up outside.