Maiz Anojitos Y Bebidas

Sad to say, Maiz is closed for good. Just confirmed… :-(

The sign on the awning is still up, but they are clearly closed. Looks like work is being done. I loved this place a few years ago.

The fish ceviche was terrific! I had the chile en nogada stuffed with chicken, and I thought it was really good. I feel like the walnut sauce could have been a little thicker, but that was my only complaint about it. My husband had the chicken mole enchiladas, and he really liked his dish. The mole was flavorful and chocolaty.
Things that could have been better:
the margaritas, and the rice and bean side was a really tiny portion.
Also, while I appreciated the thick, hand-​made tortillas, I think they should be able to be rolled up for dipping purposes. I wasn’t able to do that with the them; they broke apart instantly. That’s a flaw in my opinion.
p. s. It was uncomfortably cold in there!

Good, not great. Would move this up another ½ star at least for the terrific, very efficient server, Camille, who did everything right.
We started with a margarita for me (very good), a sangria for friend (also rated highly) and guacamole (decent). Chips were fresh.
The vegetarian choices here are interesting. You can choose which veggies you want from a list, so if you don’t like what you get, mainly, it’s your own fault. It’s been a couple weeks since we ate here, so I can’t remember exactly what I ordered, but it was enchiladas verdes with veggies. The verde sauce was good. The portion was a reasonable size.
My friend ordered the fish tacos. She liked them.
The restaurant is cute, but small. We arrived early enough so that we could sit down right away. It might get very crowded on a Friday or Saturday night. They do have an outdoor seating area, but that won’t help you much in late October.
If all this sounds kind of halfhearted, well, it is. Everything was just fine. Nothing was above average, except Camille, the server. It was all okay.
The reason we went here was because we had a groupon. What groupon does is get us out of our comfort zone, out where we can find some hidden gems that were unknown to us previously. Maiz Antojitos y Bebidos is a bit of a drive for us. There are many similar restaurants closer to home.
Would I go out of my way a second time to visit Maiz Antojitos y Bebidos? No. If I was in the neighborhood, and someone said, hey, let’s go to Maiz, would I object? Probably not. I’d be willing to eat there again, but I wouldn’t put forth any effort to do so. And if someone said, hey, there’s a great new place two blocks away from Maiz, I would probably say, let’s try the new place.
Definitely an A-​OK experience.

Went here with my dinner and drinks group of ladies for Girls In The Hood-​Humboldt Park edition. I really enjoyed my experience, but with a few caveats:
1) I was with a hilarious and fun group of about 12 beautiful and smartly dressed ladies. Fun is a no-​brainer.
2) it was early October and 80 degrees out with no humidity… we ate outside on their adorbs back patio strung with twinkly lights and teeming with fresh air. They could’ve served me slop and I would still be feeling that patio.
3) I had many, many cocktails of varying strengths and Latin origins.
Sure our waitress was endearingly batty and not super fast, the food seemed good and everyone left full, and the drinks are sloooooow cuz they are homemade and from scratch, but I left feeling in love with this cute little place. I mean, friends, tortilla chips, and mojitos on a patio on a gorgeous night? DUH.

I can’t say I was expecting very much after reading the reviews so I can’t say that I was disappointed, but we had a Groupon to burn.
The menu seemed pretty standard but I was weary of a «Mexican» spot in the heart of HP. Their drinks were ok priced. They weren’t the best but they weren’t the worst. I don’t think they had the best margaritas by any stretch of the imagination.
We ordered a sampler platter that was decent. I felt all starchy and bloated but I guess fried masa will do that to you. Which I think everything on that platter is.
I can’t say that I will be back ever.

Last night of the living social deal (or was it a Groupon?). In any case, my second visit was as strange as the first.
I’ll start with one good thing. We started out sitting outdoors and a storm rolled in… they did make sure everyone was moved inside quickly. However, one woman wasn’t given a table inside and was still standing at the front door waiting for a seat when we were leaving (we hadn’t even started eating when it started pouring rain).
On to the rest of the meal. While we were seated quickly, it took a really long time to be greeted and then even longer to be asked to give our orders. The table next to us got to order much more quickly even though they sat down much later.
When our chips came, there were about 10 chips in the basket — it seemed as if we had been given leftovers based upon the amount of chips.
I ordered the quesadilla — it was really not tasty at all. The guac that I ordered with it came early (which was fine as I was willing to share), but the portion size on the guac wasn’t very large. Basically, aside from the guac, nothing tasted like much of anything. It was just ok.
Service was unbelievably slow (and remember that table that ordered quickly? They got food quickly, but I think they were done with dinner before they got their drinks).
I will say that the margaritas were good, but aside from that, I’m not sure there is much of a draw to go back.

Dear Management:
Please don’t ever do a Groupon promotion again — you obviously weren’t prepared for it. Service was terrible, wait was exceptionally long and the portions appeared to be smaller due to Groupon usage. The only reason I would give this restaurant another chance, is because I have heard such great things about it. But, please, you don’t need Groupon to attract customers — it should be the food and service.

Anojitos Y Bebidas! Snacks and drinks! Sounds fun right?
The romance wore off pretty quickly after the third sauce and cheese covered, meat stuffed masa item I ate. I mean, I do love masa — wrapped in leaves, fried, stuffed… I don’t care. Give it to me.
But you know what I love even more than masa? VARIETY! Keep things interesting and I will be your friend forever. The menu at Maiz is pretty enormous and can be overwhelming. Once I ate all the items we had ordered, I realized how redundant most of the items were. There will be masa, there will be either a red or green sauce, there will probably be some cheese, maybe some lettuce/​tomato, and you pick the meat/​seafood/​veggie filling. 20ish items of this variation is TOO MUCH. Everything started tasting the same, except the elote dish — kernels of corn were never so welcome!
As for the meat/​veggie/​seafood options — there are also too many. Vegetarians can choose from about 10 different vegetables, which can be good (yay vegetables) or bad (if you are indecisive like me). The diner really has too much decision making to do. I prefer restaurants with well-​constructed dishes; different components that will taste good together. I don’t want to figure it out myself. I ended up ordering the worst al pastor taco and torta I have ever eaten — it was a chewy, saucy mess.
The alcoholic drinks are STRONG. The agua frescas are decent (again, lots of choices — coconut horchata anyone?). The service is also good — we got out of these pretty fast.
But spending $ 60+ (before tip) for 2 people on mediocre Mexican food? NO MAS!

This place has a huge menu, but a good portion of the items are just corn, salsa, and your choice of meats configured into a different shape. Want a tube of corn, salsa, and meat? How about a flat piece of corn with salsa and meat on top? Perhaps a little pocket made out of the corn and stuffed with meat and salsa? Try the antojitos (snacks) sampler and you’ll see what I mean.
That isn’t to say that the food isn’t enjoyable — it is just that you think you are ordering a variety of items and you end up repeating the same flavors over and over. It’s boring. The person that decided to stick pom seeds in the guacamole should be allowed to jazz up some of the other dishes also.
I was disappointed with the way that they serve their al pastor — saucy is weird to me when I just want pork tacos with cilantro and onions.
They serve a tequila mojito. Order it if you like a stiff drink. Mine packed a mighty wallop, but tasted pretty great after some of the ice melted and diluted it a bit.
I have to say that I thought this meal, while good enough to earn the A-​OK, was a bit dull and a bit too pricey for Mexican food in Chicago.

We walked in and were greeted with the offer to sit anywhere we liked. It wasn’t busy at all, a max of three other parties were already enjoying dinner. Once we were seated, I think they forgot about us because it took over 10 minutes for anyone to come by to take our beverage order and bring the complimentary chips and salsa.
The complimentary chips and salsa weren’t anything to rave about either. The chips weren’t great and the salsa was less appealing to me. A small dipping cup of salsa Verde and a small dipping cup of a spicier red salsa served with a bowl of lime wedges.
I was thirsty so I went with a soda, expecting free refills. I got a can, for $ 1.75. The hubby went with a Margarita. It wasn’t a big Margarita but it sure was strong. Not super sweet either, almost like tequila with lime juice. I liked it. After the beverages came, they forgot about us some more.
The hubby went with their Carne Asada served with a side of rice, refried beans and warm corn tortillas. I went with a salad, the mixed greens ensalada with jicama & mango tossed with avocado dressing. I asked if I could have chicken added, the menu doesn’t offer the option to add a protein to either of their meatless salad options. Our server was kind of a jerk about it and finally said, «normally we don’t allow substitutions but I’ll do it this one time.» To which I thought, «don’t worry, there won’t be another time… and it’s NOT a substitution it’s an addition! Think of it like a side of meat.»
The food came out super fast, within 5 minutes of ordering it was in front of us. The hubby’s entrée was okay. The homemade corn tortillas were the best part, the rice and beans were average and the meat was sub-​par. My salad was pretty good, I would suggest they change their menu to provide the option to add proteins to their 2 salad options because without it my salad wouldn’t have been enough to call dinner.
I should have just ended the meal there. But I had room for dessert and I really like fried ice cream, so we went with that. Second disappointment today! I was envisioning a scoop of vanilla ice cream with some kind of crunchy fried component topped with cinnamon and honey. Their «fried» ice cream was more like a sundae. Strawberry ice cream, chocolate sauce, barely enough crushed bits of fried tortilla to dub it «fried» and topped with cheesy rainbow nonpareils sprinkles.

The first time that I ate here will forever be known as the time that I found a place in Chicago with two little something extras.
THE GOOD EXTRA: I love cactus in my Mexican food. And very few places in Chicago put nopalitos in the their dishes. So imagine my glee when I discovered that this place has it. And they’ll put it in any of their mix and match corn creations. The huaraches (corn mush with vegetables or meats mixed in) come with the customer’s choice of two ingredients. And I loved this part as well. The potatoes and cactus I chose were both excellently flavored and textured to blend with the corn base.
THE BAD EXTRA: I don’t love follicles in my Mexican food. But that happens. It’s part of the restaurant business. It’s what happened next that put me a little off. Instead of apologizing or anything of the sort, the server looked a little confused and then annoyed. But the replacement huarache was as excellent as the part of the first that I got to consume. And free of spit. That I know of.
Besides that, the chips were brilliantly thin and the salsa was just slightly spicy and majorly delicious. The Corona was cold and cheap. And there were a ton of vegetarian choices. If you don’t count the dead human cells.
In the end, I have to average the rating out and give them one extra star for the added ingredient that I loved, and then take it away for the added «ingredient» that grossed me out. They don’t need to work on the food. It’s spectacular. But the service and sanitation might need a little tweaking.

Kid-​friendly — Check!
Delicious food — Check!
Strong cocktails — Check!
Reasonably priced — Check!
LOVE — now that Adobo is closed, this is our new place. Love that it is in our neighborhood — that just makes eating there feel better! Delicious Mexican!

This place is bomb-​diggety!
I’ve lived just a few blocks away and been a routine customer at Adams and Son and somehow literally didn’t see this place. Then, they were the Groupon a few days ago. Thank goodness for Groupon cause I don’t think I would have gone there otherwise. Now I’m going back again and again. First of all, the staff… fantastic! Second, the food… awesome-​sauce. Since it was our first time we got the sampler, and a couple of tacos. Those are some darn good tacos. Mmm… tacos.

My friend, Heather, has been trying to get me to go here since she met the then Governor of IL Blago. What a putz, but apparently he knows good food.
Maiz has great Mexican food and superb drinks. I had two «Bulls» which are a cocktail of dark beer, rum, and lime. Perfectly refreshing, though the glass reminded me that I need to work out my arms.
Sopes are excellent and the chips come with this really good cilantro salsa.
Our service was downright neglectful. I arrived before my friends, was seated in the back and asked the owner for one of his margaritas. he was very gracious but never got my drink. The place got busy and we felt forgotten in the back even though there were two more tables seated with us.
I’ll return for the food and summer patio and I hope that there will be additional servers when I do because they will need the help.

So it’s Friday night and you are craving a margarita and some good Mexican grub … I’ll give you a little advice … do not pay a visit to Maiz Anojitos Y Bebidas.
My boyfriend and I were in this predicament last night, he lives in the area, and had heard from a bartender friend that this place serves up killer drinks (and maybe it did years ago.?), so we made the short walk anticipating a mind blowing experience. We took a seat at the small bar and order two margaritas — I was a little concerned when I saw the gentleman (who I believe was the owner) pick up two rocks glasses, salt the rim, toss in a couple of cut limes measure a shot of tequila and fill the rest of the glass with something from a seltzer water bottle.
I took a sip not exactly sure what to expect … it tasted like sugar water … and the menu priced it as $ 7.95 ??? We were both in disbelief my boyfriend asked what type of tequila was used and was told house, then informed that top shelf was available for a extra charge — then he confirmed the price … yep, nearly $ 8 each. Needless to say 10 minutes and $ 16 later we were out the door.
We didn’t stay long enough to try the food, so I can’t tell you if it makes up for the lame drinks. But in my mind, in order to enjoy a Friday night Mexican dinner, a well made margarita is key.
Sorry Maiz, you don’t cut it. :(

Led here by the Groupon and encouraged by many positive reviews, we were excited to try this place. We don’t need the mega portions, but some decently priced slightly upscale Mexican food hits the sweet spot for us, so it sounded like Maiz would be perfect.
Things started off… not good. After hearing about the «fishbowl» sized drinks, I ordered a «top shelf» margarita for $ 9. It came to the table in a rocks glass. Hmmmm. When I inquired, the waiter (manager?) said — «Big, small, doesn’t matter, you still get 2oz of tequila.» My husband took this to mean that I just got a stronger drink, with not as much mix, etc. as they put in the larger glasses. So they were out of the large glasses as of 7:15 on a Saturday night? Or maybe the «top shelf» just meant less mixer? Either way, mamma not happy. The drink was gone before my entrée arrived.
However…the guac. YUM YUM YUM. Pomegranate seeds, an interesting addition, sprinkled on top. Big chunks of everything, very fresh. My entrée was ok — chilaquiles but my husband’s chili relleno had this fab sauce that was like a sweet walnut sauce.
For us, Groupon often accomplishes what it sets out to do — give us a way to try a new place with the hopes that we return. We often do, but in this case, with a mixed review, most likely not.

If corn were crack MAYB would be a junkie paradise…
They are not joking around; go there for your fix, all forms, fried or steam, stuffed or plain, white or yellow, masa, tortilla, gordita… your choice.
Beware though: no POP allowed.
(except in soda form)
Tasty, but for monomaniacs only.
I like diversity.

Why the shit haven’t I been here before this past Friday night? Another Unilocal told me my Jesus-​length beard made me look I’d given up on life. So I trimmed the beard down to a 9 o’clock shadow, threw on some dark clothing, and went to Maiz, and now I feel like I’ve got a whole new lease. Just kidding. The truth is that
***spoiler alert***
I’m the smoke monster. The only way to keep me from eating all the tortillas and drinking all ur margs is to build a sonar fence around this restaurant. Your move, Widmore.

After a recent salsa lesson in the neighborhood, my dancing partner and I, decided that a little food was in order and stopped in Maiz Anojitos Y Bebidas for dinner.
What a treat! It was snowy night so there was only one other table occupied in the place which was fine by me as we got super service with great suggestions by the owner.
Fresh chips and salsa were put down before we even had our coats off and the beers were cold and crisp. We really couldn’t make up our minds so we ordered a little of this and that to share and everything hit the spot.
The shrimp ceviche was cool and refreshing and was full of chunks of shrimp, avocado and spices. The cheese and chorizo fundido was served with warm, homemade corn tortillas and didn’t stay on the table for long. You can order it plain or choose to mix in a choice of their meat offerings.
And finally– the sharable plates of chile rellano, skirt steak and enchilada mole were good although I was not a big fan of their mole sauce. It had a weird after taste to me.
The food came up quickly and is served in a fun, home-​ey environment. The colorful colors on the tables and walls welcome you and give a heads up that a casual fun time is ahead. There was also plenty of free parking on the street just steps away from the door.
I suspect that people may find it a bit pricey for Mexican food. Our bill with 2 beers and food was about $ 65 but the quality of the food was quite good.
Glad I have a series of dance lessons in the neighborhood as it will give me plenty of opportunity to go back and check out other offerings on their menu.