Xico

I get what Xico is going for.
Upscale Latin food, on a street that’s having a food Renaissance, where the rent is probably sky-​high and competition for the culinary crown is thick. So, one must put their best foot forward and present some showy, artful food.
«Meh.» Was my initial reaction of this place, and it still stands that way.
Don’t get me wrong! The food is pretty tasty! But the PRICE POINT for the amount and quality of food is a little ridiculous. We spent $ 90 bucks on dinner/​drinks/​apps and we left hungry. I like to refer to this the «Portland Petite Plate Punishment». Spend a bunch of money at a trendy/​upscale restaurant; leave starving and broke.
I would return for drinks and drinking snacks, but not for a full meal.

First time here, went for dinner. We ordered queso fundido, sopes, and the mole. Our appetizers were so rich and delicious it made me look forward to the mole. There was a slight delay getting our final entrée that the waitress was kind enough to comp another Margarita which I very much enjoyed. The mole I was not impressed with. The menu states a ¼ chicken and what I received was ¼ leg. I had a hard time scraping and picking enough chicken off to make it a meal. The mole sauce itself lacked the chocolate flavor I was looking for. As I was leaving I noticed someone who ordered the mole and her chicken was chunky and looked more like a quarter, not leg quarter. I immediately felt cheated. It made me think, what am I, chopped liver. That being said the wait staff were very friendly. I will be back for happy hour. I want more queso fundido

The food quality and flavors are good. The price is high for the quality, quantity and level of service.
Queso fundido was the favorite the tamal rojo was next. The grilled porcini was ok, the sopapillas with red beans was good. The flavors aren’t as bold and nothing is as spicy as one would expect from reading the menu.
Service is friendly but inefficient and sometimes slow. Generally at this price point you expect a higher level of service.

Very noisy with a metallic, plastic lifeless décor. Beer on tap is very limited and who wants beer out of a can at a restaurant? The wine is incredibly expensive. We were charged $ 12 a glass for wine that you can buy for $ 7 a bottle. The food is not memorable. Service was efficient.

Amazing gourmet Mexican restaurant — the kind you almost never find in the US.
Sorry naysaying reviewers, but you’re totally off the mark.
Mexican food (in Mexico!) is not all cheap street food. Especially in the last several years as Mexicans embrace their own cuisine (vs thinking all fine cuisine must be foreign).
I loved my experience at this restaurant as it reminded me especially of a gourmet restaurant I went to in Puebla, Pue., Mexico.
Unique flavor fusions (both food and drink) & beautiful plating.
I have no idea who the owners are (are they white?), but I suspect they (or their chefs) have spent time eating in Mexico and crafted this menu.
It’s not cheap street food. The ambience and interior are high end and classy. Priced accordingly.
I recommend you take this into consideration and give Xico a try. I’m def going back.

Warning! A limited review below, based on a limited visit!
We stopped in Xico the other night for drinks and some nachos. Our timing stunk, as we had meant to go earlier, but ended up having dinner elsewhere. But we were bound and determined to have a magarita and after the recent write-​ups in the O, we decided to try it out.
Saturday at 8:00, apparently an okay time to come to Xico, Not too busy. Seats at the bar and elsewhere. The décor is great; big, semi-​modern, open and warm at the same time. The patio looked very inviting through the huge open doors Even the lighting was cool; interesting without being over-​the-​top.
As I said, a limited review. We didn’t peruse the menu much, we were there for drinks. It smeeled of masa as soon as we walked in which turned on my chip-​dar (no, not a real thing and even worse, a badly named made-​up thing). So we ordered the chips and salsas. My wife ordered a Pisco Sour and I had the… Mezcal and honey thing that sounded good.
Let me say, everything was good. We were a bit taken back at the $ 11 drinks because we had it in our mind that their margs were cheaper. We must have been thinking happy hour. We were really taken aback when these drinks came in martini glasses. The drinks were great… but small… too small. I didn’t want to spend $ 50 on a few drinks and chips. The chips were also great… but small.
After a late night happy T hour mezcal neat for $ 5, our bill was $ 40 for 3-​ish drinks and chips. All really good, but it left us wanting more. I would totally go to Xico for a date night: great atmosphere and I imagine dinners are really good. Maybe just get a snack and down a quick one before you go!

Pok pok was a hour to hour ½ wait so we walked up the street 5 blocks to Xico. What a find. Since we were still waiting to our original reservation we wanted to save room so we ordered only 3 items.
The restaurant itself is small and comfortable. The service was great start to finish. The beers were cold and at $ 5.00 a real bargain. All the plates that we shared were small, and starting with the slaw it was fantastic. Next we shared the red pablano stuffed pepper which was also very good.
Just the right size and a perfect balance of flavors. Last came the nachos. We Never eat nachos! However we are lVery glad we made the exception. Thick chips soaked in a spicy red mole sauce, chicken, very small amount of cheese…, the best we have ever had.
Next time, we will pass on pok pok and try the rest of the menu at Xico.

My surprise 50^th birthday dinner was planned here and went off without a hitch. Perfect service, great ambiance, fantastic food. The seasonal corn dish NEVER fails to bring moans from those putting the first bite in their mouth. The crispy roasted pork was on point perfectly tender.
Thank you Xico… we had a roaring good time.

I agree with Beerboy. Very pretentious white people Mexican food. Margaritas are the only thing that saves this place. And the back patio is pretty nice. But I didn’t go there for the ambience– I went there for some good Mexican food.
Other than than it is overpriced, small servings. For a place on Division I had higher expectations. Very much reminded me of a place you would find in the pearl district where suits and ties would eat at.

I must say it was dam good. Coming from California
lil good spanish/​tapas/​Mexican food is everywhere. But in Portland it is rare. One of the dishes wasn’t my favorite. But I know what they where going after and that was on point. Also Andy? our server was great. He took care of a little hick-​up and bought us dessert. I never asked but it was a great gesture. Food A+ Service A+ Wine list A– Décor A+. Prices are a little high but it is a cute lil date spot. Most definitely be back!

I’m not buying it.
Xico is what Por Que No? would be like if it went upscale and added a lot more pretentiousness. Mexican food by white people.
While there are some decent dishes that taste OK, there are some less common dishes, and I’m sure they use awesome ingredients and culinary technique, it doesn’t compute. $ 58 for a slab of carnitas pork with a few grilled onions (skin included), half a sliced avocado, and, I think, 8 tortillas is a rip. Sure, it is supposed to be a dinner for two, but 29 bucks per person for carnitas? Missing some ingredients listed on the menu, no less. No me gusta. Don’t even get me started on charging $ 16 for guacamole, 3 salsas, a pepitas based dip, and a small basket of chips, and then $ 2 more for a large coffee cup serving of extra chips.
Slow, inefficient service, nice surroundings, good mezcal selection, horrible prices.

My family was excited to try Xico but were really disappointed. You’d really expect more for such an expensive place. The dishes did all involve a lot of prep, and many ingredients, with elaborate plating/​presentation. And the grilled snap peas were wonderful. But while my daughter’s dinner (enmoladas– basically enchiladas) looked great, it was not warm. I had the trout in posole, which was covered with elaborate garnishes. I took a crunchy bite and realized I had taken a forkful of fish head. If you’re going to leave the head on, you’ve got to plate it so the head is obvious, not covered in avocado and soup. The flavor was fine, but not as complex as I would have expected.
The service was some of the worst I’ve ever had. Our server didn’t pay much attention to us, although the room wasn’t particularly busy. We had to make an effort to flag him down several times. One of my kids ordered a side of beans and tortillas for her dinner. He brought each of these, but no plate for her to assemble them on. Likewise, we ordered several appetizers, including a salad, and that came just on the one plate. Any good server would offer small plates when the dish is obviously to be shared.
Finally, we sat near the window to the kitchen and the chef who was overseeing the final plating was being loudly critical of the kitchen staff. Maybe this is typical for restaurants, but it wasn’t very relaxing to have to listen to it.
The outdoor patio looked wonderful, and the décor was fun and well-​designed. But overall I cannot recommend this restaurant, especially for the high price.

Not fair, but a higher standard exists.
I just finished review a high end mexican place in my area. I gave it three stars. If the two locations were switched it would have gotten two stars and Xico would get 5. It’s not right, it’s not fair… just deal with it.
We went for lunch. After looking at the menu this seems like the wiser choice. There weren’t many people at all, which made me a little suspicious.
We started with some chips and guac. The chips are nice and thick and homemade. I could just hear my dentist licking her chops. The guac was good, but at the price… I dunno.
I got the sopes. They were the best sopes I’ve ever had. Nice and flavorful with the sweet potatoes. Most of the time the sope is just kind of forgotten, or worst case, once frozen. It was nice to see them show it the proper respect. Great combo of flavors with the slaw and pickled radish.
My wife got the veggie torta. I liked the mix of textures and flavors. Definitely quality ingredients on the inside and an amazing torta roll. My only disappointment was that it was a sandwich and literally nothing else. No salad or fries or chips. Kind of a weak presentation.
Great drinks too. A little on the spendy side, but it’s not often you can get some good mescal.
I could be talked into coming back for dinner some time. Maybe a special occasion, but to be honest I have other places much higher on my list if I’m going to leave my cushy suburban lair.

The host was awesome and had a great welcoming personality. The cocktails were nicely mixed, though a little on the small side for the price. The food was good not great, Their Mole is nice but not everyone understands how difficult it is to make, so when I have it and its good, I appreciate the effort. That was the best part. I recommend anything with mole on it. Not sure about the desert (carrot cake) .it seem like a misfit. Service was great! And the décor was cool. $ 105.00 for dinner w/​2 cocktails.

The food here is delicious! Homemade fried tortilla chips, at least 7 types of housemade salsa (the Verde and Mucho Chille where our favorites) was enough to bring me back! The Savory Pork Belly Sopaipilla, was delicious and the cauliflower dish was incredibly flavorful! Good selection of tequila, with several tequila flights to choose from. The house margarita is only $ 6 and totally refreshing. The Salsa Verde Margarita might be my new favorite thought, not as spicy as the traditional Habanero Margarita.
They have nightly specials, Monday is a chicken dinner for two for only $ 22, can’t beat that! The food and cocktails are great but they are still working out some kinks in their service. We sat at the bar and they bartender was super knowledgeable about the menu and attentive. We got the wrong tequila flight, the wrong salsa and our food was delayed due to a printer jam. In each instance the bartender was quick to resolve the situation and we didn’t have to complain or ask for assistance. I appreciate that we will definitely come back.

We came into Xico for our first ever foray in Valentine’s Day dining. Ever. And we’ve been together for 10 years. But, when your significant other is in the restaurant industry you learn to generally loathe this busiest day of the year. And so it was that for some reason we chose to celebrate this year.
JAM made reservations and liked that they assured him an a la carte menu would be available in addition to two price fix menus. We aren’t big fans of dessert so we generally avoid the fixed menus for that reason.
We arrived and were seated within a couple of minutes of our reservation, prompt and pleasant greeting by the host. Our server generally didn’t seem pleased to be working, and seemed even less pleased with us when we requested to order a la carte. We didn’t really appreciate such behavior on what was clearly a special night.
The saving grace of the evening was the quality of the food and drink. It really is good stuff they are putting out. Our app was the totopos con chiles. It was very good but generally overpriced. Hit it up at happy hour if offered. I ordered the chile relleno with black beans and it was heavenly. The sauce it was all floating in was delicious. JAM’s lamb barbacoa was a winner in his eyes as well. My drink had mezcal and St. Germain. Say what!!! It was awesome and so unique.
Go for the food, and stay for the food. Because food.

I went here for lunch with a friend last year and it was so good both in food and service, that I wanted to take my husband back. We got there and there were a large number of open tables and they asked us where we wanted to sit and I said «away from the front door» and she pointed to an open area, I went to sit down, and she said no I couldn’t sit at that one because they had reserved seating. So they had us sit nearby at a table — you guessed it — on the other side of a bookshelf next to the front door.
We got our drinks and the blood orange margarita appears to have had cayenne pepper dusted on the rim — WTF!!! Kind of something you should tell a customer. So burned my mouth right off the bat. The drinks were okay but miniscule in portion and eleven bucks was too much for what we got
We decided to order 4 appetizers instead of 2 entrees, the first being chips and guac (they don’t just give you chips here, people), which were crazy hot to the touch, greasy, and so salty. I have pretty low standards for chips so this was weird to not eat them. The guac was just guac. We got the sopapillas which were very very good, and the ribs we couldn’t finish because several pieces were pure gristle — and by the way, twelve bucks for a few bites of gristly ribs, are you kidding me? The salmon ceviche was very good although overpriced (fourteen dollars for two small fried tortillas with fish on them).
The service however was the real disappointment. First, we had at least 3 people coming to our table which was pretty confusing, then we watched our waitress bring out entrees to another couple who had just seconds earlier been given free appetizers because the kitchen had said they were slow — the waitress just stood there not knowing what to do, instead of apologizing for the confusion and taking the food back (the customer had to actually tell the waitress that they weren’t ready for their main course yet since they just got their appetizers), in a way that really looked rude to be honest. Anyhow, near the end we were full and my husband asked for the check and the waitress, instead of going and getting it, proceeded to try to give us dessert menus. I kind of giggled and said «nope we don’t want dessert, my husband just asked you for the check» and she got all snippy and said «well I just thought I’d check». Huh? You just thought you’d ignore our request? She then mumbled thank you when she brought the check as if she couldn’t be bothered to be friendly, and no one said a thing to us when we left.
Never again, and such a bummer as Xico used to be good. What a disappointment.

I always love when people complain that a Mexican restaurant doesn’t deliver never-​ending baskets of forgettable tortilla chips and insipid salsa. I’ve found that the places that don’t offer the freebies put more effort and imagination into all of their dishes.
That’s the way it was at Xico. The Totopos con Chile appetizer, Homemade chips with arbol salsa, queso cotija, crema and lime was complex and quite tasty. The flavors mingled so well they made me forget there was cilantro in it.
I ordered the pollo asado en mole amarillo, smoked chicken in a yellow mole sauce. The sauce went really well with the chicken. The sauce included cherries, which added flavor and texture. A couple of fried masa crisps were flavorful and proved why corn masa is a great ingredient.
I like how Xico showcased that the bright red pepper placed on top of the crossed chicken pieces are Jimmy Nardellos. A Nardello is a sweet Italian frying pepper. Jimmy’s family brought the pepper with them when they emigrated from Italy.
Before Jimmy died in 1993, he donated some of his heirloom seeds to the Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. The exchange specializes in preserving more than 11,000 heirloom varieties.
Territorial Seed in Cottage Grove is a grower that offers Nardello peppers.

Portland Dining Month is upon us and if you don’t already know that, I am sorry for you. It is a great deal. More than 100 restaurants around town offering 3 course meals for $ 29. You can’t beat it.
Sue and I like to take advantage of this so we made some plans with some friends and Xico was the choice we all agreed on. This was a good choice.
I ended up arriving well before the other 3 and happened to make it for the end of happy hour. This brought me a $ 5 Tamarindo Margarita (normally $ 8). Tamarind purée, Lunazul tequila, brown sugar syrup with a spicy salt half rim. This was really refreshing and I was excited to see tamarind put to use in another way. Sue and I just experimented with Thai cooking and used tamarind paste for the first time.
After everyone else arrived and ordered drinks (our server informed us that it was last call for happy hour which was really nice) we also took advantage of a quick happy hour bite with the $ 4 Totopos Con Chile. Xico tortilla chips tossed in chile de arbol salsa, topped with cotija cheese, crema, lime, cilantro & onion. Get this. You will not be disappointed.
Course 1 for dining month was a Beef tamale: Tamale with beef picadillo, raisins and olives in fresh masa with house salsa and crema. Normally I would have been lost once the raisins came in as I’m not a big fan, but they didn’t hurt me too much in this dish. Very pleasant flavors. Half of this dish was covered in the house salsa and the other half was covered in the crema. It almost made a single dish into two separate dishes.
Course 2 was Salmon in mole verde: Wild Coho salmon in a green mole of pumpkin seeds, tomatillo, romaine lettuce and herbs with fresh Xico tortillas and rotating side dishes. Nice presentation here. The salmon was cooked perfectly. One of the better pieces of fish I have had in a long time. You can see the obvious care that the kitchen has for food here.
Course 3 was a Mexican tiramisu with liquore de café. What a way to finish this meal. A nice sweetness, but not cloying.
Xico is not inexpensive. Probably not a place I could go to often, but our friends ended up not ordering from the 3 course menu and went with dishes from the normal menu. They are serving up nice sized portions of food here on dishes that seemed to be over the $ 20 range for the most part. Again, not a place i could go to often, but definitely a good special occasion kind of place.

Oh hot damn! Made last minute reservations here for New Years’s eve. Marble bar atop with colored paper mâché florals, dia Des Los muertos and candles setting the mood. Loved you had a preset menu for only circa $ 40 w three dishes or you could order ala cart.
1. Margaritas a must
2. Tortopos soaked in lime, salsa and crema a must
3. Queso fundido w homemade corn tortillas a must
4. Epic dish of the night, dessert, two sopapillas with dulce de leche and chocolate.
My Peruvian girlfriend hearts you now missing her home country!
Well. Done, well done!