Quiote

"Every baseball fan growing up has a favorite utility player. A guy who could play anywhere on the diamond when you needed them to (shoutout to BJ Surhoff). Quiote is that restaurant for us. Need something in the morning? Quiote has you with coffee and pastries. Lunch? Grab some tacos. A date night spot? The one-two punch of the downstairs mezcal bar and dinner upstairs in the small but not too small, dimly lit room is hard to beat. Quiote also works as a great neighborhood spot to pop in for dinner at the bar with a great drink (or two because Bob in accounting doesn’t understand sometimes there are more important things than expense report deadlines) after a long day at work. The food is traditional Mexican, meaning you’ll see moles, tamales, and yes, tacos, but not an entire page full of them. The drink list is heavy on mezcal as you might expect, but there are other cocktails and a decent, if not large, wine list. And the staff all understand that you may not be able to pick out the right mezcal based on the region of the country it came from and what the weather patterns were when that particular agave plant was grown. All that is to say: the staff is nice and will help you get buzzed if you that’s what you want to do. Whether you need the restaurant version of an outfielder, shortstop, hell, even a catcher, Quiote has you covered. Food Rundown Pork Collar Our favorite entree. A big ol’ hunk-o-meat with beans and - this is going to sound weird and underwhelming but please trust us - grilled lettuce that is way better than it deserves to be. Avocado Salad If you’re with a date you’ll want something green on the table to prove you take care of your body even though you’re no stranger to the post-midnight Portillo’s stop. This is what you want because it’s both green and really damn good. Chorizo Verde The green option that isn’t exactly healthy, but still good. A few cuts of Mexican sausage with potatoes and a good sauce. If you’re splitting things with a group, this is a good, smaller meat dish to share. Chicken Mole A half-chicken covered in a spicy-ish mole sauce sprinkled (salt bae style, hopefully) with granola that adds the perfect amount of crunch." - Zach Nerenberg

"It was really hard to see Quiote go, and it served as an important reminder that we need to patronize the established places just as much as the newcomers." - Naomi Waxman

"Chicago is a hotbed of Mexican cuisine — from the city’s breadth of casual neighborhood taquerias to its wealth of creative upscale options — and Quiote was both, as well as a popular cocktail bar. But with one Instagram post in August the multi-prong Logan Square operation suddenly went dark. Management of the day-night dynamo cited personal reasons to announce its ending, although a subsequent report said it was evicted. Whatever the reason, the business was a unique and ambitious one. At least its former chef plans to open another restaurant in 2020." - Daniel Gerzina

"The restaurant, 2528 N. California Avenue, fits into a stretch of Logan Square that includes a pair of acclaimed Mexican spots (Mi Tocaya Antojeria, Quiote) and spicy chicken wing slinger Landbirds." - Ashok Selvam

"Quiote, a Bib Gourmand-designated restaurant, and adjacent mezcaleriaTodos Santos—is in the right place at the right time with the publication of his primer on the spirit,Understanding Mezcal." - Beverly Stephen