I occasionally receive emails asking why I don't cover new restaurants in town. The short answer is that I'm not a professional restaurant reviewer. The longer answer is that I don't find new restaurants particularly interesting. Brand new restaurants are often clumsy, still testing things out in the kitchen and in the front of the house. The menus are rapidly changing as are the availability of certain dishes. I usually try to avoid a new restaurant altogether in it's first 90 days. If I do eat in a new place, I'm very unlikely to pass any judgment.
When Sol de Mexico opened in the middle of last year, it wasn't long before it was quickly covered by Chicago's professional food media. The Reader, Time Out, and others jumped to cover the news of Geno Bahena's brother-in-law Carlos Tello's new restaurant serving first-rate moles and an array of botanas (small plates). Many of those reviews are already out-of-date, as Sol de Mexico has seriously scaled back the botanas to focus on complete entrees.
While I enjoyed sampling from a couple dozen different small plates, the core of Sol de Mexico remains intact: a variety of house-made moles and fresh tortillas made by hand. From the piquant mole verde to the fruity-edged manchamanteles, to the rich mole negro, I could make a meal of a simple bowl of mole and a stack of tortillas. I'm most enthused by the borrego en mole negro (lamb in black mole), although I enjoyed the original preparation of hunks of lamb shoulder rather than the more refined lamb chop version he's serving nowadays. This is a dish that I've tried also at Topolobampo and Fonda del Mar, and I've found the version at Sol de Mexico to be the most memorable and deeply satisfying (it made my 2006 Most Memorable list). If mole is not your thing, the cochinita pibil is a popular Mexican marinated pork dish with a depth of flavor and complexity that is hard to match.Sol de Mexico inherited some of the vibrant Mexican artwork from Bahena's now shuttered Chilpancingo. The art does an excellent job of accompanying the food to make dinner there an exciting, lively event. The location is odd enough that while it's often full on the weekends, the crowds still haven't beat a path to the door. Finally, the hospitality of Carlos and his wait-staff make Sol de Mexico one of the most comfortable Mexican restaurants around.
While I miss the variety of botanas that helped put Sol de Mexico on the map, I still dream about the moles. I'm glad they've survived so far and I hope many more people put Sol de Mexico on their "must try" list so they keep serving moles for years to come.
Check out Sol de Mexico at 3018 N Cicero, 773-282-1349, metered street parking, BYO, reservations recommended on the weekends.
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