Rancho Luna or Coobah?

So my sitter has fallen through for the night...so we are going to take our one y/o with us for dinner. We're big fans of Tacqueria La Oaxaquena and may just go there.

I was curious if anyone has experience w/ Rancho Luna of Coobah. I've heard mumblings, but was curious what the LTHers thought. Good Ropa Vieja? How about the Mojitos?

I think Cafe 28 is too busy on a Friday for us to take the bambina.

In regards to Coobah, I think that the ambiance wouldn't be too fitting for your one year old child unless you go at an earlier hour before the DJ starts spinning and the congestion ensues. It can get rather loud. My experience with the food was hit or miss. Some plates weren't served hot, the ceviche w/ jicama and random seafood was rather bland and lacked flavor. Others were quite delightful.

Which Rancho Luna? I can't support either, but the one up north has been particularly bad in my experience.

If you want to go to a "sit down" Cuban place, what about Bolero? Ambassador might be too spare for your purposes, but it has its food charms.

I agree about Coobah. Not really Coobahn, and more "hip"/crowded than Cafe 28 besides. I'm not knocking it, and it's fine for kids early or outside (though we're past that weather-wise).

How about Venezuelan, like Caracas Grill up on Clark at Devon or Ecuadorian, like Mi Cuidad/Ceunca on Irving? The latter is a pleasant spot with a bar and soild food.

I had heard good things about the one on Peterson...

I'll keep Mi Ciudad in mind. Do you have a favorite item there?

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

I have not been to the Peterson location in some time, but I can assure you that at its best it was never among the best in town, which ain't saying much for Cuban in Chicago.

As for Mi Ciudad, I really like the encocado dishes. This is seafood (fish or shrimp us.) in a coconut milk sauce. Similar to the Bahian dish moqueca. Other similar dishes are made en cacahuete (peanut sauce). If you like goat, the seco de chivo (reduced goat stew) is really very good. And for meat and potato diners, the steaks are (as it typical of S. American places) flavorful and inexpensive. While Ecuador says it invented ceviche, the Ecuadorian version is maybe my least favorite.

A great, varied cuisine, IMO, because it has the "cowboy" foods of Argentina, Colombia etc., some afro-carribean stuff like Brazil eg, and more exotic Andean stuff shared with Peru; even (like Argentina) an Italian influence. And the cooks are usually solid, since Ecuadorans are in every high-end kitchen in town. I've been told that the Mi Ciudad chef is on the lunch staff at one of the big steakhouses.

The space is (was) very pleasant. They had a fire but reopened recently. I have not been since the fire, but it looks to be even nicer from the outside.