Amelia's, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

I wouldn't have paid any attention to Amelia's if Martha Bayne hadn't reviewed it for the Reader. (N.B.: Chuck Sudo, with whom I dined, has since reviewed it here as well.) First off, that's because I would have mistaken it for this Amelia's, a onetime blight on the Mexican food landscape which (in a victory for truth in advertising, I suppose) now has an even more blatantly inauthentic name like Fiesta Sombrero or Cantina Cucaracha. David Hammond reviewed that Amelia's thusly:

I’m awe-struck, however, by the transcendently sensation-free salsas. I’m bummed by the Disney-version of mole negro – tasting as though squeezed from a bottle of Bosco. I take a scoop of beans but can barely believe it: there’s weight on my tongue, I feel it, I know there’s something there and yet…there’s just about no flavor, there’s barely even a hint of grease, there’s no there there.

This new no-relation Amelia's has a far more promising, if also somewhat checkered, Mexican food pedigree: the couple who owned Mundial Cocina Mestizo, an upscale restaurant in Pilsen, divorced, selling it to the third partner in the business; now they are each opening separate businesses. The ex-wife plans to open a bakery, the ex-husband has opened this attractive restaurant in... Canaryville.

And that's the second reason I would never have noticed this restaurant: it's in the middle of freakin' nowhere. This may have seemed like a repeat of the successful urban pioneer strategy Mundial employed, the first high-end joint in Pilsen just as it gentrified. But Pilsen was at least full of life if not entrees over $8; this is in an attractive building facing a vast empty lot that was once stockyards, with next to no housing in its immediate vicinity. You're going to have to want to go to Amelia's.

So do you want to go to Amelia's?  You do, I think.  Chef Eusebio Garcia worked at MK before opening Mundial, and his thing has been high-end Mex tinged with Mediterranean flavors.  My feeling is that the former are much, much more promising than the latter.  Oysters topped with spinach, hot sauce and Asiago cheese reminded me that Asiago cheese should be banished to Panera by now, and it didn't help that no two seemed to have the same proportion of those ingredients.  A gorgonzola polenta on the side of a ribeye was a bowl of warm blue cheese goo, like baby food for gourmet babies.

But the straight-up Mexican things were quite good, especially scallops in a chipotle sauce on a schmear of onion marmalade, topped with grilled vegetables.  And the steaming homemade tortillas were impossible not to want to instantly grab and wrap anything at hand in. Generally, in most of the upscale Mex places I think you're better off ordering off the appetizer menu, where you'll find simpler and more authentic things like tamales rather than entrees consisting of a large hunk of protein in a sauce with vegetables on the side, which is not really the way Mexicans tend to eat; and Amelia's is no exception to this rule.

So the next time you're facing the prospect of a long line at Mixteco, Frontera, or whatever Geno Bahena's opened this week, consider being a real food adventurer and making the hike to Amelia's.  Since there's basically no traffic for a mile in any direction, it's an easy shot down the Ryan to 43rd from the north side; the neighborhood is no scarier than, say, Humboldt Park and probably safer just by virtue of being so empty.  You'll get the personal, relaxed attention those other places are too busy to provide, and you'll help sustain, for at least a little while longer, a very attractive and pleasant restaurant which probably made the mistake of opening at the end of the universe.

Amelia's Mexican Cafe
4559 S Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60609
(773) 538-8200

I have a few friends who have been here and every one has raved. Brunch seems to be preferred over dinner--I was told their coffee is some of the best my coffee-fiend friend has ever had. I hope to make it there soon. It's not the end of the universe to my friends at 19th and Cullerton and 37th and Union I would think it would be a nice stop before a Sox game.

I'm glad others enjoyed it. Alas, when I dragged David Hammond there for lunch yesterday, the curse of the second visit struck. It was a bad sign, at first, that the waitress gringo'd us by suggesting the salmon wrap, which seconds before we had been mocking as the least Mexican item imaginable. (Maybe it's actually good, since the salmon al carbon was one of Garcia's signature dishes at Mundial, but it just sounded so gringoey.) A tamale with a pumpkinseed mole and shredded chicken wasn't bad, but a sandwich of chicken with mole rojo was pretty mediocre, and a huarache with steak on top and lots of grilled vegetables and portobello mushroom was perfectly fine on its own terms, but suggested fajitas at an Ameri-Mex joint more than huaraches at Maxwell Street. Nothing had the sparkle of the scallops in chipotle sauce and the fresh tortillas from the other night.

So, it's a place where you need to order with some care, but still, when it's good it's very good. (And no, I don't mean to suggest that the whole south side is the end of the universe, but really, this is as close as you can get in Chicago to opening in a corn field or on an abandoned air force base.)

We just had dinner there tonight -- the Mrs. and our two best friends, and our sons, mine 7, theirs 4. The highlights:

1) They have a kids menu! It's very conventional, but that's not a bad thing. It enabled us to get through an otherwise lengthy meal.

2) The menu is very similar to Mundials, I might say identicial. Again, this is a good thing.

3) I thought the food preparation was overall better here than at Mundial. Two of us had salmon (two different preparations), and it was cooked perfectly, seasoned perfectly. Mine was served on plantains and avocado. The plantains were so exquisite that at first I thought they had to be something else, like baked apple slices. I often don't order salmon at restaurants anymore, but this preparation reminded me how much I like this fish. One of us had the seafood stew, which was excellent. The final (adult) entree was the shrimp with bacon, which was also outstanding. We also had the oysters and ceviche (perfect), the quesadillas huitlacoche (amazing), and the fresh tamal (like the worlds best cornbread).

4) Dessert here is worth it, at least the crepas locas -- crepes stuffed with caramelized bananas and topped with chocolate sauce and clearly artisanal ice cream. Haven't had a dessert this good in a long time. Yum!

I hope folks turn out to support Amelia's. It was very empty from 6 to 7:30, and still was not full when we left at 8. It's really a quick trip off the Ryan or down Halsted. If you are used to going to Bridgeport for Potsicker House or Healthy Food, Amelia's is just another two minutes south. Please go!

In the interests of full disclosure, what I described as "plantains" in the prior post were in fact mangos and papayas. No wonder they were so delicious! I had had plenty of BYOB by the time the entrees arrived, apparently.

Now that Han202 doesn't seem to need any help filling their tables, it's encouraging to see another place putting together interesting food in the land of the Italian beef and foodservice french fry. I hope to get down here for brunch this weekend.

Had my first dinner at Amelia's (4559 S. Halsted) and checked to see if there were LTH posts on this fabulous restaurant. Shockingly, there were not!!! So I'm the first and here goes. Chef Eusevio Garcia uses his creative skill to work magic.

This is gourmet Mex with seafood, beef, pork, & vegetarian dishes. There is a page of appetizers and most could be a meal. All were very appealing.

For dinner we ordered the ribeye with blue cheese (sorry I didn't take notes on all the ingredients and precise names of the dishes) and the seafood stew which was incredible. For dessert, we split the cranberry cheesecake. It's like nothing you've ever tasted. (The dessert chef, Leticia Zentano, spent time at Boka and other restaurants.)

The service was excellent. The restaurant has a very loft-like feel...brick walls, high tin ceilings. They serve lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. BYOB. Bring your beverage with you because there is nowhere to purchase alcohol in the neighborhood. Plenty of FREE street parking. Weekends are crowded but reservations are taken. It's a destination restaurant but well worth it! (Took me 25 minutes to drive from Logan Square...not bad at all.)

Looking forward to the LTH Foodies reviews.

Restaurant Gal wrote:Had my first dinner at Amelia's (4559 S. Halsted) and checked to see if there were LTH posts on this fabulous restaurant. Shockingly, there were not!!! So I'm the first and here goes. Chef Eusevio Garcia uses his creative skill to work magic.

Looking forward to the LTH Foodies reviews.

Hmmm first review was on Mon May 11, 2009 3:08 pm.

Regards,

Does Amelia's have its own website? All I've been able to find is their menu on the Menupages website.

Amelia's doesn't have their own website.

And I apologize for not being able to find the original postings via search. Maybe it was the subject/title? Like I said, I was shocked no one had been and posted a review.

I hope more people go and enjoy. And yes, it's in a very bizarre location but then again the original Arun's was in a very funky neighborhood when he opened in the 80's!!!

I was going to place this in "the best thing I've eaten lately" thread but I thought I'd rather revive this one.

Anyway, there's a new Spring menu out, and the trout sauteed in a potato wrap lying on a bed of spinach, tomatoes, and portabello mushrooms, floating on a brown butter caper sauce, was superb.

Oddly enough, there was nothing particularly Mexican or Latin in this dish (in fact, it reminded me of several plates I've had recently at West Town Tavern, another chef who knows how to fortify each of the component flavors of an individual dish--and who also loves citrus flavors!); it was just damn good.

On the other hand there was plenty of Latin sass in the croquetas, home-made corn tortillas, and chocolate tres leches cake (topped with pina colada ice cream) that framed the dish, all of them memorable.

And altho it's out-of-way, Amelia's is not, as indicated above, very difficult to get to from many neighborhoods, since it's only a couple of blocks west of the 47th Street exit on the Dan Ryan, and, yes, there's plenty of parking nearby on the street. Also, still BYOB, altho that may change since the owner is applying for a liquor license. So, if you like BYO's here's another for your list, but go soon.

Despite having lived relatively nearby since they opened, I never made it out here until a few nights ago: as previous posts have noted, it's not the sort of neighborhood that invites exploration.

Most of what we had was excellent, easily in the range of Bayless and Bahena, as Mike G says at the top of the thread. Perhaps a bit closer to Mexique than to Frontera, as the food didn't seem particularly beholden to Mexican techniques or flavors, favoring creamy sauces and gentle spice profiles.

Of the entrees, the salmon (described above by rbd66) and the chile relleno were particular hits. The relleno was different from the “vegetariano” currently listed on the website: a gigantic poblano, charred and stuffed with a summery mixture of crunchy corn kernels, diced onion, queso fresco, crema, and (we think) finely-chopped squash blossom, which we'd hoped would be more assertive.

Our favorite appetizer was the tamal nejo, hands down. It was a funny shape for a tamal, apparently split in half—looking a bit like a pair of oversized potstickers—and supporting a pile of shredded chicken glazed with what the menu called “famous Don chemo mole.” A quick Google search says Don Chemo may be the chef's father; in any case, his mole is dark, smoky, and sweet, with a gradual crescendo of complex spiciness. I could have eaten that all night.

The only disappointment was the “ensalada de sandía”: watermelon, watercress, frisée, tomato, and feta. The presentation was cool—the greens and cheese were plated on a disc cut from the center of the melon—but it just tasted like the sum of its parts. An additional salty, sour, or crunchy component (pepitas? pickled onions?) would have given it more of a personality. Thinking back on it now, I'm not even sure there was any dressing. Maybe the greens were tossed in oil, but I don't think there was any more than that.

No complaints about drinks and dessert. While the wine list was fairly extensive and reasonably priced, our cocktails ended up being strong enough to carry us through the meal. We found room (barely) for a couple of desserts, both of which were good enough to order again, but neither of which alone would constitute a reason to visit the restaurant. One of the other desserts, a pumpkin bread pudding, sounded delicious but seemed suspiciously out of season; I'm not sure why it was on the menu in July.

In all, the dinner was a treat. The food was creative and well executed, the service charming, and the price more than reasonable. There were an awful lot of empty tables, but if they were serving this food at these prices in a more appealing location, I don't think that would be the case.

[Edited the opening line: “almost a decade” → “since they opened,” since they've been open only a couple years.]

As of last November it was still BYOB--is that no longer the case?

We didn't think to ask, but since there was nothing on the menu that said they were, my guess is no.

boudreaulicious wrote:As of last November it was still BYOB--is that no longer the case?

Their website shows a wine list, so they are no longer "BYOB only". Whether they would still permit you to bring in your own bottle from outside, with or without a corkage fee, you'd probably have to call and ask.

With Mundial Cucina no more, Amelia's has re-emerged as our go-to place for higher-end (relatively) Mexican cuisine on the South side. They have a new menu with some old favorites such as quesadilla de huitlacoche and camarones a la diabla still around, and whether or not the pork tenderloin with garbanzos was there before, it certainly will enter my list of "bests" since it was very well-done (although cooked, as requested, medium-rare), with hints of smoky pork all around. By the way, although it still may be "at the end of the universe," it is getting to be pretty well-known among Hyde-Parkers and Bridgeporters, so if you're going at a prime dining time, call ahead. It was packed yesterday (Sunday) at 6:00.

We had a great maiden trip to the Back of the Yards and Amelia's a couple months ago. I really enjoyed it and would make a habit of returning if it were closer. The ceviche and grilled lamb were both great, but the most enjoyable part of the evening may have been watching chef Eusebio hustling and performing every role in the restaurant. We joked that there must have been two of him.

My wife and I visited Amelia's for Sunday brunch and we were so pleased with the breakfast menu and offerings. The flavors and inventivness made us appreciate that Amelia's isn't just another Mexican restaurant. This is the first time we dined here during the morning hours, and the atmosphere is really welcoming and comfortable, with easy music playing, very good service, and fresh flowers and linens on all the tables.

We had started with the Ensalada Sandia - Watermelon, Roasted Golden Beets, Frisse Watercress, Red Onion and Feta Cheese Mescal Vinaigrette...perfect for a Summer morning.

For my main dish, I ordered the Huevos Divorciados - Two Poached Eggs over Corn Masa Cakes, Smoked Salmon, Baby Arugula, Tomatillo and Guajillo Sauce, and cilantro/garlic pesto potatoes - WOW - all the flavors were just outstanding!




My wife ordered the Desayuno Amelia - Steak and Eggs with Nopales Empapelados and Beans, and those delicious cilantro pesto potatoes. The nopales are in the foil packet, and it consisted of cactus, chorizo, mayo and a salsa steamed in the foil - just amazing flavor!




For dessert - Blueberry Bread Pudding with Dulce de Leche ice cream - a happy ending!