Hota - Formerly Jacky's on Prairie

I had been trying to eat at Hota since they opened back in January, but some conflict always arose. I was finally able to stop in for a quick lunch last week. Unfortunately, I don't know that I'll be stopping in again.

I have passed Hota many times and have always notices they've been empty during lunch. This day would be no different


Bread service was odd. Was...was that a waffle I just dipped in salsa?




FLAUTAS duck confit / crème frâiche / queso fresco



Despite the amount of sauce and queso fresco, these somehow tasted...bland. All that came through was the meat, which took several chews to get down.

VEGETARIANO Oyster Mushrooms / smoked squash / arugula / parsley-oregano salsa / baguette


TACOS DE RES Three tacos on corn tortillas with shredded beef in Guajillo sauce / avocado / crème frâiche / queso fresco / cilantro



There was a lot of Guajillo sauce. By the time I was done with these 3 tacos, my hands were stained red. I felt bad for that napkin.

So, yeah. Hota wasn't bad...it just wasn't very good either. You don't feel like you're getting your money's worth (my tacos were 12 dollars?) With so many options in Evanston (and Frontera Fresco in nearby Skokie), I don't see myself coming back for lunch any time soon.

Hota
2545 Prairie Avenue.
Evanston, IL 60201
847-733-0899

Very disappointing. We live walking distance and have been curious for a while but the timing hasn't ever worked out. I suspect we'll still try it out for dinner one of these days, but can only hope our experience is better. Thanks for taking one for the team--and here's hoping that it was a one-off experience!

The Evanston Lunch Group held our June lunch at Hota, and while we had a somewhat more favorable impression than incite, basically we felt Hota to be a pleasant somewhat upscale place for lunch (while it was not crowded, we were by no means the only group present, and while it was not cheap, lunch came to $18/person). Without being terribly authentic and surprising, the dishes were tasty (some were over-sauced, especially the flautas). I especially liked the beet salad and the garlic bread, particularly (nr was not present to document the dishes). The space (formerly Jacky's on Prairie) is very light and airy, and it was a pleasant restaurant, not destination lunch dining. The dinner menu is more ambitious, but the day we ate at Hota the chef was not in the kitchen (and this could have affected lunch), so we were not able to order off the dinner menu. The obvious comparison to Hota is Libertad in Skokie, which was a more ambitious restaurant, but Hota is an enjoyable location for lunch in the Central Avenue area of Evanston.

Regrettably, time prevented my joining the Evanston lunch group. However, a few months ago I did have dinner at Hota (as part of a group of four people).

My impressions of the mains were similar to GAF's, with the added comment that the dishes were uneven; some were under-seasoned, others just fine.

Two positives from that dinner were: 1) the service was excellent -- pleasant, efficient, unobtrusive, and 2) the desserts were outstanding. I didn't take notes and the details now fade from memory, but wife No.1 who loves sweets was very impressed.

Another time I did lunch takeout and the smoked trout salad was a fine dish, very flavorful without being overwhelmed by the fish.

George R wrote:Two positives from that dinner were: 1) the service was excellent -- pleasant, efficient, unobtrusive, and 2) the desserts were outstanding. I didn't take notes and the details now fade from memory, but wife No.1 who loves sweets was very impressed.

Another time I did lunch takeout and the smoked trout salad was a fine dish, very flavorful without being overwhelmed by the fish.

Just FYI - the service was indeed excellent yesterday. We did not have dessert; they were out of the one that sounded the most intriguing, which IIRC was some sort of housemade lemon donut (may have been called a zeppole or beignet or one of those other foreign donut names ). We didn't try the smoked trout salad, which sounded good.

Overall, my opinion is in line with GAF's too, although I liked the flautas the best and the beet salad the least. (Like Evie, I lurve beets, but theirs was just okay IMHO.*) I thought everything was pretty good, nothing was mindblowing and nothing was bad.

*This was a couple of weeks after eating the best beet dish in my entire life, wonderful warm roast baby beets. If you're ever near Fort Wayne...

Is Hota owned by the guy who owns Blind Faith on Dempster St. (as the most recent iteration of Jacky's was)?

My understanding is that David Lupschultz, owner of Blind Faith, did own Jackie's with chef Jonadab Silva. In 2011 Chef Silva and his wife Erin (who is the pastry chef) took full ownership and changed concept and the name.

Out of curiosity, I did a little googling to find out what Hota means. Turns out hota is the phonetic pronunciation of the Spanish word jota, which is the word for the letter J. Which stands for Jacky's, among other things. So the name of the restaurant is like a little homage, a tip o' the hat, to its ancestor in the location.

My source is this.

riddlemay wrote:Out of curiosity, I did a little googling to find out what Hota means. Turns out hota is the phonetic pronunciation of the Spanish word jota, which is the word for the letter J. Which stands for Jacky's, among other things. So the name of the restaurant is like a little homage, a tip o' the hat, to its ancestor in the location.

My source is this.

All true except "among other things" includes the fact that "J" is also the first letter of the first name of the current owner/executive chef, Jonadab Silva. So it's actually a "tribute" to both.

Gypsy Boy wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Out of curiosity, I did a little googling to find out what Hota means. Turns out hota is the phonetic pronunciation of the Spanish word jota, which is the word for the letter J. Which stands for Jacky's, among other things. So the name of the restaurant is like a little homage, a tip o' the hat, to its ancestor in the location.

My source is this.

All true except "among other things" includes the fact that "J" is also the first letter of the first name of the current owner/executive chef, Jonadab Silva. So it's actually a "tribute" to both.

Actually I find your etymology more persuasive than Eater Chicago's. If I were a chef/owner, I'd sooner make my restaurant's name refer to myself than to its predecessor restaurant.

I heard Hota in Evanston closed this week. We walked by there on Wednesday evening and it was closed but there was no sign or anything on the door. Has anyone heard anything?

We used to frequent it years ago when it was Jacky's Bistro but the place was never quite the same afterwards. The one time we went to Hota, we were not impressed.

north shore foodie wrote:I heard Hota in Evanston closed this week.

Confirmed by Dish.

Dish wrote:Evanston spots Austin’s Tacos and Hota have both called it quits.

=R=