Mesa Urbana - Northbrook (ish) Upscale Mexican

I'd mentioned this in Openings/Closings, but we got a chance to go out to Mesa Urbana last night -- this is going to be one of our regular rotation spots. It's interesting that this is the second upscale Mex place in my neck of the woods (along with Trucho Taqueria at Randhurst, which sadly has dumbed down its menu recently, adding burgers and removing the lamb chorizo). I labeled it Northbrook (ish) because it's at the bottom left corner on Milwaukee, that no-man's land between Glenview and Prospect Heights strewn with mediocre Korean places.

This is the old Captain's Quarters space (in fact the sign on the street hasn't changed), but completely revamped. Gone are the old spindle-back chairs and red-checked tablecloths, instead it's a modern space with bits of wood, stone, etc. It reminded me of Skokie's Libertad in appearance, and that comes through in the food too.

We went over there at 6pm on a Saturday, and the place was pretty full for a restaurant only open 6 weeks. I heard someone mention they got a review in the Pioneer Press papers - aha here it is, pretty brief. We ended up seated at the bar, and got great service from the very enthusiastic bartender. He described the menu as "medium plates, good for sharing, tapas-like." There are entrees at a higher price than the tacos, appetizers and salads, but we stuck to the top of the menu, not even hitting the tacos.

Drinks aren't cheap, but are large and well mixed. SueF had the Mesa Marguerita (orange, lemon and lime), I had El Jefe (grapefruit, lemon and lime, with reposado). Both were very good, not too sweet, quite stiff, good flavor of the tequila coming through. The house green salsa is served warm, with fresh chips. Tasty, but not too exciting.

The moment the Huitlacoche Quesadilla came out, I knew I was going to have a good time. Absolutely beautiful, and delicious. Oozy, some earthiness, not the most powerful of huitlacoche I've had, but nicely dressed with a ultra-fine slaw, queso fresco, and salsa. (My El Jefe and the green salsa in the background)


The bartender strongly recommended the calamari for the mango chile sauce. I was worried about something very sweet, but it was more like a fruity sriracha in flavor (but not the sriracha ketchupy mouthfeel). Crisp, tender calamari.


The empanada was less successful: delicious, with butternut squash inside, and a salad plus romanesco sauce outside, but it was underbaked and a bit doughy.


The mussels (mejillones) were another recommendation. They've got a not-too-spicy chipotle cream sauce, complemented by a smoky char on the bread. Mussels were perfectly cooked (no rubber band or mucilage outliers). I'd definitely go back for this again.


While we ate, we saw a variety of other dishes go by, including gorgeous scallops, carne asada, fresh guacamole... lots of menu to explore (although points off on their website for requiring the PDF menu to be downloaded).

3566 Milwaukee Ave.
Northbrook, IL 60062
(847) 383 0700
http://www.mesaurbana.com
Tues - Thurs: 4-11PM, Fri-Sat: 4-12AM, Sun: 4-10PM, Closed Mondays. Lunch starting April 13 (and I'll be recommending it for the North Lunch Group)

Also ate at Mesa Urbana for the first time this past Friday and mostly enjoyed it. We had a couple El Jefes (probably recommended by the same enthusiastic bartender!), the empanada mentioned above, a salad, and two entrees: salmon and carne asada. Everything tasted good flavor-wise, but we had a problem with the temperature of all of the hot items. The empanada was served barely lukewarm, and the salmon and beef were warm, but not hot. Both the salmon and the steak were cooked to the correct level ordered so I guess it was a matter of sitting too long before being delivered to our table, in spite of what seemed like pretty quick service. Will give it another try though - food was good in spite of temperature issues, liked the atmosphere, and the staff was very friendly.