Adobo Grill - Wicker Park, Chicago, IL

SP treated me to a show at Steppenwolf on Saturday. We had a great time. He got us tickets in one of the private side balconies, so we had room to spread out, put our coats down, and not share arm rests with anyone other than each other.

Afterward, I had already made a reservation at Adobo Grill in Wicker Park. I hadn't been there before, and neither had SP. I read good reviews and someone I know had been there, so we tried it.

The atmosphere is definitely very inviting, cozy and modern. The restrooms were very clean, a bonus in the city. The wait staff was plentiful and almost hovering...well, they did hover. In fact, I was a little annoyed that they tried to take my margarita before I was done, and also eyed our guacamole several times before we finished. When you charge what you do for a tiny margarita that takes three sips to finish, let me sip it three times before you try to steal my glass. The margarita was tasty, even if it was tiny. SP had two.

The guacamole was wonderful. Just the right heat and cilantro in a creamy yet slightly chunky texture. The chips were strong enough to use as spoons in the dip, and the wait staff offered more chips easily.

Next we ordered the flautas. They were an artsy interpretation of the classic, probably American, deep fried and rolled beef or chicken. These were deep fried tortillas, but they were pre-fried into the shape of a cannoli. Then they were stuffed with a potato and shrimp mixture that was tasty. They were topped with red cabbage, which I thought was out of place, but perhaps I'm not well versed in authentic Mexican food quite yet. To me, it was Eastern Europe meets Mexico, sort of. They were still good.

For dinner, I ordered the chicken enchiladas served in a mole sauce with refried black beans. They were very good tasting, had they been free of the tendons and such that were left in the chicken meat that was inside my enchiladas. That is a pet peeve of most who order any sort of chicken item out...if it's a chicken burrito, enchilada, salad, whatever, take the time to take the nastiness off before you season and cook and roll it into my dinner, please. Had they taken the time to do this, I would have given them good marks for the mole and mixture of flavors on my plate. The beans were nothing special.

SP ordered a flank steak served with some sort of lasagna-esque concoction. He was a little confused about the side dish, as was I. It appeared to include cheese, maybe potatoes, and definitely tortilla layers. He said it was good, but had to be fattening and he wasn't sure what it was, so he only ate a bit. The steak was cooked medium rare, despite his medium well request (I try to get him to move to the rare side, but he likes his food cooked). He asked me if it was done enough to eat and I assured him he'd live. I thought it was very tasty, as he shared a few bites with me. I think he would have preferred a good ol ground beef enchilada or hard shell taco. He wasn't so much expecting authentic food, but he admitted it was fairly good.

We entertained ourselves in between attacks by the wait staff trying to steal our half-eaten food by trying to determine whether the very loud and animated woman at the next table was the daughter of the two elder folks or the girlfriend of their son, also at the table. We decided she was the son's girlfriend, meeting the parents. They were all very subdued and she was very animated, so we thought it didn't go that well, what with all the flailing of the arms and shouting as they ate with their unused arms on their laps. Oh well. They appeared to be college-aged. They'll be other girls they'll like better.

The bonus was that I had a $25 gift card from www.restaurants.com that I paid only $3 for. That helped defray the bill a bit. We'll try another spot next time. I can't say it was good enough to go back again and again, but it was adventurous for us, which is good.