I ordered the veggie bowl to go. It tasted fine but it was different than what I expected based on what was listed on the to-go menu (my bowl had roasted beets instead of squash and the bowl I received didn’t have any cotija, which of course I was looking forward to). Kind of a bummer. Plus they forgot to include the side of guacamole I had added so I had to go back and ask for that. All in all, an “eh” experience. It wouldn’t be on the top of my list to return to.
P Smith
Nice atmosphere. Great bar. Food, very good. Prices are high. What I didn’t like was having a 20% tip automatically added to the bill. Fortunately, the server informed me as I was about to add a ‘second’ tip. Btw good for her. I would have raised holy hell if she hadn’t.Tipping is completely out of control in this town. We need to stop calling it a ‘tip’ because now a days it often just gets taken regardless of the service. From now on, let’s just call it paying the servers wage. It’s not a tip.Our service was good and I would have left a good tip but in this case I was too busy paying her wage.Anyway, this is a good special occasion place or to take a date.Get the chocolate drink for desert. Best part of the meal.
Solomon Levinrad
We had our small wedding ceremony and reception at Xico and it was wonderful. The patio was beautiful, the food delicious, and the service excellent. Kacey was so easy to work with and very helpful with organizing the event.
BJ Safdie
Xico was a transcendent Mexican-influenced dining experience. Everything was wonderful. It is so nice to find a Mexican restaurant that is not just all overly complicated tacos and burritos. Of note, the warm beets and red mole were amazing. The chocolate mole was quite heavy on the chocolate and more like a chocolate sauce than a mole. Otherwise everything was exceptional.
Jonathan Kim
First time here and a not so great experience. The food was tasty, but felt the price point was high for the quality and amount of food provided. Service was mediocre at best.We arrived around 5:40 to a mostly empty dining room, and were told that because we did not have a reservation, the earliest we could be seated would be 7:30 for a party of 2. We totally understood as it was Friday evening. We said we would look at other options possibly, and I checked Resy after walking outside and was surprised to see there were multiple reservations available for 6:30 and beyond, so we booked for 6:30. We arrived around 6:25 and were seated. We placed our drink, appetizer, and entree order all at once. It took about 25 minutes for the Queso Flameado to come out - it was tasty and the tortillas were warm. Then we waited another 45 minutes for our entrees of the beef birria quesadilla and fish tacos to come out. The flavors were good, but the portions for the birria quesadilla was shocking considering it was $25 + an additional 20% service fee. I understand it's upscale, but I felt the portion did not match the price point. The water cups were quite small (maybe 6oz) and I had an empty water cup the entire meal. The server was floating around and came to take finished plates, but did not refill the water cup. I get it was a busy Friday evening, but overall we felt like our table was neglected.
John Kutasz
Xico continues to be an upscale event destination for us. Between the beautiful setting (indoors or out) and the quality of the food, we have never been disappointed.A benefit of our most recent visit was a special cocktail menu, entirely made up of 2 drinks that were made with gelato from Pinolo, next door. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship.As for the food, we started off with one of the best ceviche experiences I've ever had, followed by truly high end carne asada for me, and a lovely trout pozole for my wife (lovely if you don't mind your dinner staring back at you). Aesthetics aside, it was delicious.The pros on the wait staff were kind enough to give us a flan to share when they found out we were there on our anniversary. A nice touch that made a memorable meal just a bit nicer.
John Karl
Good food but not as nice as I was expecting and it seemed like half the staff was walking around aimlessly (maybe training?) and the other half was super busy.
Gloria Geleynse
Fabulous restaurant. All of the flavors were incredible. Drinks, appetizers and entrees were delicious. Unusual items. I Highly recommend this restaurant. Good service and cute decor.
Lisa Moore
Upscale Mexican menu (not your typical Tex/Mex). We started sharing a beet mole, light, slightly spicy and tasty. One of us had the Carne asada and the other had Pollo en mole. The Carne asada came with in house ground corn tortillas and a red pepper sauce. The pollo en mole was a half rotisserie chicken, rice and a delicious mole sauce with a definite hint chocolate.
Jason L
From an ambience, service and experiential standpoint, Xico is very nice. You won't go wrong. Interesting and varied cocktail options, unique salsas and flavors generally. Very attentive and kind staff.The food is certainly good, but for the price, it's not knock-your-socks-off exceptional. Flavors just need to be brightened up a bit.
Decor great, presentation superb, staff wonderful, flavors disappointing. Tamales looked gorgeous but tasted like last week's masa harina; flan was pedestrian at best. Very odd.That said, hubby liked his pork dish, and the chocolate dessert was special.
Liane H.
Great experience as well as food. A bit spicy for my palette but yummy none the less. The drink I'll Take You There was so nice on a cold spring day.
Michael Caloz
Xico has amazing atmosphere, but I wish the food were better.I've been there twice now and everything is *almost* excellent. They have a nice menu, attractive presentation, and everything feels high quality, but each time nothing (other than the horchata) really tasted *great,* especially for the price.This is unfortunate because the patio is amazing. I love the ambiance, the heating is the best setup I've seen in Portland, and the music was awesome.(We had the chicken mole and the tamales, and I believe last time a few months ago we had the carnitas).
Kamalika Roy
Tasty fresh food. Very nice ceviche. Service is slow and disorganized. Very less light. Many were using their cell phone flashlight to read the menu.
Varma Penumetcha
Well prepared tamales and fried cauliflower. Their sides of salsa and dips are a must try. Service was a bit slow but not unreasonable. Parking can be a bit difficult.
I ordered the veggie bowl to go. It tasted fine but it was different than what I expected based on what was listed on the to-go menu (my bowl had roasted beets instead of squash and the bowl I received didn’t have any cotija, which of course I was looking forward to). Kind of a bummer. Plus they forgot to include the side of guacamole I had added so I had to go back and ask for that. All in all, an “eh” experience. It wouldn’t be on the top of my list to return to.
Nice atmosphere. Great bar. Food, very good. Prices are high. What I didn’t like was having a 20% tip automatically added to the bill. Fortunately, the server informed me as I was about to add a ‘second’ tip. Btw good for her. I would have raised holy hell if she hadn’t.Tipping is completely out of control in this town. We need to stop calling it a ‘tip’ because now a days it often just gets taken regardless of the service. From now on, let’s just call it paying the servers wage. It’s not a tip.Our service was good and I would have left a good tip but in this case I was too busy paying her wage.Anyway, this is a good special occasion place or to take a date.Get the chocolate drink for desert. Best part of the meal.
We had our small wedding ceremony and reception at Xico and it was wonderful. The patio was beautiful, the food delicious, and the service excellent. Kacey was so easy to work with and very helpful with organizing the event.
Xico was a transcendent Mexican-influenced dining experience. Everything was wonderful. It is so nice to find a Mexican restaurant that is not just all overly complicated tacos and burritos. Of note, the warm beets and red mole were amazing. The chocolate mole was quite heavy on the chocolate and more like a chocolate sauce than a mole. Otherwise everything was exceptional.
First time here and a not so great experience. The food was tasty, but felt the price point was high for the quality and amount of food provided. Service was mediocre at best.We arrived around 5:40 to a mostly empty dining room, and were told that because we did not have a reservation, the earliest we could be seated would be 7:30 for a party of 2. We totally understood as it was Friday evening. We said we would look at other options possibly, and I checked Resy after walking outside and was surprised to see there were multiple reservations available for 6:30 and beyond, so we booked for 6:30. We arrived around 6:25 and were seated. We placed our drink, appetizer, and entree order all at once. It took about 25 minutes for the Queso Flameado to come out - it was tasty and the tortillas were warm. Then we waited another 45 minutes for our entrees of the beef birria quesadilla and fish tacos to come out. The flavors were good, but the portions for the birria quesadilla was shocking considering it was $25 + an additional 20% service fee. I understand it's upscale, but I felt the portion did not match the price point. The water cups were quite small (maybe 6oz) and I had an empty water cup the entire meal. The server was floating around and came to take finished plates, but did not refill the water cup. I get it was a busy Friday evening, but overall we felt like our table was neglected.
Xico continues to be an upscale event destination for us. Between the beautiful setting (indoors or out) and the quality of the food, we have never been disappointed.A benefit of our most recent visit was a special cocktail menu, entirely made up of 2 drinks that were made with gelato from Pinolo, next door. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship.As for the food, we started off with one of the best ceviche experiences I've ever had, followed by truly high end carne asada for me, and a lovely trout pozole for my wife (lovely if you don't mind your dinner staring back at you). Aesthetics aside, it was delicious.The pros on the wait staff were kind enough to give us a flan to share when they found out we were there on our anniversary. A nice touch that made a memorable meal just a bit nicer.
Good food but not as nice as I was expecting and it seemed like half the staff was walking around aimlessly (maybe training?) and the other half was super busy.
Fabulous restaurant. All of the flavors were incredible. Drinks, appetizers and entrees were delicious. Unusual items. I Highly recommend this restaurant. Good service and cute decor.
Upscale Mexican menu (not your typical Tex/Mex). We started sharing a beet mole, light, slightly spicy and tasty. One of us had the Carne asada and the other had Pollo en mole. The Carne asada came with in house ground corn tortillas and a red pepper sauce. The pollo en mole was a half rotisserie chicken, rice and a delicious mole sauce with a definite hint chocolate.
From an ambience, service and experiential standpoint, Xico is very nice. You won't go wrong. Interesting and varied cocktail options, unique salsas and flavors generally. Very attentive and kind staff.The food is certainly good, but for the price, it's not knock-your-socks-off exceptional. Flavors just need to be brightened up a bit.
Restaurantji Recommends
Decor great, presentation superb, staff wonderful, flavors disappointing. Tamales looked gorgeous but tasted like last week's masa harina; flan was pedestrian at best. Very odd.That said, hubby liked his pork dish, and the chocolate dessert was special.
Great experience as well as food. A bit spicy for my palette but yummy none the less. The drink I'll Take You There was so nice on a cold spring day.
Xico has amazing atmosphere, but I wish the food were better.I've been there twice now and everything is *almost* excellent. They have a nice menu, attractive presentation, and everything feels high quality, but each time nothing (other than the horchata) really tasted *great,* especially for the price.This is unfortunate because the patio is amazing. I love the ambiance, the heating is the best setup I've seen in Portland, and the music was awesome.(We had the chicken mole and the tamales, and I believe last time a few months ago we had the carnitas).
Tasty fresh food. Very nice ceviche. Service is slow and disorganized. Very less light. Many were using their cell phone flashlight to read the menu.
Well prepared tamales and fried cauliflower. Their sides of salsa and dips are a must try. Service was a bit slow but not unreasonable. Parking can be a bit difficult.
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