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.
Amanda P.
Excited to finally try this place after seeing it on so many Portland foodie lists. Ambiance is great, along with fun cocktail menu and a good bartender. Really yummy appetizers and small plates. Would recommend going here and just going that route to save money and disappointment. It is plenty of food so you'll be full. The expensive entrees (we got 2) were seriously lacking in flavor and not really as described on the menu. One we just didn't eat, the other was super simple. For the price...just not worth it. Service was sub-par which like other reviewers made the 20% tip annoying as you know about it while you are there getting service. I know times are tough so I am being sympathetic here, but there was plenty of staff and not very busy. All in all felt like visiting was a solid try. Go for good small plates and apps, fun atmosphere, and keep service expectations low and you'll enjoy it!
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.
Jaimi M.
Took over an hour to bring us our food. The food was not even good. Tamales tasted like I was bitting into a lime. The mole tasted like I was eating a chocolate bar. I recommend taco bell a lot more than this place. Not to mention, it was extremely expensive. Again, I recommend taco bell a lot more than this place.
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.
V S.
If you love spicy Mexican food, this is the place for you! The restaurant has a nice ambiance, great wait staff, and an unusual menu. The only non-spicy item on the menu is a super tasty salad with pickled red onions, pepitas, and Cowgirl Creamery cheese.
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.
P B.
After numerous visits, including dining in and take out, I am confident that this is a bad restaurant: overpriced, mediocre food in a pleasant space. I base this on my experience of the last five years. In the beginning, Xico was tasty with a decent happy hour. It also hosted cool events like a Mezcal tasting. Things started to decline around that point. A change in the kitchen, the owner, the chef? I don't know. I lost interest shortly before the pandemic, but it was recaptured when they offered a reasonable and tasty takeout menu when everything shutdown. Their carnitas burrito was delicious--fresh, tasty ingredients and generously priced. That had previously been offered only for lunch. And so, when things opened back up, I gave them another chance and dined in the beautiful outdoor area. Ugh. Not so good. But ok. I tried a few more times, and the other night has permanently put me off this place. When my friend suggested it, I wasn't eager to return, but I thought-- yeah, ok, one more chance Xico. The restaurant was busy, and I was optimistic. That optimism started to erode when the chips and guacamole came in a diminutive portion because if you want something reasonably sized, Xico asks you to pay around $20 for it. Then, we had the beets. They were bordering on inedible: hot beets with a citrus drizzle or something. Definitely something that should not leave the kitchen. We told our server we didn't like them--we hardly ate them--and they remained on the bill. I had the fish tacos; it was impossible to taste the fish because it was overwhelmed with a mediocre salsa that totally overpowered any other flavor. What's more, the person in the kitchen staffing the pass was periodically checking her cell phone. I didn't see any hand washing between touching that device and the food exiting. All this for around $200 for three people, and we had a modest amount of food and drink. I will not return. There are far better options nearby; namely, Nuestra Cocina for upscale latin cuisine. Or La Bonita for burritos or Matt's BBQ tacos or Por Que No. And for fish tacos, Flying Fish Company over on Burnside. There's also Mestizo or Tight Tacos down Division. And, of course, the Mercado pod is nearby. These are all better options. And sadly, none of them have Xico's beautiful outdoor space, but it's not worth having to suffer Xico's food.
Front of house is friendly and the service is amazing, the kitchen seems to know what they're doing and they take pride in their work. Pricey, but worth it for a great dinner out.
Ashley K.
What a terrible experience- We're a portland couple that hail from the era when Zefiro put portland on the culinary map, we spend $30k+ on eating out annually, have experienced good and bad, and we're rarely moved to leave a bad review but this is one such instance where we can't walk away from without recommending that you not waste your time or your money. We had 5pm reservations and were the 2nd couple in the door- we waited close to a half hour before we had to ask for service while other parties came in ordered and had food on the table before we were asked if we wanted a beverage- again after we asked twice for someone to help us- only to be stuck with a snarky waitress that had more attitude than a server from a late 90's era McMenamins (if you've been in portland that long you know exactly what I mean) We had never eaten here over all the years of seeing it when we walked past - our intuition just kept us away, but post pandemia on a friends recommendation we decided to give it a try- sadly we should have picked option 2. It was so bad we wondered later if we were part of a social experiment- Poor service with attitude Overpriced low quality food Mandatory 20% gratuity for the horrible service- Go elsewhere- you won't ever regret missing this place
G K.
Absolutely the worst meal we have had from any restaurant in Portland in quite a long time. First, 28 minutes seated at our table before anyone came to see if we wanted anything to drink and that was after we stopped a different waitperson for the 2nd time to get us service. Meanwhile everyone around us was getting drinks, food, paid, and gone. Next, the food came out cold, the carne asada was a paper thin ( not exaggerating) $4.00 piece of yesterday's leftover. My pollo en mole was horrible and I left the full piece of thigh as it was not edible, the rice also not edible. When the server came to ask me if everything was alright- I told her the truth to which she responded, "oh but the plate is hot" as if that is supposed to magically heat my food. This mess of a dining experience was not exclusive to us either- our friends dining with us also shared in the misery with cold food, inedible pork rinds, and geriatric paper thin beef. Adding insult to injury- the mandatory 20% seems like a ridiculous charge at this point, considering we had to ask them to do their job. Lastly, the prices for this level of quality and service are shameful. Charged $24 dollars for chips and salsa, $1.50 each tortilla and honestly don't think they were made in restaurant. What other restaurant charges these absurdities?? Will NOT be going back and most certainly not recommend. If you want amazing Mexican food, go to NUESTRA COSINA. now they know how to do it! And you can watch as they hand make the fresh tortillas and cook your food over a hot flame.
Emma F.
Absolutely delicious food. Love the outdoor area- it was packed but no one sitting inside. Really, really tasty food.
M D.
The ambience and decor of the restaurant was really beautiful. I sat outside in the back in their covered patio area and enjoyed queso flameado with a regular margarita. Both were delicious. I ordered the chicken in mole sauce with rice, which was delicious as well. The sauce was a chocolate-brown color and slightly peppery, which I enjoyed. Service was friendly. I'd definitely come back and bring friends!
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.
Excited to finally try this place after seeing it on so many Portland foodie lists. Ambiance is great, along with fun cocktail menu and a good bartender. Really yummy appetizers and small plates. Would recommend going here and just going that route to save money and disappointment. It is plenty of food so you'll be full. The expensive entrees (we got 2) were seriously lacking in flavor and not really as described on the menu. One we just didn't eat, the other was super simple. For the price...just not worth it. Service was sub-par which like other reviewers made the 20% tip annoying as you know about it while you are there getting service. I know times are tough so I am being sympathetic here, but there was plenty of staff and not very busy. All in all felt like visiting was a solid try. Go for good small plates and apps, fun atmosphere, and keep service expectations low and you'll enjoy it!
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.
Took over an hour to bring us our food. The food was not even good. Tamales tasted like I was bitting into a lime. The mole tasted like I was eating a chocolate bar. I recommend taco bell a lot more than this place. Not to mention, it was extremely expensive. Again, I recommend taco bell a lot more than this place.
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.
If you love spicy Mexican food, this is the place for you! The restaurant has a nice ambiance, great wait staff, and an unusual menu. The only non-spicy item on the menu is a super tasty salad with pickled red onions, pepitas, and Cowgirl Creamery cheese.
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.
After numerous visits, including dining in and take out, I am confident that this is a bad restaurant: overpriced, mediocre food in a pleasant space. I base this on my experience of the last five years. In the beginning, Xico was tasty with a decent happy hour. It also hosted cool events like a Mezcal tasting. Things started to decline around that point. A change in the kitchen, the owner, the chef? I don't know. I lost interest shortly before the pandemic, but it was recaptured when they offered a reasonable and tasty takeout menu when everything shutdown. Their carnitas burrito was delicious--fresh, tasty ingredients and generously priced. That had previously been offered only for lunch. And so, when things opened back up, I gave them another chance and dined in the beautiful outdoor area. Ugh. Not so good. But ok. I tried a few more times, and the other night has permanently put me off this place. When my friend suggested it, I wasn't eager to return, but I thought-- yeah, ok, one more chance Xico. The restaurant was busy, and I was optimistic. That optimism started to erode when the chips and guacamole came in a diminutive portion because if you want something reasonably sized, Xico asks you to pay around $20 for it. Then, we had the beets. They were bordering on inedible: hot beets with a citrus drizzle or something. Definitely something that should not leave the kitchen. We told our server we didn't like them--we hardly ate them--and they remained on the bill. I had the fish tacos; it was impossible to taste the fish because it was overwhelmed with a mediocre salsa that totally overpowered any other flavor. What's more, the person in the kitchen staffing the pass was periodically checking her cell phone. I didn't see any hand washing between touching that device and the food exiting. All this for around $200 for three people, and we had a modest amount of food and drink. I will not return. There are far better options nearby; namely, Nuestra Cocina for upscale latin cuisine. Or La Bonita for burritos or Matt's BBQ tacos or Por Que No. And for fish tacos, Flying Fish Company over on Burnside. There's also Mestizo or Tight Tacos down Division. And, of course, the Mercado pod is nearby. These are all better options. And sadly, none of them have Xico's beautiful outdoor space, but it's not worth having to suffer Xico's food.
Restaurantji Recommends
Front of house is friendly and the service is amazing, the kitchen seems to know what they're doing and they take pride in their work. Pricey, but worth it for a great dinner out.
What a terrible experience- We're a portland couple that hail from the era when Zefiro put portland on the culinary map, we spend $30k+ on eating out annually, have experienced good and bad, and we're rarely moved to leave a bad review but this is one such instance where we can't walk away from without recommending that you not waste your time or your money. We had 5pm reservations and were the 2nd couple in the door- we waited close to a half hour before we had to ask for service while other parties came in ordered and had food on the table before we were asked if we wanted a beverage- again after we asked twice for someone to help us- only to be stuck with a snarky waitress that had more attitude than a server from a late 90's era McMenamins (if you've been in portland that long you know exactly what I mean) We had never eaten here over all the years of seeing it when we walked past - our intuition just kept us away, but post pandemia on a friends recommendation we decided to give it a try- sadly we should have picked option 2. It was so bad we wondered later if we were part of a social experiment- Poor service with attitude Overpriced low quality food Mandatory 20% gratuity for the horrible service- Go elsewhere- you won't ever regret missing this place
Absolutely the worst meal we have had from any restaurant in Portland in quite a long time. First, 28 minutes seated at our table before anyone came to see if we wanted anything to drink and that was after we stopped a different waitperson for the 2nd time to get us service. Meanwhile everyone around us was getting drinks, food, paid, and gone. Next, the food came out cold, the carne asada was a paper thin ( not exaggerating) $4.00 piece of yesterday's leftover. My pollo en mole was horrible and I left the full piece of thigh as it was not edible, the rice also not edible. When the server came to ask me if everything was alright- I told her the truth to which she responded, "oh but the plate is hot" as if that is supposed to magically heat my food. This mess of a dining experience was not exclusive to us either- our friends dining with us also shared in the misery with cold food, inedible pork rinds, and geriatric paper thin beef. Adding insult to injury- the mandatory 20% seems like a ridiculous charge at this point, considering we had to ask them to do their job. Lastly, the prices for this level of quality and service are shameful. Charged $24 dollars for chips and salsa, $1.50 each tortilla and honestly don't think they were made in restaurant. What other restaurant charges these absurdities?? Will NOT be going back and most certainly not recommend. If you want amazing Mexican food, go to NUESTRA COSINA. now they know how to do it! And you can watch as they hand make the fresh tortillas and cook your food over a hot flame.
Absolutely delicious food. Love the outdoor area- it was packed but no one sitting inside. Really, really tasty food.
The ambience and decor of the restaurant was really beautiful. I sat outside in the back in their covered patio area and enjoyed queso flameado with a regular margarita. Both were delicious. I ordered the chicken in mole sauce with rice, which was delicious as well. The sauce was a chocolate-brown color and slightly peppery, which I enjoyed. Service was friendly. I'd definitely come back and bring friends!