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Just back from the friends and family dinner debut of Jonathan Zaragoza's first menu as an executive chef and I thought it was terrific. Full disclosure--all food was half price. So tried to judge the food both on taste and whether it was worth the higher price tag (drinks in the $9-12 range, apps $5-10, entrees $20-22) and I came away thinking that it certainly was.

There were only 2 of us and I was still pretty full from yesterday's picnic gorge fest so we didn't try a ton of things but enough to get a feel for the place and everything was consistently delicious. Started simply with Guacamole (white onion, cilantro, serrano chile, housemade totopos, $8 and Salsa de molcajete (roasted tomatillos, arbol chile, roasted garlic, housemade totopos, $5)--particularly loved the guac--fresh, bright, right amount of chunk and crunch. The salsa was pretty tame but tasty--wouldn't have minded a bit more heat. Next up was the Czar salad (baby gem lettuce, avocado caesar dressing, pickled jicama, cotija fritters, $10)--really nicely done--perfectly dressed, fritters a great sub for croutons--took something that is usually boring and made it fun. Finally, for entrees, we had the grilled flat iron steak with ancho potatoes, rajas con crema and lime and the grilled squab with mole Oaxaqueño, wild rice, and the best Scotch Egg I've ever had--perfectly runny, wrapped in chorizo and panko bread crumbs and half of it destined to be my breakfast tomorrow. Execution was perfect--everything was timed right and flowed smoothly. Service was friendly, laid back yet efficient. I only tried one cocktail, the Autumn--Hacienda de Chihuahua Anejo, tart cherry, allspice, citrus, Chicago Old Town Spiced Sugar, $10--it was a bit sweet for my taste but definitely tasted like fall.

It's an interesting location--nothing really right around there, although I did run into Abraham and Adrienne, formerly of Xmarx, who are opening a place on the same block--but there's plenty of parking and a pretty outdoor side patio. I look forward to seeing how Jonathan progresses with the menu--seems like he's off to a great start. And no goat to be found

Masa Azul
2901 W. Diversey Ave
Chicago, IL
(773) 687-0300 ‎
http://www.masaazul.com

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” Elizabeth Taylor

My one caveat up front: my wife and I shared only three appetizers and a dessert; we did not have a main dish.

That said, this place knocked it out of the park for me. Nice room, good service, blah blah. Here's the food:

Corn (Elote) Soup: The bowl comes with a dollop of cilantro pesto and bits of bacon on the bottom. Then they pour the creamed, roasted corn soup over that. First you taste the soup itself, and it's excellent, but then you stir in the pesto and bacon, and the layers of flavor unfold. One of the best creamed vegetable soups I've had in a while, and I can't think of any restaurant in town (El Ideas, Topolobampo, etc.) where this wouldn't be a stand out.
Mushroom taco (two for the appetizer serving): Start with the hand made tortillas, which are slightly thicker and doughier than I've ever had, and amazingly good. Then add well seasoned mushrooms, lightly battered and fried onion slices, and a zingy salsa on the side, so you can use as much as you want.
Pork taco: shredded pork, with pickled onion and a fruity, hot, habenero salsa on the side. Just a few ingredients, but each was outstanding. You got a balance of rich stewed meat, sweet pickles, chewy corn and a fiery salsa. As good a taco as I can remember. Was on a much higher level than what we had an Antique Taco, and I really liked Antique Taco.
Dessert: They only have one at this point, and it's churros with a dark chocolate, chili, dipping sauce. The churro was perfect, but the dipping sauce, well, I spooned up every drop we didn't use for dipping. I usually don't like chili in chocolate; why ruin a good thing? But here, the hint of chili just heightened the flavor of the already top quality dark chocolate.

I hope this place finds a following. The menu is a bit small, but based on what we sampled, the quality couldn't be higher.

Jonah
P.S. If it's not clear from the review, I really liked my meal.

Hmmm . . . which is ruining which? Just kidding really, although I'm sure there are people on both sides of this fence.

like all that we had to eat.& the drinks was very good
i will be back

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philw bbq cbj for kcbs &M.I.M. carolina pit masters

Four of us had dinner at Masa Azul on Tuesday evening and plan on returning in the very near future. The room was welcoming, the service friendly and efficient and the food was outstanding. The bar is very tequila focused and we did not try any of the cocktails (all of which feature tequila) but the cocktail list looked very inviting. We did have a glass or two of anejo after dinner and it was a nice way to end our meal. The wine list is very small with four each of the sparkling, white and red wine choices, all of which are available by the glass.

When we arrived at 7:00, the dining room was sparsely populated but seemed to fill up around 8:00. We were told that it was taco Tuesday and started with a plate of excellent daily special shrimp tacos prepared Baja style on an outstanding house made tortilla. In addition, we had a bowl of sopa Azteca. It seemed as though the tortillas were pureed with the stock in the soup giving it a slightly thicker than normal texture and a "corny" flavor. We moved on tho the czar salad, which is a take on a Ceasar and was very good. For entrees we had one of each of the five items available from the menu:

Bistec grilled flat iron steak, ancho potatoes, rajas con crema, lime
Scallops sweet potato puree, arugula, chorizo
Pichón grilled squab, mole Oaxaqueño, wild rice, Mexican Scotch egg
Camarones chipotle shrimp, cotija grits, cilantro pesto
Chile Relleno Chihuahua-stuffed poblano, rice, chipotle slaw

The kitchen substituted quail for the squab in the second course. All of the entrees were excellent. The grits and potatoes served with the shrimp and the steak were very decadent. The entrees top out around $20 and the overall the menu is very fairly priced. We licked all of the plates clean by the time that they were returned to the kitchen.

We ended the meal with churros in a hot chocolate sauce.

If I had a complaint, it might be that one or two of the entree portions might have been on the smallish side.

Based on my one experience. I would include Masa Azul in the top tier of "upscale" Mexican restaurants in the city. I can't wait to return.

I just learned that a goat dish is going on the menu tonight at Masa Azul. It'll be a Birria taco on a handmade tortilla with red mole, arbol chile picante, cilantro and onion.

Apparently, Jonathan is busy prepping . . .


Jonathan Zaragoza & "friend"

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

I just had dinner Saturday night and was very impressed with the flavors and composition of everything we had....sadly the elote soup was 86'd, so we tried the Sopa Azteca and it was delicious! with a full-bodied soup base a nice pesto and strips of avocado and tortilla...lovely.

The Pork tacos with pickled onions were also quite good, though they could have been a little larger...we shared the Shrimp main course on grits...I've never had such a flavorful, yet tender shrimp, the grits being a good foil, though like the tacos, wished for slightly more. We loved the chipotle flavored cole slaw that came with the chile rellenos which was a perfectly fine example.

All in all a wonderful meal...I will go back!

Had dinner with a friend there on Friday as well--we kept it simple, trying all 4 tacos--2 specials (goat and pork belly) and 2 regular menu offerings (mushroom and cochinita). All were delicious but my favorites were the goat (duh!) and the mushroom. We also had the molcajeta salsa and guac. New menu debuts today with both special tacos on it, as well as the scotch egg as an app and a new baja style shrimp taco and a couple of new soups (roasted butternut squash with duck confit looks pretty tempting). Jonathan has a particularly deft hand with sauces, salsas and soups and the good sense to keep the menu manageable so that the kitchen executes consistently. I've really enjoyed my two visits and look forward to more.

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” Elizabeth Taylor

I had dinner here last night with a couple of friends, so we managed to sample a great deal of the menu, and everything was incredibly spot-on. The drinks, the service, the food, everything, perfect, I am amazed that it isn't constantly packed. A highlight of our meal was the scotch egg - Jonathan clearly learned some tricks from Art at PHB, as the center was beautifully runny. Looking forward to returning sooner rather than later, this place is a real gem.

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"Baseball is like church. Many attend. Few understand." Leo Durocher

Meant to post on this a while back but I attended a collaboration dinner reuniting Jonathan Z. and our own Jefe, Eric M., a few weeks ago at Masa Azul.

Menu was:
Queso Fun­dido– rajas, chichar­ron, totopos
Taco Salad– tor­tilla bowl, guacamole
Skip’s Tacos– crispy tor­tilla, chorizo, frijoles
Sloppy José– goat pica­dillo, jalapeño goat queso
Bur­rito de Carne Deshe­brada Suizo– hand­made tor­tilla, bar­ba­coa, salsa negra
Fries & Choco­late Milk­shake– churro “frites”, Abuelita licuado

All was delicious but highlights for me were the Sloppy Joes with goat picadillo and the Burrito with an absolutely wonderful salsa negra. Jon Z. and co. seem to be having so much fun with the food and it continues to satisfy. If you haven't been, time to go!!

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“The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they’re going to have some pretty annoying virtues.” Elizabeth Taylor