Inside Kelly Myers' Mexican Spot Xico, Open Now

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[Avila, 8/17/12]

Another sure-to-be-hotspot has bowed on SE Division. The 60-seat Xico, an "upscale casual" Mexican-inspired restaurant with longtime Nostrana chef Kelly Myers in the kitchen, swung its doors open last week next to the former Weird Bar space. Myers' 15-item dinner menu highlights the spot's signature dish — a chili-rubbed rotisserie chicken — serving it with salsa de muchos chiles and house-ground tortillas, or under a mole negro. (A take-out lunch window and nightly to-go chicken dinners offer half-chickens served with tortillas and optional sides like rice, beans, and escabeche.) Several other dishes also spend time on the grill: goat chops and red chile sopes with queso and cumin; culotte steak with cowboy beans; masa stuffed with favas, queso fresco, and molé verde; and grilled corn salad with chile and lime. And owners Liz Davis and Daniel Thomas had added an additional 20 seats for sun-worshippers on the back patio — bumping the total to 80.

Xico offers lunch through its to-go window from Wednesday through Sunday, 11:30a.m. to 2p.m.; while take-out chicken dinners are available daily starting at 2p.m. Dinner service begins at 5p.m. nightly, with a late-night happy hour from 9p.m. to close.
· Xico [Official site]
· All Previous Xico Coverage [Eater PDX]