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Chile con queso at Xuco Xicana. Photo by Alison Cook
I am in so much trouble when it comes to Xuco Xicana, the restaurant formerly-and-sort-of-currently known as El Patio Midtown.
See, I have this job that requires me to dine in different restaurants on a near-daily basis. But I'm so hung up on some of the new dishes consulting chef Jonathan Jones has rolled out on the Xuco Xicana menu that I keep finding excuses to return.
Um, I just have to see if the chile con queso really is as good as I think it is, with its roasted green chiles and sparks of pico de gallo and its perfect, chip-clingy viscosity. It's made with a combo of Chihuahua and American processed cheese (namely Solana, an Extra-Melt-style product that Jones says contains more milk solids than Velveeta). And it has vaulted right onto my short list of the best quesos in town.
Xuco Xicana's lamb tamale with guajillo, orange and cinnamon. Photo by Alison Cook
So there's that. Then there are the hot wings, er, "Hot Wangs," in patented JJspeak, JJ being one of the several nicknames by which the chef at Beaver's neo-icehouse, his primary post, is known. Normally chicken wings don't interest me much (I am certainly not one of those connoisseurs who pursues them relentlessly), but for these brilliant specimens I make a very big exception.
Essentially they are Buffalo wings seen through a Houston lens: painted in a tart-hot red daub of toasted chile arbol, sesame seeds, pepitas, garlic and spices bound together with vinegar, a potion that Jones leaves to develop over several days. Yow, is it good. On top go soft local queso fresco and swizzles of crema that Jones cultures himself; and on the side, in the role of celery sticks, come slices of cucumber and jicama zapped with lime and red chile. Yes, there is a cilantro-ranchy dressing to stand in for the traditional blue cheese dip, but the wings don't need any help.
The hot wings (er, Wangs) at Xuco Xicana put Buffalo wings to shame. Photo by Alison Cook
Actually the chicken wings are a bit of an anomaly on this reconfigured menu. Jones has moved a middle-of-the-road Tex-Mex bill of fare more toward interior Mexican flavors, with fine results. His reworked cheese enchiladas feature pale Chihuahua cheese and a resonant ancho/guajillo red chile sauce that has deepened and intensified over the past few weeks, as Jones brings the kitchen up to speed.
You can get the same red chile sauce on simple Tortillas Enchiladas strewn with crumbly white cheese and lettuce, which is pretty much the fountainhead recipe for all enchiladas, everywhere. It's daring to try that kind of basic, rootsy dish at a Midtown restaurant that trades heavily on its bar and patio, or to trot out enfrijoladas, in which tortillas are dipped in a black bean sauce before being lavishly garnished. (Split an order of these if you try them, because a giant platter of enfrijoladas, while very good, doesn't wear well as a solo entree.)
Mushroom adobo enchiladas with huitlacoche and salsa verde, Xuco Xicana. Photo by Alison Cook
Jones has introduced serious tamales, too: lamb with guajillo chile, orange and cinnamon; as well as shreddy pork shoulder with guajillo. And I loved the enchiladas of mushrooms sauteed in red pasilla chile adobo, made lusher with earthy huitlacoche fungus and finished with a brisk salsa verde. It's a vegetarian's dream dish...if you pass on the lard-infused refried beans, that is.
Stacked enchiladas in ancho/guajillo sauce, with shredded beef and sunnyside egg, at Xuco Xicana. Photo by Alison Cook
There's lots more to sample, from daily Third Coast Ceviches to sopes to carne guisada to typically over-the-top Jonesified versions of nachos, that Tex-Mex staple that operators ignore at their peril. On Sundays, there's an appealing brunch menu in the swaggery spirit of Jones's oeuvre at Beaver's, with fried eggs plunked on anything that moves and even a Tejano-ed up version of French toast, with a bit of ancho in the syrup.
The specialty margaritas need work (they're way too sweet), but the classic El Patio frozen job still has its classic diesel-fuel charms. I am not being sarcastic.
Enfrijoladas at Xuco Xicana. Photo by Alison Cook
Already I count Xuco Xicana as one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in town, and it's just getting started on its new life. The menu comes with a pronunciation guide (say "Chuco Chicana") along with a slightly tangled history lesson in the guise of a "Mission Statement."
I get nervous when I see restaurant mission statements. I'm a "show me, don't tell me" sort of diner. But at Xuco Xicana, the philosophy is on the plate. And I had to chuckle at the thinly veiled challenge flung down by the following: "Our food is the food that INSPIRED "Tex-Mex," however is NOT "Tex-Mex," even though our food may share elements of that cuisine."
Gosh. Whoever could they be referencing there? I guess it could be the new Tex-Mex Revival mega-project, El Real, spearheaded by chef Bryan Caswell and cookbook author Robb Walsh. Ya think?
Bring on the competition and the food dialectic, I say. Houston will be the richer for it. In fact, it already is.
(Xuco Xicana, a.k.a. El Patio Midtown, 2416 Brazos, 713-523-8181)
Nice write-up! And I do declare that your photos are getting to be as great as your writing =)
How was the huitlacoche ?
From the smoldering ashes of the highfalutin SouthWestern cuisine of the 90's, I find the trend of embracing interior Mexican cuisine quite refreshing. JJ's just the man to do it. Thanks for shining a light.
If Jonathan Jones gets some elbow room and budget, his concept for "The XX" will garner national attention. Fast.
For this to happen, they'll need to knock down the "El Patio" sign- a name synonymous with bland and ordinary Tex-Mex and Felix cheese.
Bulldoze it.
Get Chingie to write a song about the "bulldozin' of signs, cause it's a sign of the times" and I'm sure people will come and help. People will come from near and far to lay hands on the demon pole. It will vibrate to the tune of true mexican songs about manteca. It will fall. We will celebrate. Chips and salsa for everyone. Yay. Now everyone, say "Olé!"
Dozer party... I'm in!
I can't wait for the flag to wave, so Jonathan can really get this underway. Jonathan's knowledge on this cuisine is unbelievable. Those wings are KILLER!
I couldn't agree more with Fulmer and GunsandTacos on this.
Great write.
It never boasted being a Oaxacan restaurant
not to burst any bubbles, but oaxacan cuisine is the norm at fancy-ish mexican places in the northeast. no one in nyc/philly/bmore/dc would really bat an eyelash at this. Hell, DC has 4 restaurants that would rival this place.
Is there a menu out there with these new XX offerings? What are the prices like, more like Beaver's, or more like El Patio's?
I coined a word to go with my new, no rice, no potatoes, no starch diet and somehow I feel JJ would love it. I'm using the phrase 'tortila verde' to define lettuce wraps when I'm out and about and craving Mexican food.
Xuco Xicana ceviche is delicious....and VERY addictive!
Agree on tbe mushroom enchiladas, need to have something other than rice and more rice for vegetarians. Tres leches was horrible, contacted management but they never bothered to respond, havent been back b/c too many places in town with better customer service.
I, too, had an awful service experience when I went there. We had to flag down a different waiter each time we wanted to order drinks, order food, get the bill, etc.
I'm sure this is great. But I'm feeling deep sadness at the loss of my original cheese enchiladas right now. Did he mess with the salsa? And are the margaritas still blue? Those are my two questions.
They still have that blue margarita but man, it was AWFUL. And do not worry: you can get the old El Patio grub at the one on Westheimer. If you must.
This sounds like a place that demands a visit!
Squirting ranch dressing over a plate of food for "presentation". Laughable. Whenever you have a "consulting chef" creating menu items, you can be sure that in a few short months the quality will wear off and you will be left an overpriced menu suitable for posers who will eat whatever they are told is "trendy and happening".
I saw no ranch dressing squirted over food at Xuco Xicana. Did you encounter a dish like that? If you're referring to the enfrijoladas photo above, the white squiggles are Mexican crema cultured in-house, which is pretty cool in my book.
I tried it. Excellent food (queso, WANGS, tortilla soup). Pretty absent waiter, though.
I have been waiting to try XX for awhile. Tomorrow will be the day. JJ and I go way back; to a field near NASA I think.
I am hopeful it puts the "Real" back into my Mexican inspired breakfast.
I checked out Xuco Xicana based on this review and must have ordered the wrong items. The food sure looked good but it was pretty bland. The queso was such a disappointment. Very little flavor. While I saw pieces of chile, I think there were only 2 pieces of tomato. The tacos looked delicious as well but the meat had zero flavor. I think the most predominate flavor was the taco shell. Unfortunately, they weren't fried in house. Ended up having to dump the salsa on the taco to try and salvage them. The beans were about the only thing that were worth eating. Service was horrible. I think there were only 2 tables taken when I went and I couldn't get a refill of tea. Won't be returning.
Allison your review was spot on! I'd been wanting to get to XX ever since JJ revamped the place but just hadn't gotten there until I read your review. This is one time where the product (WANGS) lived up to the hype; in fact, they are even BETTER than you made them sound. The queso was fantastic. The lamb tamales were sublime. I know meat-masa ratio is a preference but these had the exact ratio I love and the masa is so light and fluffy. Yeah the service kinda blew but the food was so good, I'll deal with it. I've heard several people's who opinion I trust complain about the margaritas, but give me a Dos Equis and I'm good. My only semi-complaint was that the salsa was only better than average, but hey it was still better than average.
Unfortunately for everyone who loves(d) El XX when it first opened, it has changed management. The food and service are now both terrible. I went there this past Thursday with a large group of co-workers for a birthday party. No one finished their food, though we were all starving. I had my favorite Enchiladas Rojas. Much to my dismay the stewed beef shoulder had been replaced with gray, chewy, off tasting fajita meat. Not to mention the sauce was way over salted. I don't have the words to describe how disappointed I am that this unique and delicious restaurant is now just crap on a stick. Maybe they are going through some growing pains with the new owners. But they were there on the night in question.
Alison: Maybe time to revisit this restaurant? I would hate to think someone going there for the first time would see your glowing review plastered all over the restaurant (which it is) and think that it is a reflection of the current state of affairs.
Farewell El XX, I guess you just flew too close to the sun.