One of Chicago’s Top Mexican Restaurants Is Coming to Logan Square

Chicagoans have hit the culinary jackpot with a dazzling array of regional Mexican dishes available at their fingertips including strong local representation from states like Guerrero, Jalisco, and Michoacán. Dive deeper, and you’ll find more specific offerings, hailing from narrow regions and even small towns.

Uptown’s Kie-Gol-Lanee has ignited interest in Oaxacan cuisine as siblings María and Reynel Mendoza and their spouses, Léonides Ramos and Sandra Sotz, have dished out flavors from Santa María Quiegolani since 2016. Meaning “old stone” in the Zapotec dialect, the restaurant’s name is a phonetic nod to the small village in Oaxaca’s southern Sierra where María, Reynel, and Léonides grew up. The menu is inspired by recipes passed down through generations and Michelin has listed it for four years as a Bib Gourmand, which recognizes quality and value.

Later this month, the family will open its second location in Logan Square at the former Mezcala Agave Bar and Kitchen at 2901 W. Diversey. The new location will continue to sell its celebrated Oaxacan-style tamales steamed in banana leaves, and garnachas (a corn patty resembling a sope topped with pork, radish, cilantro, cheese, and cabbage). María Mendoza began making the Oaxacan delicacy at home after an injury kept her from going to work. A friend sent a sample to chef Enrique Cortéz, who was impressed by her culinary skills and began serving the tamales at his restaurant. Soon after, Cortéz moved on and decided to sell his eatery to the family, helping them through the transition from restaurant workers to restaurant owners.

The Logan Square restaurant will offer the beloved plates that delight patrons at its Uptown location, featuring weekly specials and breakfast plates on weekends. The dinner menu features well-known regional staples including a fall-off-the-bone lamb shank, and the traditional tlayudas — a giant corn tostada-like base decked out with options that include thinly sliced, salt-cured cecina, steak, chorizo, or zucchini and mushrooms. Additionally, the menu offers interesting dishes that showcase ingredients from the Oaxacan Sierra, such as quail, rabbit, and grasshoppers.

Ahead of the opening, the team is working on new cocktails such as a tres leches martini, an old-fashioned Oaxacan style, and a drink featuring the fermented, sweet, and slightly tart, cider-like tepache with grasshoppers. Wishing to support their community back home, Kie-Go-Lanee has two mezcal brands on its beverage menu, Huésped and Clan 55. Both are produced in Santa María Quiegolani and aim to offer youth in their hometown an opportunity to flourish and a reason to stay.

When it comes to desserts, until very recently, Kie-Go-Lanee was one of the few, if not the only spot in the city that regularly offered Nicuatole, a corn-based dessert similar to gelatin but with a silkier texture and, depending on the fruit added, sometimes a bit of a gritty texture.

The new location will continue to capture the warmth of an Oaxacan home, says Fernanda Guardado, the restaurant’s designer and head of marketing. A mural depicting alebrijes, sculptures of creatures — amalgamations of different animals that burst with vibrant colors and cultural motifs — will also be found at the second location, showcasing the restaurant’s blue and bright pink. “They remind me of home,” says María Mendoza.

Check out the food photos below and stay tuned for updates on an opening date.

Kie-Gol-Lanee Logan Square, 2901 W. Diversey Avenue, opening in August.