Coyote Blues offers delicious food in upscale setting

• By GEORGE MORRIS
• Advocate News Features staff
• Published: Oct 30, 2009

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A visit to Coyote Blues gives one distinct impression: This place seeks to become to Mexican restaurants what P.F. Chang’s is to Chinese food.

The comparison is not perfect. In its décor, Coyote Blues doesn’t make diners guess what kind of place this is. The menu includes some traditional sections, such as enchiladas and burritos. A Monday $1 margarita special certainly seemed to be a popular attraction.

But, like Chang’s, Coyote Blues puts a more creative and more upscale spin on its culinary genre. There seems to be a little twist to even the most conventional dishes, and the specialties offer items (quail fajitas, osso bucco) seldom if ever seen on other Mexican restaurant menus.

That’s also true of the prices. It’s hard to find a meal under $10, and all but one of the specialties range from $20-27. So, this isn’t your corner taco stand.

The complimentary tortilla chips came with a good salsa that had just a hint of lime. Unable to decide on a single appetizer, we went with the Blues sampler ($13.69), which offers nachos with beef, cheese and sliced jalapenos; chicken quesadillas (or, as the menu says, “coyodillas); and a large pork tamale with sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo on the side. The tamale was unlike any we’d ever experienced — far thicker, and with a crispness that suggests it was deep fried — and covered in ranchero sauce. And good. I’m not a big fan of tamales, but I might like them more if they were all like this.

The nuevo crab enchiladas ($16.29) were quite appealing. Rather than a traditional flour tortilla, soft roasted corn crepes come filled with crab stuffing and topped with mango and red pepper salsa and roasted poblano and ancho cream sauces. It’s a fairly mild dish, but there’s a sneaky amount of pepper that eventually gets your attention. Our enchiladas were served over poblano rice with roasted corn succotash served in a dark, crisp corn tortilla shell.

The osso bucco ($19.99) is a large, marinated pork shank that is slow roasted and covered with an ancho mushroom pork demi-glace. It is quite moist, tender and flavorful. On the side were crunchy green beans and an enormous helping of mashed potatoes mixed with bacon bits and green onions. Rarely do I get fired up about mashed potatoes, but these were wonderful.

The chicken and beef fajitas ($16.79) got mixed reviews from our party. One of our diners, who ordered them, found the shrimp too salty. Didn’t bother me, and they were cooked perfectly: firm but not dry. We agreed, however, on the beef — tender, flavorful, just plain excellent. All of the meat is grilled on mesquite wood and served with onions, bell peppers, poblano rice, charro beans, guacamole, sour cream, cheddar cheese and pico de gallo.

All of this was more than we could eat, but we asked for go boxes and saved enough room for the Godiva white chocolate bread pudding, which is big enough for two, anyway. It’s thick, moist and accented with white chocolate and Kahlua crème Anglaise sauce. Good stuff.

It was a busy night, but our server was helpful and attentive. With concrete floors and nothing but solid surfaces on the walls and ceilings, Coyote Blues is loud enough on such nights to make table conversation difficult.