Located on a nondescript corner of Logan Square, Mi Tocaya Antojería invites diners inside with brightly painted windows and, more importantly, alluring aromas. Opened in 2017 by Head Chef Diana Davila as a celebration of Mexican food and culture, Mi Tocaya has since drawn critical acclaim and awards including the Michelin Bib Gourmand stamp.
Before trying Mi Tocaya myself, I spoke with Chef Diana about her background as a chef and her vision behind Mi Tocaya. She credits childhood summers spent in Mexico with her aunt for inspiring her first to pursue a career in the kitchen. Of her choice to focus on Mexican cuisine, she said, “I am Mexican, and I feel like the more and more I was cooking professionally, the more and more I kind of learned to appreciate my culture and food and just wanted to dive right in and really kind of highlight how beautiful the cuisine is with all of its roots.”
Chef Diana has undoubtedly achieved her aspiration to highlight the beauty of Mexican cuisine and culture, beginning with the festive and cozy interior of Mi Tocaya. Setting foot in the restaurant, I was transported from a gray Chicago street to a jovial, welcoming dining room decorated with colorful banners hanging from the ceiling, vivid murals on the walls and baskets of tortilla chips warming under a lamp on the bar counter.
The dishes served at Mi Tocaya are completely unique and original, yet still incorporate traditional Mexican flavors and elements. Chef Diana draws on both personal experience and inspiration from cookbooks to create sharing plates balanced in both flavor and texture. The first dish I ordered, Costra Taco con Nopalitos, combined rich and savory Chihuahua cheese with zingy and acidic cactus salsa on a hand pressed corn tortilla. Each bite was both refreshing and satisfying, and the dish set the stage beautifully for the courses to follow.
Charmed by the convivial atmosphere of the restaurant, I felt motivated to try one of Chef Diana’s self-proclaimed “proudest culinary moments,” the Langostinos estilo Nayarit. In this dish, a crunchy and fresh carrot and chayote squash slaw nicely balanced a bite of tender shrimp which was generously coated in a slightly spicy sauce from the Nayarit state in Mexico. Explaining the wide variety of regional influences on Mi Tocaya’s menu, Chef Diana said, “I was lucky enough as a child to spend my summers in Mexico and to really tour all over the country.”
Given the range of dishes on Mi Tocaya’s menu, I asked Chef Diana if she had a favorite item to cook. “In general it’s sauces,” she said. “I feel like sauces are a huge deal in Mexican cuisine … Mexico grows so much, I think that's why a lot of our sauces are so complex … And you don't want anything to sort of go to waste, and you're utilizing everything that mother earth gives you. And that's why you get these beautiful, complex sauces.”
Chef Diana’s appreciation for sauces was clearly evident in her expertly crafted Setas con Mole Rojo. Thick, richly spiced mole sauce offset a delicate pea puree, crunchy pea tendrils and meaty donko shiitake mushrooms. Little balls of masa-based dough, called chochoyotes, added a mild flavor and soft texture, similar to that of Italian potato gnocchi, to round out the dish.
Despite the high quality of my meal to that point, Mi Tocaya’s “DIY QuesaBirria” outshone the other dishes I tried. The DIY QuesaBirria really was DIY; tender goat meat blanketed by crispy queso was served aside a fresh stack of warm, hand pressed tortillas and a consommé for dipping. Cilantro and sliced onion freshened up the savory, complex flavors of the goat stew and queso. Dipped in the consommé, each taco was a masterpiece of salty, meaty, fresh flavors and crunchy, tender textures.
Though neither a fan of cheesecake nor flan, I sampled the Flan de Queso to finish my meal at my waiter’s recommendation. Elements of both cheesecake and flan were married to create a mildly sweet dessert, tangy in flavor and airy in texture. The flan itself was complemented by pieces of flaky pie crust, thinly sliced green apple and a drizzle of caramel sauce that kept me reaching for another bite.
Of her hopes for Mi Tocaya in the future, Chef Diana said, “I always wanted it to be a unique experience for people … I always wanted it to be a staple in the city. One of those things where it's like, oh, you know, it becomes synonymous to Chicago dining. Saying like if you're in Chicago, you have to go to Mi Tocaya.”
Mi Tocaya’s uniquely delicious dishes, combined with warm hospitality and excellent service, ensure its status as a staple on Chicago diners’ lists for years to come.