BIEN HERE BEFORE
As…read morepart of the Bien Trucha restaurant family, Quiubo serves some familiar flavors in downtown Naperville.
The Water St area has a great variety of restaurants including Vasili's (modern Greek), Blue Sake (sushi), SixtyFour Wine Bar and Quiubo (modern Mexican). Technically I ate from here once - takeout during covid - but it was so long ago it might as well not count. Most recently, my wife and I came here for dinner on a Friday in late June and sat outside.
The sangria ($14) was strong, I appreciated the extra touches like apple bitters and a float of bourbon. My wife loved the Pa'Dentro ($15), a cocktail with tequila, passion fruit, and orange liqueur. The mango habanero margarita ($15) was also mixed perfectly. 5/5
The guacamole ($11) was fresh and flavorful: avocado, tomatillo, onion, cilantro, serrano and lime. My wife found it a bit too spicy (diced serrano adds more heat than a traditional jalapeno) but I enjoyed it despite a small-ish portion. 4/5
We also got a queso fundido de camaron ($16): melted chihuahua cheese, red onion and pan seared shrimp, with tortillas and cilantro-serrano sauce. Pan searing the shrimp instead of grilling them is certainly a choice....but not one I'd make again. 2/5
Esquites ($8.50), on the other hand, were awesome: grilled corn, epazote butter, lemon aioli, cotija cheese, tajin. One of the best we've tried in a long time, but for $9 we expected a lot more elote! 5/5
The birria tacos (2 for $11) were very good; my wife was right to point out they should've come with a cup of birria juice on the side. The tacos al pastor (2 for $10) were delicious: marinated pork with pineapple, cilantro, onion and salsa morita. Next time, more tacos! 4.5/5
For dessert we got flan ($10), a creamy vanilla custard with caramel, rompope and cookie crumbs. It was a denser style of flan and tasted amazing, but I don't know how I feel about that random pile of cookie dust. 4/5
Bread = 4.5
Circuses = 3.5
It took way too long for a server to come over and take our order at the beginning. Thankfully the food came out FAST! The bar, on the other hand, was lagging big time. We were more than halfway finished with dinner by the time our cocktails showed up.
Also important note for cheapskates like me: they do not serve free chips & salsa. Quiubo isn't that kind of place, so if you want salsa with chips, you'll have to pay for it.
* TL;DR *
Rest assured you can get the same high quality tacos and cocktails from the Bien Trucha group.
We were really impressed with a couple items like the esquites/elotes and al pastor tacos, as well as the atmosphere inside. The vibes outside were solid and even though service was slow at first, we'd love to come back. I'd recommend Quiubo for sure.