After basically giving ourself hardcore RSI by spending all day hitting F5 on the Sun-Times' URLs for Pat Bruno's reviews, which mysteriously were devoid of any content,* we decided to take decisive action: No working link? No coverage.

But then we discovered a brilliant workaround (called: frantically emailing our predecessor, who soothed and guided us and showed us the solution), so now we're basking in the luxury of actually being able to read Bruno's takes on phonemically similar restaurants Mexique and Mixteco Grill. We'd also like to take a moment to note that the Sun-Times's totally ineffective URL construction dates at least as far back as February, to which we say: WHAT THE HELL, SUN-TIMES, FIX YOUR FREAKING WEBSITE.

Anyhoodle, on to the content.

• The overall take on Mixteco Grill is that the always-jam-packed casual Mexican eatery "rises a notch or two above the ordinary." Bruno applauds the various mole sauces, especially the chuleta en mole negro (here chuleta used with its literal meaning - pork chop - as opposed to hot chubby girl), and loves the tres leches cake, but turns up his nose at a $16 plate of "scrawny chicken." Bonus: he makes a pun on foul/fowl! [Bruno, S-T]

• Mexique, on the other end of the Mexican food spectrum, fuses itself with French (hence the name), and Bruno's lunchtime visit reads like an unqualified success. Not a single menu item stands out for damnation; in fact, the closest he gets to criticism is mourning the absence of béchamel on a croque monsieur, but it's offset by what must be some killer pommes frites. A taco of duck confit topped with pineapple salsa? Roasted pork tenderloin with a potato-poblano galette, salsa alcaparrada, and ratatouille? Si, oui, and si again. [Bruno, S-T]

Meanwhile, over at the Reader, Mike Sula pits the two new kids on the block against one another...

• Full disclosure: we have kind of a written-word crush on Sula (we would facebook-stalk him, but we are trying to demonstrate a little restraint here). So when he starts off describing L.2O as a "dreamy undersea sanctum" we find ourself getting a little swoony. But it's the mention of "light, buttery anchovy brioche" that really sends us reeling, so maybe the true object of our lust should be L2O's helmsman, Laurent Gras, inventor of this gastronomic delight. Sula seems to be in love with Gras (and his cooking) as well: "brilliant but not overpowering flavors," "this most rare of experiences," "flawlessly professional service that’s simultaneously relaxed and relaxing." Love, indeed. [Sula, Reader]

• When Sula heads down to graham elliot (whose HTML we are starting to have motor-memory for), it's not quite the same kind of love letter. In fact, our intrepid reviewer seems quite miffed by an experience he deems way too high on the hipster-kitsch scale, and not high enough on the "did you really taste these dishes before putting them on the menu?" scale. The twinkie brioche that sounded awesome to us earlier today? "Like something pulled from the day-old bag at the neighborhood panaderia." Blech. [Sula, Reader]

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*How is this night different from all other nights? Har har. But seriously, folks. Blank white pages.

[Photo: Chuleta en Mole Negro at Mixteca Grill, via Zesmerelda's Flickr]