There is a beautiful framed sepia-toned photograph hanging in each of the restrooms at Dove’s Luncheonette, the new Mexican diner from One Off Hospitality. They feature the interior and exterior, respectively, of a very busy Moon’s Sandwich Shop, the 81-year-old Lawndale institution that is as pure an expression of a classic American neighborhood diner as anyone could hope for.
No one’s ever supposed to eat a torta ahogada by hand, though Dove’s is a lot neater than the typical drowned-in-chile-de-arbol-salsa variety. This one is dry on top, sitting neatly in a pool of sesame-sprinkled sauce with a pile of pickled onions to the side. You’re free to knife and fork your way to the melted Muenster and smoked ham filling, which bears a faintly pleasing funk, as if it had some age to it. The chicken-fried chicken, however—a terrific southern/Mexican mashup—is positively smothered and covered in a creamy chile verde gravy and strewn with fresh green peas, green beans, and roasted poblano strips. The boneless chicken pieces are fried hard and more than capable of standing up to this treatment.
Each and every one of these dishes can be improved by a dose of the toasty, garlicky, lavalike house-made chile sauce, which is enriched with nuts and ought to be bottled and sold at the door.
1545 N. Damen 773-645-4060facebook.com/DovesChicago
