One of my favorite restaurants in Portland is Ki’ikibáa. Specializing in regional Yucatecan food, they won restaurant of the year from the Oregonian in 2023, their first full year open. The name means “delicious food” in Mayan and the name is spot on. Located in an unassuming strip mall on 82nd, this restaurant holds special meaning for me as it was the first post I made three years ago today. So now I go there on the solstice as kind of a food anniversary (of course I go more than once per year). I fell in love with the Yucatan and the regional food when I travelled there four years ago for the first time. One of the dishes I fell in love with was cochinita pibil. Slow roasted pork wrapped in banana leaf. It’s such a unique and delicious preparation

This is the cochinita pibil I got yesterday. So flavorful. Topped with cabbage and pickled red onions (another Yucatan specialty), it is served with tortillas. I make my own tacos with it and it was delicious! I also tried an empanada filled with pork which was tasty. I hadn’t tried their empanadas yet. Like everything else they serve, it is done flawlessly.

Salbutes are another regional specialty that I fell in love with when traveling the Yucatan. This is the first time I’ve seen them in the states so I was excited to get them. They are just as good, or even better than the versions I had in Mexico. Similar to tacos in terms of the toppings, it is a puffed, deep fried tortilla that holds the toppings perfectly. The tortilla is more delicious due to it being fried. I got two carne asada and two cochinita. This is a must order at Ki’ikibáa (along with the panuchos). The toppings depend on which meat you get. Another reason I love this restaurant is the care given to each dish. Most Mexican restaurants would just have the same toppings on each one. You can see here that one gets lettuce, onion and cilantro, one gets chopped pickled red onions and cabbage, one gets lettuce and non-chopped pickled red onions. Salbutes are so incredible you wish that all your tacos could be like this.

Red Pozole. They also make a green pozole, but I’ve just had the red one. This was so good! Rich, hearty, warming, a bit spicy. Just the thing for a chilly fall or winter day. And the accoutrements are perfect and you can customize. Tortilla chip strips, avocado, radish, cabbage, cilantro and lime. I pretty much dumped that whole plate in my pozole. So delicious, and the lime and the cilantro are really key to making it balanced in terms of flavor and acidity. Also on this visit I got an order of panuchos as pictured below.

Two carne asada panuchos. Panuchos are fried tortillas that are stuffed with refried beans and topped with meat of your choice. I love their carne asada, it’s really delicious, quality beef. Topped with lettuce, cabbage, raw and cooked onions, and cilantro. Salbutes and panuchos are so delicious it’s a surprise they didn’t catch on more globally or even nationwide in Mexico. I guess they take more time and effort than the traditional street taco. These are a must order if you go here.

Last but not least is their burrito. My goal in visiting this restaurant is to get Yucatecan food I can find only here, but damn if they don’t make a mean burrito as well. Like I said before, the carne asada is top shelf. At a lot of Mexican restaurants I find the carne asada quality to be dubious at best and I tend to favor pork, either carnitas or pastor if they have it. Everything is quality and top tier at Ki’ikibáa. And this is the best $11 burrito in town (along with Mole Mole, my other favorite Mexican cart). If I lived closer I’d be getting this to go weekly. The prices are really cheap for the quality, $4 each for panuchos, salbutes, empanadas and tamales. Their restaurant is really incredible, family run and the people are super friendly. The service is a cut above too. Happy eating!