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I could've been the brains behind the small-plate trend. Instead, I'm just another happy consumer.

Monday Apr 09, 2007.     By Dana Kavan

Bars + Clubs Feed

Drink of the week: A citrus cazuela at Zocalo, 358 W. Ontario Street, on Tuesday night.

The damage: $5 discounted from $8. For $14, you can share a 28-ounce one served in an Earthware casserole dish (cazuela in Spanish translates to casserole).

Thousands of bars in Chicago, why this one? Years ago, my friend Jamie and I sat at a restaurant toiling over the menu because we couldn't decide between the endless items. We started dreaming of a restaurant where you could order multiple entrees in smaller portions. Convinced we were on to something, we shared our idea with friends who, one after one, shot us down with the same reply, "Yeah, it's called tapas."

Fast forward four years and small plates have become the most fashionable culinary concept since fondue in the '70s. From Italian to American to Asian to Mexican, Chicago's slimmed-down options span every cuisine imaginable. I went to the massive River North Mexican restaurant Zocalo to dine on its half-price downsized options, which they call antojitos. Genius.

How it went down: To my delight, Zocalo also offers $5 sangria and citrus cazuelas on Tuesday. I drink plenty of sangria—most often at home, where I mix cheap red wine (we're talking out of a box) with Squirt—so I opted for the cazuela. The bartender mixes mandarin- and lime-flavored Milagro tequilas and aguardiente (a brandy-like liquor) with grapefruit, lime and lemon juices and tops it off with a splash of Fresca orange soda. More crisp and refreshing than sweet, it tasted like spiked, lemony punch and went down so easily that I finished my first before I opened the menu.

Would I want to become a regular? I can eat avocados like apples, so even if Zocalo didn't have food and drink specials, a friendly atmosphere and a lively, local crowd, its guacamole flight alone would lure me back. Three tasting portions of the standard guac, rojo (roasted ingredients) and fruta (made with papaya and guava) versions come with an assortment of tortilla, plantain, malanga and boniato chips. Other small plates include pulled-chicken flautas and fish tacos. You call those tapas?

Dana Kavan scours the city for drink deals so good you'll offer to buy a round and creative libations that outshine your average on-the-rocks concoctions. Want to give Dana tips on where to rack up a bar tab? Share your finds before her next night out.