XOCO
Mexican restaurant · Near North Side
65 W Illinois St, Chicago, IL 60654
Highlights
Rick Bayless Mexican street food, tortas, churros, chocolate
Rick Bayless Mexican street food, tortas, churros, chocolate
"Xoco—pronounced “SHO-ko”—is the brainchild of prolific chef of Mexican cuisine, Rick Bayless. We can personally testify that every single one of Xoco’s steaming hot caldos have the ability to cure the common cold, and nothing beats their churros after a night out on Hubbard. Just make sure the staff isn’t away on a field trip to Mexico before you go. That can be a real let down—albeit a testament to the authenticity of their plates." - One Design Company
"The Rick Bayless River North trifecta ends here, and Xoco is the most casual and convenient of the bunch. Xoco is great for lunch—pop in for a quick torta, a bowl of tortilla soup, and some churros and hot chocolate. Not necessarily in that order." - adrian kane, john ringor, veda kilaru
"Xoco is from the same team as Frontera Grill, and located right next door in River North. Well, it's also located in Terminals 1, 3, and 5 at O'Hare, but this is the one we're going with. Xoco specializes in delicious tortas, like the ahogado made with carnitas, black beans, and pickled onions submerged in a tomato-arbol chile broth, or the pepito that has short ribs with caramelized onion. It's one of our favorite spots for an affordable lunch in the neighborhood." - sam faye, adrian kane, john ringor, nick allen
"The bean-to-cup chocolate at Xoco in River North is light, bittersweet, and the perfect option for people who like hot chocolate, but don’t like sweets. And much like with a visit to Xurro, a hot chocolate at Xoco is only improved with the addition of a perfectly golden, crispy churro for dunking." - veda kilaru, adrian kane
"If you’re new to Chicago (or missed his statue carved into a mountain on your flight in), you might not know Rick Bayless. OK, we’re kidding about the mountain, but he is very well-known and he has a lot of great restaurants, including Frontera Grill. Xoco is another one, and it specializes in delicious tortas, along with other Mexican dishes like tacos and caldos. In case you don’t actually have to go back to work after lunch, you should know that they serve alcohol here, too." - adrian kane
