Chicago - XOCO

I haven't had a lot of opportunities to go on trips with friends - my parents wouldn't dream of letting me out of the house in high school (tiger parents, anyone?) and there weren't as many opportunities in college due to money issues. Even now that I'm working, I've historically gone on trips with boyfriends or family rather than friends. Other than a few trips to Vegas, I haven't had much experience with this "friend-traveling thing" ... until this Chicago weekend!

Chicago is such a foodie town so I immediately compiled my list of places to chow down at - Frontera, Alinea, Next, Tru, Graham Elliot ... all of which were nixed. And with good reason too. Either the places were super expensive, or had crazy long wait times. However, to appease me, my lovely friends found XOCO - a more casual Rick Bayless eatery.

guacamole & chips - Frontera guacamole, just-made chips, 2 salsas

shrimp and scallop ceviche, avocado

ahogada - golden pork carnitas, black beans, tomato broth, spicy arbol chile sauce, pickled onions

cochinita pibil - wood roasted suckling pig with achiote, black beans, pickled onion, habanero

Top Chef torta (Friday special) - braised beef tongue, chorizo, potatoes, avocado, salsa verde

churros

homemade Mexican vanilla soft-serve, maple bacon pecan strudel, salted caramel

Rick Bayless sure knows his stuff. Everything was delicous and very well done - especially the ceviche and soft serve. Maple bacon. Salted Caramel. SWOON! The eatery is right next to Frontera, so if you try to get a table and they tell you walk-in wait time is 3.5 hours (true story), just walk on over to XOCO.

Thanks to Vanessa for the pictures - she has a much better camera and a more artistic eye than I do!

XOCO
449 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654