Xoco

A few weeks ago Eduardo and I spent a day in Chicago. A few of our beloved Texas buddies were in town for a wedding on Saturday afternoon, so we got to spend Saturday evening as their "local" tour guides! We had a blast, and hopefully they did too. It was fun and so refreshing to spend some quality time with people we've known longer than a month.

Although we weren't meeting up with our friends until around dinner time, we drove into the city in the late morning to meet another couple for lunch. These friends also recently moved to Illinois from Texas, but while we have been settling in to life in a small town, they are adjusting to the big city lifestyle! They have a high rise apartment just a few blocks from the corporate real estate office where she works, and he is attending the University of Chicago. So far, we were happy to hear, they love their new life! And while we were in town, we benefited from their growing knowledge of the best that the big city has to offer - a multitude of options for amazing cuisine from around the world!

At Nicole's suggestion, we made plans to grab lunch at Xoco, a small authentic Mexican casual cafe. She informed us that it was started by the famous chef, Rick Bayless, who lived in Mexico for many years and has published some of the most famous and popular authentic Mexican cookbooks. He is better known for his two fancier downtown Chicago restaurants, but his little lunch cafe Xoco is clearly well known and loved, based on the crowd we saw there! And for good reason - the food was amazing! But that is getting ahead of myself...

Eduardo and I arrived in town just early enough to park and take a stroll around the block, taking in the city and all there is to see there. Shortly before the time we had agreed to meet our friends, we made our way back to the restaurant and joined the line that was forming rapidly. During our 10 minute wait, we browsed the menu and watched as the line grew out the door and down the street. Our friends joined us in line and before long we had placed our orders and were seated at a table outside in the gorgeous August weather (to you Texans - ha!). Let me tell you, the food was incredible! There were so many flavors, and they were perfectly combined to work together. I ordered the Milanesa tapas (think Mexican sandwich): Crispy Gunthorp chicken, black beans, artisan Jack cheese, tomatillo-avocado salsa. The most memorable part was the creamy cilantro dipping sauce that tasted incredible, and enhanced all the other flavors too! To end the meal, we all shared an order of churros, which were the best I've ever had by far. Everyone loved their food and agreed that we would definitely go there again. In particular I am convinced that a trip to Chicago in the winter would be incomplete without sampling one of their many made-from-scratch Mexican hot chocolate varieties. Yum yum!

In all, it was so fantastic to catch up with some friends and find out all about their new lives as real city slickers, not to mention the amazing food! And if you are ever in Chicago, let me highly recommend that you make a stop at Xoco for lunch!

Happy Weekend everyone!