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I'm sure that's how it's supposed to work, but based on my visit yesterday, it's not there yet.

Was in the area of XoCo today and decided to pay a quick visit and try something new.

I had the Top Chef Torta, which is a torta filled with beef tongue, chorizo, small fried diced potatoes, avocado, and a side of roasted pepper tomatillo salsa. It was really tasty, with the bolillo roll lightly toasted in the brick oven. I had a summer drink special of his iced chocolate with his herb garden peppermint leaves. The subtle peppermint added a nice coooling effect to the salsa heat. I was pleased with my selections!

I've been disappointed by my last couple trips to Xoco. The ingredients are still high quality, but the sandwiches taste like the flavors have been toned down. I couldn't believe how bland the ahogado tasted on my last visit. I had the tongue sandwich today and it was completely lacking any tongue flavor. The lines are as long as ever, so I guess people still like Xoco, but to me, it's nowhere near as good as it was when it first opened.

This does not surprise me at all. I've long felt (and have posted as much) that Xoco is little more than the test kitchen for the Frontera Fresca chain (coming to a mall or airport near you).

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Don't judge that restaurant's quality by the lines. Its the tourists. Though I live in Chicago, I work in NYC and my office is across from Carnegie Hall. The line for Starbucks coffee across the street from Carnegie Hall? At least 40+ deep every morning. What does that tell you?

Commute must be a bitch.

LOL; it is especially tonight as there are thunderstorms in NYC and many canceled flights.

I've been heading to Xoco a lot recently since our office moved even closer ... and I'm living on their gazpacho and the Xoco salad with chicken. The Chicken has a tasty crispy coating that's just enough without being at all heavy, the dressing is lime/avocado and wonderful and fresh - and the gazpacho is particularly good with some zing, nice crunchy bits and great tomato flavor.

I've been going pretty regularly since the day they opened (it was right down the street from my old office and several coworkers were very fond of it), and I was never at all impressed until I tried the carnitas caldo and more recently the torta ahogada. Both have been superb every time I've had them. Nothing else I've had there (including the cochinita pibil, milanesa & tongue tortas, pork belly caldo, breakfast tortas & pastries, churros, various aguas & chocolates) rose to the level where I'd order it again, but anytime someone wants to go I know that there are at least two things on the menu that I will thoroughly enjoy.

which the O'hare location still beats the heck out of most any airport food offering I've had, so yes, perhaps toned down, but still worth a wait in the usual long line. If flying United I always find time to get something and will try to do so when flying American (it's just a long walk after one eats).

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I did absolutely nothing and it was everything I thought it could be.

When friends came into town recently, they wanted to hit Xoco and I was glad to tag along. On this particular day, we sample food and beverage at different places. At the end of the day Xoco stood out for all of us as being one of the top 2 places we'd visited. The food was outstanding. The sandwiches exhibited a level of care -- especially over the breads -- that made them spectacular to eat. They were crusty, crispy, tender and flavorful throughtout the chew. Meats, cheeses, sauces were all top-notch, too. I can only think of a few places in town where sandwiches are as good as they've been for me at Xoco. While I've only been there 3 times, I'd recommend it to anyone seeking exceptional food*. Here are some shots of what we sampled . . .


Chicharrones | Tamazula hot sauce, queso añejo, onions, cilantro



Milanesa | crispy Gunthorp chicken, black beans (made with pork), artisan Jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, tomatillo-avocado salsa



Ahogada | golden pork carnitas, black beans, tomato broth, spicy arbol chile sauce, pickled onions



Smoky Garlic Shrimp Torta | seared shrimp, chipotle-garlic mojo, black beans, poblano rajas, goat cheese, local spinach (Friday special)



Pork Belly Vermicelli | Crispy-tender pork belly, toasty-tender noodles, woodland mushrooms, zucchini, avocado, salsa negra



Churro



Tres Leches Cake

*As much as I enjoyed what we ate, I found the experience to be just a huge pain in the ass. First, parking around there is brutal. After circling for a while, we finally did find a spot on the street but it was not easy. We arrived at 3 pm on a Friday afternoon -- expecting it to be a fairly mellow scene -- but the joint was jumping (good for them) and it was at least 30 minutes from when we got in line to when we were able to order. Another 15 minutes later, our food started coming to the table. Even though the food was great (even the beer selection is thoughtful), Xoco is a difficult target, especially for folks who do not work or live in the neighborhood. So, I will no longer ask myself why I don't go there more often. It's obvious. But, the food is excellent.

=R=

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I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Once you try the Ahogada, it's hard to go back to anything else.

For me, it recently supplanted Al's combo beef and sausage with hot giardinera as my favorite sandwich in the city. Unlike Al's, there's no good alternate elsewhere for the Ahogada.

I haven't been there in awhile. Are the tres leches cake and chicharrones relatively new items? I don't recall seeing them before.

There is a great rendition of the ahogada at Las Cazuelas, just south of 47th on Pulaski. A couple blocks down the street is Birrieria Zaragoza, so you can hit it up for a nice two-fer if you've got the appetite.

There's a glowing review by KennyZ of it here. It's not as, how shall I put this, pretty as the the Xoco version, but what it lacks in looks it makes up for in flavor.

Las Cazuelas
4720 S. Pulaski
773-254-5770

Good to know. I'll have to try it next time I'm down that way.

A parking recommendation in that neighborhood for weekends at least, there a lot on Kinzie between Clark & Lasalle next to the CVS on the south side of the street (you can also enter just before the Subway going north on Lasalle) that's a flat $8 a day for parking, the cheapest in that area. Its just a couple of blocks walk down Clark away.

This won't help people who want to eat at Xoco, but for loop workers, the ability to email your order ahead of time and simply walk in and pick it up is really convenient. My wife or I usually email them around 11:00, pick it up around 12:30, and head to the Riverwalk(on nice days like today) to eat.

2 good pieces of informaiton. Thank you, both.

FYI, here is the email order info, from their website:


=R=

_________________
I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Unfortunately, Ahogada is for dine-in only.

Well, given the nature of the dish, it's understandable.

=R=

_________________
I just wanna live until I gotta die. I know I ain't perfect but God knows I try. --Todd Snider

Twitter: ronniesuburban

Actually, if they wanted to, they could easily just put the spicy tomato broth in a take out soup container and package the sandwich... I've always wished they would offer this as a means of me getting this sandwich carry out but instead I simply order then I package it myself in this very way with a carry out box and a soup container then I'm on my way.

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I'm not picky, I just have more tastebuds than you... ; )

I have long defended Xoco. I had my first truly bad experience there last Wednesday.

Xoco has been a convenient stop for me between the Clark/Lake stop and points Navy Pier-ish. I typically order the tastiest (to me) item, the Torta Ahogada. Just about everything that has worked in the past was missing this trip:

- The bread was much less crunchy than I've had in the past. Partially because of this, it soaked up more broth and arrived a bit soggy/squishy robbing me of one of the dish's chief pleasures.
- The red stuff pooled on the bottom of the bowl was insipid and bland, tasting more of canned tomatoes than any sort of composed broth. It lacked heat, but moreover lacked flavor
- The pork barely tasted of pork

Also had the side salad. It lacked the advertised arugula. Additionally, I've made better dressings by rinsing out a jar with dressing remnants. Coupled with the romaine, jicama, skinned cucumbers, it was bland on bland on bland. Like eating a salad after Bunnicula had his way with it. It was a $4 attempt to round out my meal with some roughage and - based on what I was served - a complete rip-off.

I'm not going to read into this more than a single bad experience, but I'm much less likely to stop at Xoco in the near future until the memory of this disappointment fades.

Interesting, and hopefully a rarity.

Meanwhile, Tortas Frontera was so good on April and June pass-throughs that I picked a $50+ more expensive roundtrip for later this month (vs. a non-Rick terminal carrier) just to have the chance at the Cubana, mango-lime agua fresca, and fresh-fried chips and guac with no line or fuss. You know you're an LTHer or obsessed doppleganger when...

Tortas Frontera is easily the best food at O'Hare (at least in American terminal). I've found myself leaving early for the airport so I'd have time for a pre-flight meal pretty regularly lately.

From what I can tell, many of the same Tortas are on offer here as at Xoco.

Gastro Gnome ... our work team is at Xoco a lot (disclosure: and we've become friends with several of the folks there thanks to our almost daily visits) and last Wed. seemed like an off day. One of my colleagues commented that there was someone new on the line and her breakfast dish was just not quite right. We definitely took it as an off day - but next day all seemed back to normal.

Tortas Frontera is like a personal gift from some higher power that I have been negligent in thanking. My wife and I grab breakfast there before the 10am flight to Honolulu, along with a couple of tortas to eat on the plane - pretty necessary since that's still a domestic flight and thus the only meal options are purchasing cold snack boxes from United even though the flight lasts 8.5 hours. It was as good as ever two weeks ago when we flew out.

The agua fresca is just double bonus day at that point.

Ordered the Ahogada today and I'm happy to report that it was as good as ever. Ordered it spicy and it delivered a punch. Carnitas were "porky" too. Hopefully, that Wednesday experience was just an aberration and not the start of a downward trend.