‘The Loop’ is Chicago’s downtown area, and in terms of restaurants, it tends to be a cultureless wasteland, full of chain restaurants and expensive steak houses. Xoco is an exception, both in quality and price: with cuisine inspired by Mexican street food, this place could easily have become a silly gimmick. But this isn’t so, and lines don’t lie: people love this place for a reason. Unlike many American restaurants, the cooks at Xoco know how to do spices. Come here to warm up with some soup (their vegetable soup is phenomenal, believe it or not) and some spicy Mexican hot chocolate (the “Aztec.”) The atmosphere is casual, with pick-your-own seating and plenty of people looking for food that’s on-the-go.