Velvet Taco

Top choice in Chicago


An excellent late-night option for this area, Velvet Taco features hip new takes on the eminently adaptable taco: spicy chicken tikka; Nashville hot tofu with Napa slaw; shredded pork with avocado crema and grilled pineapple; Kobe bacon-burger with smoked cheddar; even shrimp and grits. Down a few accompanied by a margarita or a beer.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Chicago attractions

1. Newberry Library

0.21 MILES

The Newberry's public galleries are a treat for bibliophiles: those who swoon over original Thomas Paine pamphlets about the French Revolution, or get…

2. Washington Square

0.24 MILES

This plain-looking park across from the Newberry Library has quite a history. In the 1920s it was known as ‘Bughouse Square,’ where communists, socialists…

3. Original Playboy Mansion

0.32 MILES

The sexual revolution partied hearty for 15 years in the basement ‘grotto’ of this 1899 mansion. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner bought it in 1959 and hung a…

4. Oak Street Beach

0.32 MILES

This beach at the edge of downtown packs in bodies beautiful to play volleyball or sunbathe in the shadow of skyscrapers. Swimming is permitted in summer…

5. 360° Chicago

0.35 MILES

The views from the 94th-floor observatory of this iconic building (formerly known as the John Hancock Center) in many ways surpass those at the Willis…

6. Charnley-Persky House

0.36 MILES

While he was still working for Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright (who was 19 at the time) designed the 11-room Charnley-Persky House, which sparked a new…

7. Chicago Sports Museum

0.39 MILES

To understand Chicago's sports psyche, peruse the memorabilia-filled cases at this gallery attached to Harry Caray's 7th Inning Stretch restaurant. See…

8. Water Tower

0.42 MILES

This 154ft-tall, turreted tower is a defining city icon: it was the sole downtown survivor of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, thanks to its yellow limestone…