Love Mexican Food? Food Website Calls This Place Illinois’ Best

It's always fun to talk about food, especially when you're talking about a type of food that you love. I've always had a deep affinity for Mexican food, and there's no doubt that we're blessed throughout the state of Illinois with some absolutely fantastic joints.

Before we take a look at which Mexican restaurant gets the nod as being Illinois' best, take a guess at where Mexican food ranks when it comes to America's favorite cuisines.

According to a study at FoodFireFriends.com, Mexican food comes in as our 2nd favorite, right behind Chinese food:

1. Chinese food. With an average of over 3.35 million searches per month in the U.S., Chinese is Americans’ favorite food.
2. Mexican food. With an average of 1.22 million Google searches per month in the U.S., Mexican is Americans’ second favorite food.
3. Thai food. Thai food is third in the ranking with over 823,000 monthly Google searches in the U.S.
4. Indian food. Registering an average of 673,000 monthly Google searches, Indian food is the fourth most Googled food in America.
5. Korean food. Another Asian cuisine features in fifth. Showing an average of 246,000 Google searches in the U.S. per month, Korean food is the fifth most popular cuisine in the States, followed by Japanese (with an average of 201,000 monthly Google searches in the U.S.), and soul food (201,000). Greek, Italian and Hawaiian food follow in the ranking with an average of 165,000, 165,000 and 90,500 monthly searches, respectively.

With So Many Great Mexican Restaurants In Illinois, Trying To Choose The Best Is Like Picking Your Favorite Child...But Let's Do It Anyway

Well, we're not going to do it, because it's already been done by 24/7 Wall Street. To come up with their list of the best Mexican restaurants in every state, they "consulted reviews and ratings on a wide range of culinary and general interest websites, including Thrillist, Gayot, Time Out, The Daily Meal, and Yelp, as well as local and regional sites."

You can read their whole piece by clicking here, but for now let's just get to their pick for Illinois' best Mexican restaurant.

Topolobampo Is Located At 445 North Clark Street In Chicago's River North Neighborhood--It's An Upscale Place, And It's Pretty Spectacular

Here's what 24/7 Wall Street had to say in their description of Illinois' best Mexican restaurant, Topolobampo:

Rick Bayless is the country’s leading non-Mexican authority on Mexican food, and this upscale Michelin-starred institution is where he expresses his knowledge of and love for the sophisticated side of Mexican cuisine. Suffice to say you won’t find dishes like baby Baja chocolate clams “with a riot of flavors,” slow-cooked ancho-cured Petuna ocean trout, or Texas acorn-fed pork with eggplant and black bean sauce at your neighborhood taquería.

Enough words. Let's look at their food: