I cannot wait to be home to eat here again! It is so worth the hype. To be honest I was kind of disappointment with the decor, with what they charge it should be a more attractive space but the food is AMAZING. I dare say it is the best Mexican food I've ever had. I had the Carne Asada "Brava" and it was the best steak I've ever had. I went with my mother and she had the cochinita pibil which was also cooked very well. The drinks are amazing!!!! If you are ever in Chicago just go!!!!!
Review Source:Never, ever disappointing. And we had no reservation this time, but we thought we would give it a try. Upon arriving, a 1 to 1 1/2 hour wait unless we wanted to check out the bar. As we walked up the two steps, the very first table opened up and we sat down immediately. The food and drinks were amazing.
Review Source:I had heard a lot about Frontera and was excited to try it. Its honestly just an overpriced trendy restaurant. My bill was $100 (that was my share) and I was not happy with the quality of food I received.
There were two things I enjoyed - the Puoc Chuc and queso fresca. And of course, their margaritas are yummy and will knock you on your ass.
As far as things like Duck In Pasilla-huitlacoche Sauce, ceviches and oysters - those are not worth it.
Frontera Grill... how do I rate you? Â Came here with a friend who strives to eat paleo. Â If you're not familiar with it, google is your best friend.
Let's get to the food yo:
-Yucatecan Ceviche - we shared this. Â Had a good amount of citrus and flavor. Â This was definitely high quality ceviche.
-Oaxacan-style Carne Asada - okay so this was technically her meal, but I tried a bite and would've probably rated Frontera a 4 star if I had gotten this for my dish. Â Que sera sera.
-Suckling pig special - This actually had pretty great flavor, but I found the pork somewhat chewy toward the end. Â The flavors were there, I just couldn't find it in me to finish the meat. Â That's saying a lot.
Dessert, because who doesn't love a little gluttony?
-Homemade ice cream with topping on the side - again, technically not mine, but definitely tasty.
-Paw paw - yes I know there are lots of words before the paw paw, but I have no idea what they are. Â I thought this was okay. Â The best part were the bites mixed in with ice cream. Â I was thrown when I ordered this because the waitress commented that this dated back to the days of dinosaurs. Â
Um... what? Â I wasn't aware that men and dinosaurs cohabitated and made delicious desserts together. Â Maybe I misunderstood what she was saying.
Overall I thought it was good, but I'd probably prefer Mercadito. Â To be fair, I didn't try the tacos here which is what I had there.
I think the overall ranking of this place should be three stars, so I'm trying to balance things out a little.
I was very disappointed by this place. My first shot was brunch on Saturday morning. Â We waited for about an hour and when we were finally seated I felt like I was in a cafeteria with sticky tables. We first ordered drinks and I made the mistake of asking for a flavored margarita with Mezcal. The drink was so sweet I had to return it (it tasted as if someone filed half the glass with corn syrup) for a plain margarita that was ok. We wound up getting the appetizer trio and I ordered one of the egg dishes as my entree. All in all, the food was uninspiring.
My second visit was for lunch with co-workers. The place was about half full and it took 25 minutes for our food to arrive from the moment we ordered. The guacamole came a little earlier. I ordered the enchiladas with huitlacoche and, once again, I was terribly disappointed by the food. I get that they use great ingredients, though the mushrooms were seriously lacking in flavor, but it seems like the cooks are half-assing everything. Apart from the fact that the concept of this dish was off, so was the execution. The dish arrived lukewarm, the mole didn't taste fresh and the special tortilla was soggy (not in a good way). It's like they're going through the motions of cooking the recipes without putting any soul to it.
All in all, do yourself a f(l)avor and go to Xoco next door, which has much better food. I won't be coming here again.
Fantastic place, expensive but worth it.
The decor is very unique, doesn't feel like a traditional River North restaurant, more like that mexican strip mall joint you stop in occasionally. Cocktails were fantastic, I had two made with mezcal and my girlfriend had two different margaritas. Both were very unique and tasty.
For food we started with guacamole/salsa with chips and a oyster/ceviche platter. The guacamole was good, but nothing special and the salsa, very delicious. The platter was fantastic, the oysters were fresh and served with two unique sauces, a nice break from the traditional garnish. The Frontera and Tuna ceviches were fantastic, unique flavors and very good.
Already pretty full, we then split the sopes rancheros and grilled knob onions. Both highly recommended, full of flavor and unique.
Best part of the meal was the service, our server was very attentive and knowledgeable on the whole menu. Best of all, I had mentioned when I made a reservation that it was my girlfriend's birthday. He remembered this all the way until the end of the meal and brought out a complimentary mini tres leches cake.
Already looking forward to my next visit.
Hands down best mex I've ever had, even after living in CA, where mexican cuisine is everywhere. Can't wait to go back this summer! The small plate styles are great, so you can share and taste several dishes. Margaritas are 2nd to none. You may wait 2 hrs for a table, but it is honestly worth the experience.
Review Source:What an awesome place. Â The service and food were amazing. Â Friend and I shared the guacamole, ceviche trio and then the steet food trio. Â Just enough food, but not too much. Â And all of it delicious.
Also tried a champagne margarita. Â Was excellent.
Tres leches for dessert topped of an amazing meal.
If you've read my previous adventures in Mexican restaurants, you'll know that I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food. Â If you haven't I'm here to tell you I find it sits like a rock in the bottom of my stomach !
But, this, this was wonderful !  We went on  Friday night, and given the reviews, decided to stick out a 1.5 hour wait, and then were lucky enough to sit in the bar.
This place has been masterfully marketed and Bayless has been one of the most recognized names on the Chicago food scene for years (I always see his show on channel 11) but make no mistake this is not all its cracked up to be.
My experience with Mexican food has been simple. As a child, I remember eating elotes from the food cart in the park and homemade Mexican dinners that would put me in a coma for hours. I've had every type of "meat/tortilla combo you can name throughout the years. I make my own salsa and put way too much tapatio on everything I eat. I'm no expert (I did share the meal here with who would be though of as expert though, he wasn't impressed), but if there is something I know, its Mexican food.
In addition, I am not afraid to pay 5 star prices for a 5 star meal once in a while, but when the value/cost is so out of balance, I have to speak up. I not only did I leave still feeling hungry, I also wasn't all that impressed with the rich "authentic" Mexican flavors Mr. Bayless always talks about.
I still give Frontera three stars because some of the flavors were good (the guac trio was excellent). For all the hype that goes along with this place, I just don't taste what all the fuss is about. The food is RELATIVELY good, if your experience with Mexican is fairly limited then I guess I could see the flavors being amazing. This definitely isn't your local Pepe's but I was left empty. The ceviche was good but a little less than a shot glass was served as part of the appetizer. The rest of my meal was less memorable than the bill we received in the end.
There are many other places that have considerably better Mexican food. I hear a new  place just opened down the street... In the end, its just too much trouble for above-average (at best) Mexican food.
i think people tend to buy into their own hype when it comes to certain restaurants.
After 2 years of trying to come here I began to wonder if  "it'll be a 2-3 hr wait", given at all hours of the evening, was just a polite way of turning me away. But no, to really appreciate the experience of dining it truly takes 2 hours or so for even a small group, so that explains the wait. There are lots of small plates to share, and a wealth of Mescal to drink. A tip, if you want to get a res for a normal dinner time, arrive just when they open, wait in line, and you'll probably end up with a 2 hour wait to be seated around 7.
The service here is great - super friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable.
The sauces here are simply amazing - for instance, the mole trio enchiladas are killer, and I've never been very satisfied with mole sauce at restaurants before.
The goat dish I had was superb.
The "Oaxacan Gold" perfectly incorporated the smokiness of the Mescal.
Can't wait to go back.
Frontera Grill was my selection when my boss gave me creative liberty to choose any restaurant I wanted for my birthday lunch. I've been wanting to try one of Bayless's REAL restaurants for a while after trying his overachieving airport food from Tortas Frontera at O'Hare. Somehow I managed to snag a lunch reservation three days in advance, but I have a feeling that's not the norm - so book early!
We arrived on time and I was surprised to see that the restaurant was completely empty - had just opened at 11:30. They took our coats (which turned out to be really helpful because the seating situation was cozy, but would have become cramped if we and the other patrons had our coats) and we were seated promptly in a half booth. Unfortunately, I was facing the wall so I didn't really get a chance to see the restaurant fill up or to get an idea of the atmosphere. I also never saw my waiter's face - he only ever stood behind us and the two of us facing the wall had to crane our necks to see him.
The food was fantastico. The guacamole was some of the best I've had; good but not overwhelming portion of the green chile (just enough for an added kick), and the cilantro gave it that little extra kick that made it so fab. The salsa that was brought to the table was phenomenal. I mean really, really. Loved both the spicy red (three chile?) and the smoky tomatillo. Biggest complaint is that those portions were barely enough for one person, let alone the four of us who were diving our chips into them nonstop. We shared the Yucatecan Ceviche, which was a better portion for four, and had great flavors - again, loved the cilantro and especially with the shrimp, calamari, and orange flavors. I devoured my enchiladas (wish I could remember the name but I'm not seeing it on the online menu) - they were stuffed with mushrooms and had a great side of rice and a tomatillo sauce on the side. It was great but I wish I had gone a little farther out of my comfort zone and tried some of the street food or maybe one of the trios - which all looked excelente as well.
This is definitely not your average Mexican restaurant, and I would save it for a time when you know you can savor the food and won't feel rushed to make a decision on what to order. And, order a margarita! You don't want to leave with regret that you didn't order one, like me.
I've been looking forward to coming here since I moved to Chicago, and I just loved it. We ended up ordering some small plates to share:
The mole trio enchiladas, the ceviche trio, smoked chicken taquitos, the pulled pork gorditas, the frontera guacamole, and the queso fundido. Â
all of them were amazing. We had the flan and chocolate cake for dessert- the flan was good, but the chocolate cake was just outstanding. The Topolobampo margarita was divine.
The service was OK, but the food and laid back, fun atmosphere makes you forget it. I can't wait to come back again.
I may have spied into Rick Bayless' backyard (please don't call the cops) but oddly enough, I had never been to Frontera until my boss' quest for good guac brought us here. Â What an excellent way to make my usual homespun lunches look like crap. Â Thanks.
The guac hit the spot as did the cucumber ginger mojito I washed it down with. Â Of the ceviche trio, the shrimp/calamari one was my favorite, though very tentacley. Â Maybe I'm into that sort of thing. Â I had the mole poblano enchiladas, which are a small appetizer order, Â and the tortilla soup. Â The soup was delicious and perfect on a cold and nasty day and the mole was very good as well. Â I joined the clean plate club. Â Others enjoyed the street food trio, tamale special, huitlacoche enchiladas and pork tacos. Â
Then there were the desserts... possibly unnecessary at lunch time but boy were they good. Â The chocolate ganache cake made a chocolate lover out of me, and the flan duo and bunelos were also solid choices. Â
Our server was very knowledgeable and attentive and at 1:30 pm, the place was not crowded at all, so apparently later afternoon weekday is a good time to go. Â I just can't go five stars because of the price but I'd come back for a cocktail and some guac after work on a particularly tough day.
Of all things, this is where I brought a bunch of Texans to dinner...but even they were impressed!
While I actually prefer Xoco (I think the sandwiches are better), I do like the sit down restaurant. The guac is pretty tasty- we were able to share it among six of us. I think that the shrimp is one of the better things on the menu (I think it was a special during the summer- fantastic). The last time I had the duck, which was good, but not as good as the duck at some other Chicago establishments, which is why this place got 4 stars instead of 5. A few of the boys got the ceviche trio, which was pretty yummy.
Service both times was pretty good- they had no problem dividing up the check, which has been an issue at a few other Chicago places I've been to.
We have come here innumerable times in the last year since we have lived here. The quality seems to have declined immensely (cold entrees arriving while the appetizers are still on the table) and the menu has changed quite a bit. We have tried so many different things over the year, and the trio of ceviches still remains one of the best things around.
However, after popping in the other day for drinks and a small nibble before heading elsewhere, I can tell you with all certainty to avoid the Street Food Trio. It's a sad little plate of badly seasoned nibbles for $19.75. My advice? Take that money and run (heck, take it next door to Xoco, that place is still the best). But, if you do want just a small nibble before dinner elsewhere like we often do, opt for the Smoked Chicken Taquitos, they never disappoint.
Rick Bayless seems like a cool dude: won Top Chef Masters, cooks in his backyard, has great facial hair. Unfortunately Frontera just didn't live up to the hype.
Alright, so the Lamb Shank special was stuff of legend. Awesome tender meat that fell off the bone. The mole, well, makes you want to learn how to make mole. Â
But lets talk Mexican staples that Frontera SHOULD knock out of the park. Guacamole. It's featured on the menu and evidently one of Rick's staples. I wanted to eat and say "wow, that was the best Guacamole in the history of Guacamole." But no. I mean it was alright - its hard for mashed up avocado not to be, but I was expecting to be wowed. The to-go taco place down the block from me has bomb-ass avocado/tomato/onion style guacamole, and I don't think any of their people has ever been on Food Network.
Ceviche. When I saw that trio-ceviche special I was ready to dine on an unparallelled bastion of the sea. Â Of the three preparations the shrimp/squid/cucumber preparation was the tastiest, but the fruity fish preparation tasted iodine-y, and the classic ceviche was cray acidic. I wanted it to be great and it just wasn't.
I do have to give it up for the service though. The server we had was on point - one of the friendlier servers I've met in a while.
There's a plethora of great Mexican restaurants in Chicago, many quite a pretty penny cheaper than Frontera, many with food that does not disappoint.
Believe what you read. Â Rick Bayless does not disappoint.
I was two minutes late to a book signing and they wouldn't let me meet him, but they made up for it in the quality of food that evening for dinner. Â I'm glad we ended up going.
I had the Carne Asada as seen on FoodTV and it was very good. Â My wife had the Mahi which was even better. Â We shared the Ceviche Trio and wow, I'm craving it as I type this review!
The drinks were equally as fantastic and the service was perfecto!
Let's be clear: I hate douchey Chicago restaurants. What's a douchey Chicago restaurant? One of the all too many which grossly overcharge you for mediocre and pretentious food.
I wanted to find every reason to knock off a store or two from this restaurant and I couldn't come up with any, in spite of the somewhat crappy customer service. The idea of not taking reservations, making people wait in line for up 2+ hours, not having a direct phone line to Xoco (the restaurant I originally was thinking of going to), and closing early on Friday and Saturday nights (applies more to Xoco) was aggravating. It left the impression that the customer is unimportant and seemed to wreak of hubris.
Yet, amazingly, my dining partner and I had a most amazing dining experience. To say that this place lived up to the hype is a gross understatement. When we arrived 7:45pm (on a Friday night), we were told that the expected wait time would be 45 minutes. Somehow, within the first minute of waiting, we were seated. Either we were being bullshitted to or they were telling the truth; but we were happy.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is wonderful. It has a very colorful and pleasant Latin American vibe...with beautiful artwork and nice tropical and pastel colors giving some spice to the place.
But the food was what was amazing.
We started off by ordering the tortilla chips for $4.00. This came with two AMAZING salsas (the salsa verde was particularly delicious). My only complaint-- and it's kind of a big one actually-- is that they were very cheap with the salsas. They gave us ridiculously tiny amounts of salsa (especially considering how many chips were given--- a loooooot of chips).
Next for my entree, I ordered some kind of soft taco with chicken (don't remember the name). Â I don't remember all the ingredients, just that I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. The portion size was just perfect...not too much, not too little. At around $13.50, I thought it was definitely good value.
I then ordered the Mexican hot chocolate, which, undoubtedly was one of the best hot chocolates that I've ever had. It was quite light (not like Spanish hot chocolate, which was more along the lines of what I was expecting) but it was filled with chocolatey flavor and most interestingly, a bit of pepper or cinnamon. It was basically like very mildly spiced hot chocolate.
Lastly, my partner and I split a dessert (whose name I don't remember)...but it was like having an orgasm in your mouth (not that I speak from experience). It was SOOOOOOO GOOOOOD. We both wanted to lick the plate clean (and we almost did it too) and were seriously considering ordering a SECOND HELPING OF DESERT. Even though it was $9.50, it was truly one of the best things I've ever had in my life. It so many interesting, different, yet complementary tastes and textures. I would recommend coming to Frontera Grill just for the desert.
In short, the food here is nothing short of outstanding and while some menu items are quite expensive, generally speaking, I think that the prices are fair and that the value is outstanding. (and if you've seen any of my other reviews of Chicago restaurants, you'll know that my major gripe is how they almost always under deliver on value)
I can't strongly recommend this place enough, crappy customer service and all.
Having dined next door at Topolobampo and experienced wonderful service, I knew this would be nowhere close but still, the service was disappointing. A few gripes about our waitress that night: she forgot about us several times, making us having to flag her down every time we needed to order a drink; I kept getting whipped in the face with her long pig tails every time she came in to check on the table next to us; and she couldn't pronounce the basic items on the menu in Spanish which was pretty annoying.
Food
I love chile rellenos and it is a treat to eat them since they are pretty time-consuming to make and my past attempts have produced some not-so-good results. So unless my mom is cooking, I rarely get to indulge. I had heard great things about the chiles rellenos at Frontera, including that they sell out quickly so I was excited to try this off the menu.
They certainly did not disappoint - try them! The salsa was very flavorful and not as spicy, but the poblano pepper had a bit of kick for the perfect spice level. My favorite was the filling; the ground pork had great texture due to slivered almonds and had great flavor. The batter was light and fluffy, not greasy which is very common.
Overall
Had a good experience here, but honestly, not sure I'd be willing to wait in a line for 2+ hours (if you don't have a reservation & those have to be made far in advance) when you can get some quality Mexican food elsewhere with way better service.
The reputation of this place I think far exceeds the food, as I found the rest of the menu (save the chiles) a bit uninspiring. However, this time around, it was definitely worth it since we did have a reservation & I was lucky enough to score some chiles rellenos that DID in fact live up to the hype and were fabulous!
This place should seriously be the standard for excellent authentic Mexican dining experience.
Frontera does not take reservations so going at off peak times for a shorter wait is your best bet. Vallet parking is available for $12.00 which I recommend. There is basically no street parking and a garage will cost just as much or more.
We arrived around 1.30 and were seated by 2 pm. Drinks were ordered at the bar and brought to the table. The server made sure we didn't need refilled handed us the menus and gave us plenty of time to review and make ourselves comfortable.
Our server made sure we didn't have any questions and happily offered his favorites to us when we asked.
Oysters on the half shell with a choice of habanero or chipotle sauce were selected for the appetizer along with chips and salsa. The oysters were really fresh and had zero fishy taste. All four salsas were out of this world! They were exceedingly fresh and just bursting with flavor.
My entree was from their tapas selections on the menu. I dined of fried plantains $5.00 and
Enchiladas Potosinas: Chile-spiked corn-masa turnovers with spicy homemade fresh cheese. Pepita-avocado mash, Tamazula hot sauce, crema drizzle, arugula salad. Â $8.00. To say that each item was cooked to perfection would be an understatement. Served with guacamole, the enchilada was not greasy and the crust was crisp perfection. The plantaines were also fried to perfection and covered in a light flavorful white cheese.
A traditional Christmas desert was selected, ice cream , brandied figs and crispy wafers. It was a perfect finish to a perfect meal.
Four people with dinks sans tip made it out at $150, a extremely good value for the quality,atmosphere and location.
I will be coming here again!
I will start by saying that I am a big fan of Rick Bayless. Â The driving factor of this rating is the complete lack of value at his restaurant. Â I will continue to buy Frontera Salsa, watch his show on occasion, and try his other restaurants, but not this one. Â
We started with 2 and a half hour wait. Â In hindsight, this place was not worth a wait that long. Â Maybe a 40 minute wait is acceptable.
The food was good but not nearly worth the money. Â These are seemingly simple and cheap ingredients that should never cost this much. Â
The atmosphere was cramped and very loud.
We'll try the place next store (which Rick Bayless owns) next time.
Do you like Mexican food?
If your first thought was, like, are you kidding me, I friggin love Mexican food!! Your in for one of the best authentic Mexican experiences you can ask for.
Second, do you like ESPN? If you just thought, "of course who dosen't"? Then get this, this place is Skip, yes, Skip Bayless brothers and if his brother Rick is as adamant about good ingredients as Skip is about ridiculous arguments then you have some idea about how epic this meal is going to be.
If your visiting the city make sure you book your reservation about the same time you book your ticket, it was not easy to get into.
From the service to specially margaritas to the meal and the dessert you have to experience this place for yourself because Mexican does not get better than this, yes I said it, this place is my new numero uno for Mexican, sorry Taco Bell in Hialeah.
Another charming dining experience in Chicago! Some pure mexican magic. We were greeted by a team at the front door and were asked if we'd like our coats checked - so thoughtful! We were there for lunch and the place was hopping! The decor is pretty typical of most Mexican spots - lots of bright colours and Mexican scenery and traditional-style paintings on the wall. It's a lively spot for sure!
I was really impressed with our server. He took us newbies through the menu which was great, considering I'm always hesitant when it comes to ordering Mexican. I LOVE it, but I'm not a fan of super hot spice. He let us know the only thing that was really intense was the spicy mushrooms so I steered clear from those!
I had a delicious limonata drink and it was a perfect start to the meal. Our table ordered some ceviche and guacamole which were both quite good. The homemade corn tortillas were perfect! After chowing down on those, I wasn't starving, so I ordered the tortilla soup and roasted chicken taquitos. The taquitos were a really small serving (I think there were maybe 4 or 5 of them) held together with more guac - YUM! The tortilla soup was served in a bowl with the crisps and onions and cheese, and then the broth was poured over it in front of us - SO yummy! I really loved the soup, but it was a tad on the salty side. The taquitos were decent, but I thought they were a bit lacking in the flavor department (I know - from the girl who doesn't like spicy!). The tortillas were wonderful and the chicken was perfectly cooked though.
If you're a fan of Mexican, I'd definitely recommend stopping by this spot when you're in Chi town. The menu is lengthy and varied and the service is impeccable. Thanks to Nicole W for taking me and the crew here! :)
This place is extremely difficult to get into and I have been here twice while making reservations months in advance. Â They do take walk-ins, which contributes to the wait b/c only half the place is available for reservations. Â Definitely lives up to the hype as other reviews have stated. Â Both times I was here Rick Bayless the famous iron chef masters chef was cooking. Â Apparently he is there all the time, unlike other celebrity chefs. Â He was even friendly when I said hello to him while he was sitting with his wife, who was giving me the evil death stare for coming up to them. Â The cheaper sandwich place next door and the one in O'hare are both good alternatives.
The best part about the place is that for a fancy famous restaurant it is very reasonably priced as the entrees are under $30 dollars and some even below $20. Â However, you have to order margaritas, guacamole, ceviche, mexican hot chocolate, etc. etc. and the bill starts to get out of control. Â Everything is perfectly seasoned and delicious. Â The mole is the reason to go and does not disappoint. Â The trio is the best way to try a few.
It was my first time to Frontera Grill today, and I have to say I'm not exactly sure how I felt about my experience! Though our waiter was excellent, all I could think of while I was eating my Smoked Chicken Queso Fundido is where's the chicken...the stuff? Honestly, it seemed like I was indulging in a bowl of sharp cheddar cheese with nothing in it. In attendance at a business meeting, I felt guilty that my company paid $10 for melted cheese, but the warm tortillas more than made up for it.
For those with eclectic palates, the seafood dishes looked delish. Perhaps my preference for simple food is better served at the local Mexican joints where I can try a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
Fun for the experience, If I do eat here again I look forward to stepping out of my food comfort zone where I can try something different and spectacular.
Bon appetit!!!
I've only gone to places that say they serve authentic Mexican food only to be let down by greasy over cheesed/sauced and fried food. Not so here, every ingredient on the plate shines, not masked, with every bite exploding with flavor.
BEST SERVICE! Helpful with the menu. Lot of the plates are small plates, so can order more then one item for yourself. I got 3 plus dessert. Was attentive and kept us laughing though the whole service.
Ceviche trio was fresh, with each being different in they own way. Great option if your can't make up your mind. The sweet fried plantains paired excellent with the tangy sour cream. The mole sauce had great depth of flavor with tender chicken and soft tortillas. Best strawberry shortcake. The cake sometimes can be just a plan useless rock. Here the outside was crunchy from the raw sugar with a fluffy, buttery inside. Came with just the right amount of sweet/tart strawberries.
This place has me craving REAL mexican food all the time now. Who knew it can actually be somewhat healthy!
It's gone downhill I guess. Â My mahi mahi sounded good on the menu, but it was bland and practically flavorless. Â Very disappointing. Â Ned didn't like his ceviche or rice and beans. Â Drinks were good, as always.
I think this may just be a place for tourists at this point. Â I won't go back except to sit at the bar. Â There are too many excellent Mexican places in Chicago to wait in line to eat here, or even to not wait in line.
The 1000+ reviews pretty much cover it. Â This place lives up to the massive hype. Â My contribution will be this tip:
The bar is open seating, and had no wait on a recent weeknight (for 2). While Frontera is worth waiting for, why not skip it if you can? Â Also, you can order from the Topolobampo menu, which usually requires reservations months in advance!
I looooove me some Mexican food...but I don't get what's so special about Frontera Grill.
I'm not saying the food isn't good--because it is. I just don't get what all the fuss is about! Maybe Rick Bayless' intricately crafted delicacies are too sophisticated for my down-home, carne asada loving palette.
Or maybe I really shouldn't have had two of those delicious margaritas first thing in the morning, while waiting for my brunch to arrive.
This place is amazing. Â I've been twice, and I've had a great experience each time. Â Unfortunately the first time I went was about 2009, and back then they did not do reservations. Â I wish I had known that before going there in early October. Â The place was packed and it was either wait for almost 2 hours or find seats in the bar area (which is first come first served.)
I can't begin to explain why this place is so good. Â From the ambiance, to the food and the decor....everything is perfect. Â
If only I lived closer to Chicago, I'd probably eat there once a month (at least!)
How could anything possibly live up to the hype of this place? Time and time again you hear what a genius Rick Bayless is and how Frontera is one of the best restaurants in the entire country. It goes on and on. This is amazing and that is amazing and on and on and on. Hype kills, my friends. Many a cultural monolith has been felled by hype.
So how could anything possibly live up to the hype of this place?
I don't know, but Frontera does it. Food, service, atmosphere, heck even price for what you're getting, Frontera is pretty much as perfect as any earthbound restaurant is ever going to get.
Obviously, it's an extremely busy place. Yet they have the system there down to a science, making the whole process of waiting surprisingly efficient. On a similar note, the wait staff is amazing. To say they are on top of things is an understatement. They know all of the insides and outs of the food they are serving and are able to make suggestions in such informative ways that it never feels like a sales pitch. Plus they're quick, efficient, and friendly in that important genuine kind of way.
The food. Oh man the food. How can something taste this good? I mean, it's just everything went into a different scale of deliciousness than anything I've eaten before. That's how you live up to hype. By adding entirely new flavor experiences.
So add to the brilliant menu, an amazing selection of drinks, including a Goose Island beer brewed only for Frontera, and the culinary delights are impossible to top.
Sometimes things don't deserve the accolades they receive. I could name numerous things, but would likely only end up offending far too many people. With that said, Frontera Grill belongs nowhere near that list. Every single superlative anyone has ever written about them is only understating the true joy of dining there.
Dear Lord this place is popular...I came in for a quick dinner around opening time and still ended up waiting almost an hour to be seated. Â Thankfully, it wasn't much of an issue as the bar service is outstanding and the margaritas delicious. Â The Fall Margarita Flip with ancho chili salt rim was fantastic and made the time go by pretty darn quickly.
Having heard much about Chef Bayless' mole, I felt obliged to try it in its several variants. Â Mole poblano, mole chichilo and Oaxacan green mole - all very good with the hearty and savory chichilo being the forerunner. Â Combined with exceptional service, the meal was delightful. Â Just a bit short of five stars as the food wasn't nearly mind-blowing or worth the wait. Â Close though!
I moved to Illinois - and Chicagoland specifically - the summer of 2005. One night at work, down in the pressroom waiting to check on a page, I was chatting with the press guy. He told me he'd just celebrated his wedding anniversary at a fancy downtown Mexican restaurant. It was the first time I heard about Rick Bayless and his little empire at the corner of Clark and Illinois.
Fast forward through job changes, a wedding, several moves and to now... our five-year wedding anniversary. We've eaten at XOCO several times and Topolo is out of our price range comfort zone, but Frontera? We can swing that.
When going to well-known restaurants like this, there seems to be a danger that it will be overhyped. Thank god, Frontera completely lived up to our expectations. Rick Bayless is a freaking genius.
We arrived in line about 4:30 on a Saturday, and I ran around the corner to XOCO to grab some hot chocolate to combat the chill (I would like to suggest this, you can get to-go items at XOCO quite quickly). A short time later they opened the hallway door and started taking names and handing out buzzers. We were told we'd be seated at 5:40 in the main dining room. At 5, the bar doors opened and we were let in, and sure enough our buzzer went off right after 5:40.
We decided on a small-plates style dinner. Here's what we had and notes:
Drinks -- husband had the Goose Island Marisol; I had JJ's Elixir: Fig-infused Riverboat rye whiskey, cinnamon agave, fresh lime, JK Scrumpy's hard cider. Â -- Strong, warm, delicious, a perfect fall cocktail.
Fall Guacamole: Pickled jalapenos, grilled local apples, homemade fresh cheese. Tortilla chips. Â -- a perfect starter, creamy, a little bite but not very spicy, delicious.
Street Food Trio: Two pieces each: potosinas (fresh cheese, avocado, crema, Tamazula), tlacoyos (red chile beans, guajillo salsa, cincho cheese), sopes (shredded beef, roasted tomato, green chile). Â -- each bite was better than the next. I think the potosinas were my favorite bite, the combination of cheese, crema, guacamole and hot sauce was just divine.
Fresh Corn Tamales: Banana leaf-steamed sweet corn tamales, homemade crema & fresh cheese, poblano. Â -- super sweet, with just the right hint of saltiness and creamy fresh cheese.
Smoked Pork Queso Fundido: Otter Creek organic cheddar, guajillo-rubbed smoked pork, grilled knob onions, guajillo salsa. -- very rich, the pork was tender and so delicious, the cheese tangy, served with fresh corn tortillas.
While it didn't seem like a *ton* of food, we were happily pretty full at this point, and decided to cap our evening with a little ice cream -- the homemade Mexican vanilla with goat's milk caramel. It was divine. We both agreed we could've happily drunk a glass of the caramel, which had tangy and smokey notes next to the traditional caramel profile.
Our waitress was extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and timed things perfectly, and our waters were always kept refilled and plates cleared. It was a fantastic dinner and the perfect way to mark five memorable years.
I can't believe that I never reviewed this place.
A thousand (literally) other reviewers have said it before, so this is what I'll add:
- it is worth the hassle of getting there early.
- it is worth waiting however long you wait.
- it is well worth the price tag (which honestly, is NOT high - we had three courses each and the total bill came to around 100 bucks)
Highlight of my trip to Chicago, by miles. Rick Bayless does not fuck around, folks. Dude may seem like your run of the mill unassuming white guy, but dude knows his Mexican food. We begged our waitress to give him the feedback that he needs to open a restaurant in New York, but she explained that Rick stops in the restaurant all the time, and won't open restaurants elsewhere because he knows the minute he stops going in and overseeing things is the exact minute the quality goes downhill. Â There's the secret, boys and girls.
Get the ceviche. Â Get something in a mole sauce too. Perrrfection.
I thought I had reviewed this place before.
We had always wanted to try this place and reservations were made.
We arrived and were seated fairly promptly which was nice.
It's been a while but I remember we had the ceviche trio sampler which was excellent. The taste of each one was so different yet so refreshing. That was probably the highlight.
The tacos and carne asada which we had as our entrees were great as well. The problem is that this place was just not super memorable, it had hype and we were looking forward to it but more than just to try this place it wasn't quite there.
The service was fine, it took a while between courses but that in itself wasn't a big deal when you have good company.
Hard to put your finger on it, I'd definitely recommend coming here to try the cuisine, then you can be the judge!
My boyfriend and I went here for my 21st birthday, and the drinks were amazing. Unfortunately, they were so amazing - and also pretty strong - that I can barely remember the food. I felt really bad because the food was expensive, but the drinks were sooooo good.
The bartenders were all awesome too. It did take about 2 hours without a reservation to get a table - that's how I ended up very tipsy.
My boyfriend loved the food. He ordered a couple of different appetizers and loved all of them. Definitely worth the wait.
Seeing how people complain about the wait to get into this place, I must have been very lucky. I came here on a Thursday night around 8:30pm. There was definitely a wait but we gave them our name and walked around and returned. We were probably seated by 9:45pm.
Service was slow, but I was too busy chatting with my friend to be bothered by it. We ordered all tapas sized plates and shared everything. The food was pretty darn good, but my complaint would be the menu. There was just sooooo much going on that I was confused and overwhelmed by my choices. I'm glad I was there with a friend who had been there before. He loved the place for it's margaritas, which he had 2 that night. I stuck to water.
By the time we were done, I think it was past 11pm. Despite living in TX, I'm not a fan of Mexican food, but I really did enjoy this place and would go again if I'm ever back in Chicago.
I was underwhelmed by the food and overwhelmed by the people.
My mother-in-law and husband had wanted to eat at Frontera for years. Â Years. Â Every time we've tried to go as a walk-in, there's been about a 4 hour wait. Â Finally, we asked a friend to pull some strings and get us a reservation. Â We got there and it was absolutely packed. Â We hung out in the cramped little waiting area because we arrived really early for our reservation (We were told the wrong time in the beginning, but not the restaurant's fault. Â It was also cold and rainy, so we weren't leaving.)
After having to push our way (literally) through the crowd.. and even through some servers/staff who weren't courteous enough to let customers go ahead of them, we were seated near the bar. Â Okay, cool.
A guy came up to our table with water. Â He didn't introduce himself, so I assumed he was a busser. Â He wasn't. Â I realized that when he took our beverage orders. Â Once we got our drinks, which were quite delicious, we looked over the menu. Â
The server was kind of pushy in taking our orders. Â It's a huge menu and we needed a few minutes to look. Â I can tell they really try to turn tables quickly. Â We placed our orders and the food came out. Â
Ceviche trio: Â The tuna was fantastic. Â The other two were okay.
Chips and guacamole: Â For nearly $10, you get about 1/4 cup guacamole and maybe 20 chips. Â Honestly, I wasn't impressed at all with either. Â Plus, a busser tried to take it off our table when half of it was still there. Â Again with the turning tables business. Â I mean, at least let us eat our overpriced guacamole!
Quesadillas: My sister-in-law's go to food. Â She said they were delicious. She didn't order much else, so I didn't try them.
Tortilla soup: Â MIL loved it. Â
Green beans: Â Another my SIL ordered. Â I didn't try them, but was told they were really good. Â
Fried plantains: Â Awesome. Â I recommend these.
Duck in red pipian: Â Husband ordered this. Â I thought it was tasty. Â He said the duck was very, very overcooked. Â
My father-in-law got some kind of steak because they were out of the daily special. Â He said it wasn't anything exciting.
Smoked chicken taquitos: Â Yummy. Â We accidentally asked for two orders of these. Â Strangely, though, they came out at different times.
Corn torta: Â It was kind of like cornbread and creamed corn had a love child. Â A yummy and expensive love child. Â This was my choice of the evening, and I thought it was pretty good. Â It was much heavier than expected. Â
MIL ordered some tacos, which I don't see on the menu. Â She said they were lackluster.
Between the server obviously trying to turn our table and the outrageous prices for slighty better than good food... it was a disappointing meal. Â I won't return. Â XOCO was much more impressive.
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