Frontera Grill

Reviews 4

A

A Private User

My girlfriend of 5 years is a huge fan of Rick Bayless; she has watched his cooking program since she was in high school and has always wanted to go to one of his restaurants. Its a bit of a drive to go from Madison to Chicago just for dinner, so we never had the chance to go there before. Then I got the idea... why not propose to my girlfriend on New Years Eve and go to Topolobampo? At the time they took reservations online, but not over the phone. Reservations fill up typically 6-8 weeks in advance, so I put my reservation in at 12:01 a.m. October 1st, the earliest I could. If you frequent fancy restaurants, you might know what was about to go wrong. For my girlfriend and me, however, Topolobampo would have been the nicest restaurant that either one of us has ever been to. Were both finishing graduate school and short on money, but the $35-40 a plate would have been a bargain given how happy it would have made her. I was excited for the next two and a half months, getting a ring and planning things to do earlier in the day. Then today (December 11th) I got a call telling me that there would be a special 5 course menu and mariachi band and that it would be $110 per plate, and they need my credit card to confirm the reservation. I knew that there might be a special menu for New Years Eve, but I wasnt expecting it to be three times the regular price. I also dont want a romantic moment to be interrupted by a mariachi band. I dont have a problem with them doing that, but they could at least give me more warning so that I can make reservations elsewhere. I couldnt keep my reservation for New Years Eve, and Im not sure what Im going to do now. I still hope to go someday. What should you take away from this experience? Well, they recently started taking reservations by phone, so I would recommend doing that rather than doing it online. Also, make sure that they wont have a mariachi band.

TA

Taylor Shaw-Hamp

Ive wanted to try Frontera Grill ever since Rick Bayless won the first Top Chef Masters all those years ago. I finally got the chance on a mini family vacation to Chicago when we stayed at a hotel right around the corner, so we walked over and put our names on the reservation list to sit outside. The wait was initially an hour, but a previous reservation cancelled, so we were sat in perhaps less than 20 minutes. Our server, Albert, was very knowledgable about the menu and the drinks. He brought me and my sister delicious seasonal cocktails and recommended a fantastic sipping tequila for my husband who is a serious whiskey man. My mom has a pepper intolerance (they give her nasty migraines), and when she told Albert about it he was absolutely thorough that there wouldnt be cross contamination. He even alerted management to the issue, who came out and introduced himself (Jay) and double checked that her allergy wasnt as severe to air-borne contamination, and he worked with her to create a dish that would fit her dietary needs. It was above and beyond anything we expected, we just wanted to be certain no peppers got tossed on her salad, but Jay made certain a dressing was especially created so there wouldnt be any oils or seeds in it. Truly a testament to any great restaurant! Im vegetarian and there were plenty of incredible options for myself, and I loved the Wild Mushroom Mixotes I ordered. Even though that might have been enough, since we didnt do appetizers, my table split the desserts Mexican Chocolate Cherry Tart, Frontera Chocolate Pecan Pie, and Local Corn 3 Sweet Ways. Everything was amazing and you cant get it prepared like Frontera prepared it anywhere else. The experience was absolutely amazing and will be hard to top: 5 stars all the way! There will be a wait, but it is 100% worth it!

ZA

Zack F

The food here is very good, but I have to say that it was definitely not worth the 3 hour wait and the hype. Heres my take on the dishes we had. 0. Sweet fried plantains - these were the best plantains Ive ever had and the best of the dishes we ordered. They had a nice crispy exterior and come with homemade sour cream and fresh cheese. Delicious! I could have eaten 2 or 3 orders of this. 1. Guacamole - pretty good, with some sort of fresh red pepper mixed in, but it was a tad on the bland side. It could have used some salt and possibly some lemon juice. I like the guac at Qdoba as much or better. 2. Chicken taquitos - these were good, but not so different than your typical taquitos. They do come mounted on a nice little mound of guacamole which added to the value. 3. Falda Asada "Brava": spicy serrano-marinated grass fed flank steak (from Bill Kurtiss Tall Grass) with spicy salsa huevona (hand-crushed, grill-roasted tomatoes, jalapenos). Grilled knob onions and sweet corn tamales (topped with homemade sour cream and fresh cheese). 29.00 Im not a big steak guy, but this was pretty good. To be frank though, I enjoyed the sweet corn tamales more than the steak itself. It certainly wasnt worth $29. 4. Tacos al Carbon: wood-grilled meat, poultry, fish or mushrooms sliced and served with roasted pepper rajas, two salsas, frijoles charros, guacamole and homemade tortillas. 16.50 We had these tacos with pineapple pork, but we could not really taste the pineapple and so I think these were fairly mediocre. The corn tortillas that accompanied the meal were good and fresh which I enjoyed. These were probably the 3rd best part of the meal (after the plantains and the tamales).

KA

Kate Linwood

Went here prior and it was awesome, and went here again last night because a good friend from out of town visited and I had to show him this place. Still awesome! Both of my visits here were for dinner, so I cannot comment on the brunch and lunch. The place is pretty exotic-comfy, nothing way over the top in decor, but a lot of interesting artwork decorates the place. Tables are kinda close to each other though. Service here is some of the best in town; best service for the price of the food by far. As a party of two, we started with the oysters. Yes, oysters at a Mexican restaurant isnt common, but do have them here, as they are great. My friend was definitely delighted by them as we both shared a half-dozen! Oysters come with a tomatillo and habenero mignonette sauce and chipotle garlic salsa (and of course, limes!). Next we had the Frontera ceviche. Albacore + olives + tomato + cilantro + green chiles + lime = mouth orgasm on tostaditas. For entrees, my friend had the Mole Trio - two enchiladas in a poblano mole, vegetables in a green peanuty mole, and pork and beans in a savory chocolatey-spiced mole. I definitely will try that for next time, but it looked great and he loved it. I had the Saturday special, the Costillas, or ribs. Very tender and juicy ribs with a spicy chipotle sauce. Very tasty! During all this, I had my fair share of the superb magaritas suggested by our super friendly waiter (Friend just had one and water the rest of the evening). Portions are very generous, so we got to go home with quite a bit of yum that my roommate ate up and enjoyed. Love Rick Bayless and his awesomeness is reflected in the food. A must-try if you are ever in Chicago!