Frontera Grill

I think everyone who loves food and travel like I do has restaurants they dream of visiting. Le Bernardin and Chez Panisse are two of mine. One that I recently crossed off my list was Chicago’s Frontera Grill. Our trip to Chicago was full of great food, and Frontera Grill was most definitely a highlight.  I had wanted to visit after watching Rick Bayless on TV for years, so when this Chicago trip was being planned, it was the first place I made reservations.

We ended up at Frontera Grill for lunch due to their being closed on Sundays and wanting to do an Italian night, carb loading with a running friend, on Saturday. We arrived right in time for opening, and there was a line waiting at the door. There were about 20 people in front of us, and I worried that it would take forever to get up to the podium to check in for our reservation.

There was no need to worry; the staff was so welcoming, warm, and efficient, getting us all inside and out of the chilly, gray fall day. They had several staff members seating people, so it took less than three minutes for us to be swept off to our table.

We took some time to enjoy the bright decor as we settled into our seats. I loved the color and the warm and festive vibe that Frontera had. The staff seemed to be enjoying themselves as they very busily went about taking care of us.

We started off with the must-order guacamole and some cocktails. I had a Champagne Margarita, which combined two of my favorite things. The drink was delicious and went great with salty, hot, crispy chips and homemade guac.

   As we tend to do, we ordered appetizers to share, two from the Street Food menu.

We had a mix of some of the freshest ceviche ever with chicken taquitos and Mexico City style quesadillas.

And then there were cute little Mushroom Molote tarts and Sopes Rancheros, little corn masa boats with shredded beef, avocado, and roasted tomato. Yum.

We were so stuffed that we passed on dessert, though now I am dreaming of it, imagining how good it would have been. Instead we went for a thick, creamy, spicy hot chocolate for the road, the ideal drink for walking around Chicago on a blustery autumn day.

Frontera Grill was everything I hoped it would be, and I hope to visit this restaurant or another of Bayless’s restaurants on a future trip to Chicago.

Do you have a dream restaurant that you would need to travel to get to?

Past posts on dining at the restaurants of celebrity chefs:

Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery, Yountville, CA 

Mario Batali’s Tarry Lodge, Port Chester, NY

Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar, San Francisco, CA

Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg, CA