LAZ wrote:

YoYoPedro wrote:I suppose that we all suffer from different senses of humor.

Perhaps. But in this case I suffer from too many rants from New Yorkers about what they think is wrong with Chicago-style pizza.

I'm from Chicago and I think deep dish pizza is just OK. I like really thin crust pizza. I think it's all a matter of taste, not geography. And I think Frontera is great, and tourists and their money are great, or at least the money is, and they should leave more of it here. But it does irk me when they get in my way at the bar. So I go out on Thursday nights.

For those waiting to hear what getting a table for five at Frontera on a Saturday night is like, here is my report. After asking (it's upthread before the discussion of that most dastardly of creatures, the tourist who insists on eating out while visiting our fair city) how bad the wait would be, we called and managed to get a "reservation" for 9pm. I put the term in quotes because as seems to be quite common at popular restaurants these days we actually reserved a place for our name on a list and not at an actual table. But I'm probably complaining more than necessary because they gave us a buzzer and we were seated by 9.15. The food and drinks ranged from quite good to transcendent.

I understand why a place like Frontera would not give out true reservations, i.e. where one's party is seated immediately upon a timely arrival, but I wish they would explain in advance what kind of reservation they are really giving out. I guess it wouldn't be too difficult to ask about it when making the reservation.

Darren72 wrote:you're talking about roughly $3.75 per taco. They come with the salas, etc. described above and likely use higher quality ingredients than is typical found at the little taco shops.

This isn't to say that the Frontera taco is better, or a better value, than the $1 taco at your favorite place. But is it a rip-off aimed squarely at tourists? Hardly.

also outside of that, i think taco prices have gone up in recent years... since the prices of just about everything that goes into them has gone up. i can't tell you how many random street food tacquerias i've been to lately where a taco was about $2 on the menu. then if you're a gringo and want it a more American way--with anything other than onions/cilantro on it--it's gonna cost you 50 cents for cheese and 50 cents for sour cream and everything else.. so at that point you're nearly up to the frontera pricing but the ingredients were likely thrown together with quantity in mind and not so much quality that frontera specializes in...

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to chime in on my Frontera experience.
I went there for the first time last Friday with my Wife and a friend.
We have wanted to try it for many years but never got around to it as we live about an hour north nowadays.
We arrived at Frontera about 4:30pm and there about 20-30 people already in line.
At 5pm the doors promptly opened and people started heading to the Host to put there names down.
We put our name on the list although our friend had not yet arrived, we were told that our table would be ready at 5:20pm and could only be held until 6:00pm. We were asked to check back in when the rest of our party arrived.
After a few Margaritas at the bar it was about 5:25pm that our friend arrived. We checked back in with the host and were seated within a few minutes. Our waiter/server Dave was very energetic, full of smiles and explained a lot about the menu to us. We decided on the Tuna Veracruzana appetizer, I had the Tall Grass beef Carne Asada Bravo, my wife had the Braised brisket and our friend had a different preparation of Carne Asada. The food was incredible.
Since it was our first time there we shared and picked off each others plates, and everything was great.
From the beans to the sweet corn tamales to the tortillas. To finish it off we split a piece of the Chocolate Pecan Pie, I am not a pecan pie fan but this was tasty. The atmosphere was a typical Chicago style restaurant. Close tables but not too close, lots of laughter and loud conversation but not terribly noisy, about what I expected.
As far as price it was not bad, we spent about what we thought we would although the Margaritas were what racked up our bill. Our Frontera experience was everything we hoped for, the food was great we had a wonderful waiter and saw Mr Bayless himself.

For us we will definitely be going again and will try to also go to Topolo in the near future.

Kennyz wrote:YoYo,

I don't doubt that your description of your experiences is accurate, but I have been to Frontera 5 times in the last 7 weeks, and have had absolutely no trouble getting seated immediately every time. Sometimes the place has been more crowded than in my picture, but never - not once - have I waited to be seated. I have probably not been there on a Thursday. I think all of my visits have been Tues and Wed. Maybe that explains our vastly different perspectives.

Kenny

Updating to note that after last night, I can say that I have been to Frontera on a Thursday night. Arrived at 6PM to find 8 empty bar stools, and two open 2-tops. Left at 8, and a handful of open barstools still remained. Only one open 2-top left. If you're willing to dine in the bar area, don't let unfounded fears of long waits keep you away from Frontera Grill.

When you do go in the next few weeks, be sure to save room for dessert. I had a spectacular torta de elote last night. Fresh ground super-sweet local corn baked to an airily light texture with a bit of caramelization on the outside, served with one of the best ice creams I've tasted this season, made with Michigan blueberries and just the right hint of tequila so as not to overwhelm the berries, but still provide a very nice woodsy, fruity kick.

Kennyz wrote:I had a spectacular torta de elote last night. Fresh ground super-sweet local corn baked to an airily light texture with a bit of caramelization on the outside, served with one of the best ice creams I've tasted this season, made with Michigan blueberries and just the right hint of tequila so as not to overwhelm the berries, but still provide a very nice woodsy, fruity kick.

I wish I could write about food like this. I can almost taste your dessert from your description. (You're willing to share, aren't you? ) The best I can muster in an analogous situation is, "The dessert was really good."