They change their menu fairly regularly. I've liked everything I've had there, just depends on what YOU are interested in that evening If you are concerned about vegetarian dishes, call ahead and ask. I suspect that they will fully be able to accommodate, but might appreciate a heads up.

wshandling wrote:Should we ask what they can do to accomodate her

The best time to deal with this is probably when you make your reservation. At this point, though, if it were me, I'd call as early as possible tomorrow to give them a heads up and learn your options. That said, I'm sure they'll be able to accomodate her. She can't be the first vegetarian to have eaten at Topolobampo!

=R=

leek wrote:They change their menu fairly regularly. I've liked everything I've had there, just depends on what YOU are interested in that evening If you are concerned about vegetarian dishes, call ahead and ask. I suspect that they will fully be able to accommodate, but might appreciate a heads up.

I have never made that request, but don't count on it at Topo. There definitely is a "our way or the highway" attitude. It is one of the least client-centered businesses of any sort that I've come across. There really is an approach of "We do it this way. If you don't like it, too bad."

Which is unfortunate because the place has some great food. But it is almost like Bayless is cooking for Bayless and not for customers.

I would definitely call ahead to let them know. However, when my wife and I dined there over the summer they had absolutely no issues with subbing out courses from the tasting menu for her lactose intolerance. We let our server know prior to ordering and he gave us suggestions on what would work for her, no problems at all.

DML wrote:

leek wrote:They change their menu fairly regularly. I've liked everything I've had there, just depends on what YOU are interested in that evening If you are concerned about vegetarian dishes, call ahead and ask. I suspect that they will fully be able to accommodate, but might appreciate a heads up.

I have never made that request, but don't count on it at Topo. There definitely is a "our way or the highway" attitude. It is one of the least client-centered businesses of any sort that I've come across. There really is an approach of "We do it this way. If you don't like it, too bad."

Which is unfortunate because the place has some great food. But it is almost like Bayless is cooking for Bayless and not for customers.

I've eaten at Topo many, many times and I've never encountered that type of approach.

Our last time they were uncooperative about everything from coats to drinks to menu. Very disappointing.

We're back, stuffed to the gills.

Dinner was consistently good, rarely great. I don't think either of us regret going, because we'd never been to Topolo, only Frontera, but I doubt I'll be rushing back any time soon.

My girlfriend Julie, who is a vegetarian, was surprised to learn they had a vegetarian tasting menu that was by request only. When she asked the waitress about vegetarian options, they brought her the separate menu, and she ended up going for it, and I had the Adventurer tasting menu.

The meal had a nice, consistent tone to it, but there were few standouts, and the things that did shine through were generally pretty stingily portioned. For instance, the single best bite of food came from seared rib-eye with bone marrow, both of which were delectable, but the marrow was just a little bite and unceremoniously plopped along the few bites of steak that were provided.

Also, some of the dishes, while tasted, lacked a little bit of complexity and depth of flavor that I was expecting, and were a bit one note, even if that note was a pretty good one. The exception to this were the desserts, which were some of the most interesting and thoughtful desserts I've ever had. Definitely borderline savory in both our cases.

The ginger mojito was probably the single best thing i had all night.

Service was also just ok. Other waiters sounded very friendly and enthusiastic, but ours was kind of a cold fish. Maybe it's because we're in our mid 20s and don't look like high rollers or whatever, but still, she gave us basically the minimum amount of acceptable time and was pretty curt throughout. Also, the food runners delivering food and drinks would consistently "auction off" the items when they arrived, meaning they didn't know who had what, and would just say "scallops?" and wait for someone to take it. Shrug. Maybe it's just me, but I think a restaurant of this caliber should be above that.. I used to wait tables in a steak house and that was always a big no-no for us. Tables have seat numbers for a reason.

So all in all, it was pretty good, but like I said, nothing we'll be rushing back for. Glad that we tried it though.

I had an incredibly disappointing experience at Topolobampo last night. We had a 9:15 reservation, showed up on time and were told that they were waiting for a few tables to be done. No apology, no time estimate, claimed they would come find us in the bar. Fine. We go have a margarita. By 10 pm, we're getting agitated. Finally around 10:15 one of the hosts comes and apologizes and offers to cover our drinks in the bar. Finally we're seated an hour after the reservation, but notice several other empty tables. We're shoehorned into a table so close to the others that I almost knocked the tortillas off the table next to us as I slid in. Ridiculous how tight they're packed in. We ordered all three of the tasting menus. Finally got the first course at 10:45, 90 minutes after the reservation time. Between the second and third courses, the wait was at least half an hour which was baffling since Frontera and Topolo were pretty empty by this point. Service was at best perfunctory with brief explanations of the plates. Lobster served with nothing to retrieve the meat from the shell. Our desserts were finally delivered around 12:30, but we were underwhelmed by most of the food and definitely not worth the $90 price tag. Even taking care of the credit cards at the end of the meal took over 10 minutes somehow. The lack of any sense from the front of house that waiting an hour for a table when it's already 10 pm was a problem was pathetic. Only one host (who looked like he could be Bayless' uncle) who comped our drinks expressed any notion that this was unacceptable. I like Bayless and have had some good meals at Frontera, but there's no way I'll be back to Topolobampo after that debacle.

Recent experiences/thoughts on Topo?

I have a reservation for my b-day in a couple Fridays & am having second thoughts.

thanks.

jimswside wrote:Recent experiences/thoughts on Topo?

I have a reservation for my b-day in a couple Fridays & am having second thoughts.

thanks.

kennyz wrote a rave review the other day on his blog

In fact, of the 12-15 meals I've eaten over the years at Frontera, the most recent one - where I sat at the Frontera bar but ordered from the Topolo menu - was the best ever. So special, in fact, that I'm confident in saying that no matter what hot openings we continue to have, Topolobampo remains at or near the top of the list of Chicago's best restaurants.

thanks,

I had seen that, and kenny's thoughts on Topo are one of the reasons I am still holding the reservation.

jimswside wrote:thanks,

I had seen that, and kenny's thoughts on Topo are one of the reasons I am still holding the reservation.

For what it's worth, the only time I disliked a meal there was when I made a reservation and sat in the dining room. I found it stuffy and cramped, and listening to people discuss wine pairings with a sommelier instead of downing great margaritas just didn't work for me. Now I always just sit at the Frontera bar, which I realize is not practical for everyone and every situation.

We had a light lunch here last week.

Shared the Ceviche Fronterizo: Lime-marinated Hawaiian albacore with tomatoes, olives, cilantro, green chile; on crispy tostaditas. Nice quality albacore, one of my favorites. The olives added a nice, unexpected zing.

I had the Mariscos con Sabor a Yucatan: Orange-glazed Viking Village scallops, fresh Florida shrimp & tender young squid, in velvety escabeche (roasted green chile, caramelized onion, sweet spices, olive oil, cava vinegar). Fluffy achiote tamal, creamy sikil pak (pumpkinseed & amaranth "hummus"). The seafood was cooked perfectly, and the squid seemed especially tender. But really they were a delivery device for the excellent escabeche sauce.

My husband had the Ensalada de Carnitas: crispy duck leg carnitas, Living Waters young greens, orange vinagreta (black pepper, árbol chile), shaved kohlrabi, spicy pickled kumquats, toasted chile threads. This salad was good, too, and the duck leg was very flavorful, but it wasn't as interesting as the other dishes we shared.

If we lived in the neighborhood, I can see eating lots of ceviche at the bar, while drinking tequila and mezcal cocktails, but maybe not having too many meals here. I had a great mezcal cocktail with vanilla, lime, pineapple, called the Oaxacan Gold.

Hopped Up wrote:We're shoehorned into a table so close to the others that I almost knocked the tortillas off the table next to us as I slid in. Ridiculous how tight they're packed in.

We were crammed in so tight once that the guy at the next table ended up dragging his coattail/butt through our guacamole trying to get to his seat. As a result, my wife and I have adopted the verb "bampo" to describe such close encounters: “Hang on to your glass, you’re about to get bampo’d!”

SCUBAchef wrote:

Hopped Up wrote:We're shoehorned into a table so close to the others that I almost knocked the tortillas off the table next to us as I slid in. Ridiculous how tight they're packed in.

We were crammed in so tight once that the guy at the next table ended up dragging his coattail/butt through our guacamole trying to get to his seat. As a result, my wife and I have adopted the verb "bampo" to describe such close encounters: “Hang on to your glass, you’re about to get bampo’d!”

It's always nice to see that absolutely nothing has changed in well over five years!

We had a special occasion last weekend and visited Topolo. First, they were incredibly accommodating about us being about 15-20 minutes late for our reservation due to accidents on the highways. Second, my father-in-law, who is vegetarian, was easily accommodated with a tasting menu of his own, with five courses that he enjoyed tremendously. I also did a tasting (heart of Veracruz?) which was a little less expensive than the last time we were at Topolo, so that was nice. Mrs. EdB60035 ordered a la carte which was even nicer, that not everyone was expected to get a tasting menu.

Everything we ate was tasty and well-executed. The lamb (which we ended up with two different ways between Mrs and me) was flawless, and the mole sauce - as usual - heavenly. Mushrooms were heavenly. Sunchokes were raved about. The black cod was omg wonderful. And as intended, the guest of honor enjoyed the occasion.

What went wrong? The server never asked about allergies, and Mrs. EdB is allergic to lobster. What came in the amuse bouche? Lobster. They brought one vegetarian, which was good, but we had to get another one for her. They served our cocktails to each other, which is an amateur mistake. Many of the courses were served without a reminder as to what they were; I still don't think the guest of honor knows what his 4th course was (other than "tasty"). And as we had a birthday, we had hoped for something in honor of the occasion. True enough, the kitchen sent out a dessert, with very bright pink "tortilla chips" and a candle - a few minutes after our other desserts had already been served.

So, no flaws from the kitchen, but some distinct ones in execution. We will go back because of the food, but hope that in the season of Michelin stars, they recognize some opportunities in the front of house.

Family in town and restaurants packed due to the NRA Show, Topolobampo at 9pm were one of the only reservations available. My wife opted for their 3-course, my sister-in-law and husband both got a 5-course, and I opted for their 7 course tasting menu. The current tasting menu theme is Mexico City 1671.

We ordered many, many drinks. Probably too many in hindsight.



Amuse Bouche



Wife&Co. are oyster fiends, so we had to grab a dozen


FRESH - "Portuguese" Rock Hen gunthorp farms rock hen, fresh peas three ways, warm tomato "salsa" (sweet spices, star anise, black pepper, mint, parsley), savory pork picadillo


Ancient - Saffron Rice crispy little "torta" of saffron rice, perfect poached egg, olive-raisin salsa (caperberries, candied pinenuts), pulque sabayon, spanish white anchovies, spicy chiltepin-pinenut salsa


I thought there was a mistake at first -- courses 2-5 had been skipped and we went straight to dessert. I will remember the creaminess of that egg for quite some time.

Soulful - Quail Tartaleta flaky pastry, country farms smoked quail, creamy corn masa "bechamel" (wood-grilled poblano, epazote, roasted chayote), sherry reduction, slivered almond crumble

What's the deal with gold flakes?

Bold - Street Food 1671 pork chicharron braised in pasilla borracha (toasted pasilla chiles, mezcal, garlic), silky black beans, grilled carrot, tangy pasilla compote


Complex - Pork In Clemole roasted gunthorp farms pork shoulder, velvety clemole castellano (ancho, pasilla, nuts, red wine), "puro bellota" iberico ham, clemole bread pudding, charred turnips

We all agreed, this was the dish of the night. That bread pudding was unlike anything I've had before.

Enchanting - Ricotta Fritter, Carrot Ice Cream warm little "doughnut" filled with homemade goat's milk ricotta, caramelized carrot ice cream, nichols farm sweet beet crema, frozen sabay0on, caoca-dusted walnuts


Luxurious - Plantain Ante delicate rice flour cake (namon) layered with aromatic golden plantains, plantain infused brandy caramel, rich house-made crema, coriander crumble, plantain pudding



My wife couldn't finish her dessert so I stepped in
Chocolate Herb Garden chocolate ganache layer cake, bittersweet chocolate-mint mousse, bayless garden hoja santa ice cream, chocolate "twigs," micro greens, flowers



Mignardises


I wasn't wowed by my first meal at Topolobampo, but this time every dish was executed perfectly.

That being said, service was absolutely horrible. It could have been National Restaurant Show blowback, but our dinner started at 9 and I didn't get home until 2am. That's a long time for a 7 course dinner, but a ridiculous time when there's a 3 course going on at the same time. Still, very delicious.