Frontera Fresco

As someone allergic to beans, I was served a sandwich that does not have beans listed as an ingredient on their menu but still came with beans. I ate half the torta before realizing I was having symptoms of an allergic reaction. When I told the supervisor, she showed me their little recipe sheet they train their staff with and it listed beans. I cannot believe a franchise of this caliber has such a huge error in marketing and relaying their ingredients correctly to the consumer via their menu. Especially for the premium price at over $ 14 for a drink and torta, I am very displeased/​have no trust for them. I would not recommend wasting your money here… especially if you have allergies.

This restaurant as a whole deserves more than a 2.5 star rating. I’m really surprised! I had the cochita pibil torta (kind of like a Mexican sandwich) which was absolutely delicious. There was plenty of marinated braised pork in the sandwich and the bread to sandwich ratio was really good (I hate it when my sandwich is too bread-​y). The acidity of the pickled onions broke up the pork and it came with a very spicy habanero sauce. I like heat, but this is on a whole other level. I should have tried it before I doused my sandwich in it, but lesson learned. My lips will be tingly for the next hour or two.
I thought my torta was excellent, but if you’re split between a couple of options, you can actually go halvesies with a friend since they cut the sandwich in two so you can sample more of the menu. The hot stuff takes longer to cook, so be prepared to wait 5 – 10 minutes.
One star reduction because the customer service is not great. My friend’s quesadilla came with onions when she asked for them to be excluded. When she went to ask to get it corrected, the employee behind the counter seemed annoyed and gave her attitude to the restaurant’s mistake. She eventually got a new order sans onions, but it took a while to get done.

Pretty good option in Norris, but I only ever ate there when I had a meal plan. While the food is good, it’s too expensive for what it is; tortas are about $ 9, and most items are at least $ 7 or $ 8.
My favorite is the steak torta, because of the meat and avocado (yum) but it can be a little too salty sometimes; it’s kinda hit or miss.

Quite awful considering the potential. The food itself is of high quality for a university campus when prepared well. The issue is that I find the food is often prepared very poorly. Portion sizes of my orders have varied wildly, as has the quality of preparation of the meats. The worst part about this restaurant is undoubtedly the abysmally slow service. I blame it on the operation itself. All of the food served at Frontera Fresco is traditional Mexican street food (tortas, tacos, etc.). All a taco is, for example, is a tortilla, some meat, and a couple garnishes. In Mexico, this type of food is handed to you almost as quickly as you can order it. As a result, it is beyond me how a torta can take 15 – 20 minutes to prepare at Frontera Fresco when there is an army of employees working back there. One last point: price. The food is a rip-​off. It pains me to pay $ 8 for a modestly-​sized torta. You can get a bigger and better one at Aguas Tortas for $ 6… and that way you’d be supporting a local business owner.

To Danny: there is zero excuse for rude remarks but testing any restaurant in its first week is always risky. Opening a frontera is not cookie cutter like opening a McDonalds. I think this is the first one on a campus and so even with the experience of opening other outlets my guess is that this is different. I suggest you give it another try after the Christmas break when the staff is more settled and the newness has subsided a bit. I would have given anything for great food at my college! :)

Dear Mr. Bayless, I was looking forward to finally tasting your food after watching you on TV about your passion and philosophy on food.
The long slow line made it apparent why the rating was low at this location but I was hopeful the food would make up for it. I ordered a couple of pibil tacos without cheese. I asked if there was avocado and was incorrectly told yes. There sauce was so spicy and without the creamy balance of cheese or avocado, it was just virtually inedible. I love spicy food but all I could taste was hot sauce. I was better off just chugging Cholula. We also got an order of guacamole. Now I understand why students say the food expensive. The portion was less than ½ the cup it came in. Why not save yourself some embarrassment and use a smaller cup.
Overall, sheer disappointment. I really thought you would be better than this.
Sincerely, Still hungry.

First off, the food here is good. Not awesome, but for a lunch place in a university student center, it ranks pretty high. What’s not awesome is everything else. For one, unless you’re there at 10 in the morning, there’s going to be a line. It’s going to be long, and you’re going to be standing in it for a while. When this place first opened up, I thought the long line was because of the novelty of it, and that after a couple of months it would go down to something reasonable, but no such luck. The line is set up such that if you want guacamole (which is delicious, but really expensive), you have to order it before you order everything else. This doesn’t sound like it should be a big issue, but it actually holds up the line quite a bit. If you order something other than guacamole, you’re going to be given a pager, and it’s going to take 10 – 15 for your food to get made. The price of the food would be reasonable if this were a casual sit-​down restaurant, but it’s set up as a fast food place, which makes their food very overpriced.
The area that Frontera Fresco now occupies used to have a crêpe place, a sushi place, a smoothie place, and a Sbarro’s. All were fast and cheap. They’ve now been replaced by one Mexican place that is slow and expensive. I realize this last part isn’t Frontera Fresco’s fault, but every time I go there I’m reminded that the food court used to be so much better.

I’m a bit torn on this one; for taste/​food quality– 4 stars. For service– 0 stars. Settling on two stars. I still come here occasionally, but I’d rather drive to Old Orchard on a weekend and deal with parking there than the extremely rude service at this location. For anyone who has ever tried to park at Old Orchard during a peak time knows that this is a pretty bold statement. I am not a student; I have a well-​paid, professional job and have no problem paying for good food.
The menu is full of delicious items– seriously, you can’t go wrong no matter what you choose. There used to be an issue with extremely long lines, but as time goes on, the atrocious service has driven away the vast majority of customers. Every single person who works here is rude, curt, and pretty unprofessional. I don’t have very high standards for service at a fast food restaurant, but this is pretty bad. You will be ignored, spoken down to, wait 30 minutes for a salad or other simple item, and possibly be given the incorrect item. The manager will never compensate you in any way for this, so be prepared. (As in, if they forget your order or give it to the wrong person, you will not be offered a drink or even a side of chips). I still come here sometimes since I like the food so much, but wouldn’t go out of my way to go to this location.
Students avoid this because of the price, staff/​faculty because of the service. Part of it has already been repossessed to become Dunkin’ Donuts, and I give it no more than a year before they repossess more of it or closes it completely. I’ll be sad this isn’t an option when I’m too lazy to pack a lunch, but it’s probably better for the brand if this disappears into the abyss.

Don’t let the disgruntled NU students influence you. Rick Bayless knows how to make tacos and tortas. The guacamole is also great. You can add ingredients like freshly chopped chilies, even sun dried tomatoes. I also like the huaraches.
So why are the reviews so low for this place (check out the reviews for the same restaurant in Old Orchard. In fact, this is basically a scaled back version of Bayless’ famous sandwich shop on Clark St., Xoco). The NU students, understandably, can’t afford to spend this much for very good Mexican food. If Taco Bell is what you are used to and more in your price range, you won’t appreciate Frontero Fresco.
If you check out the reviews, you will see that most of the poor reviews are related to: 1) the price; 2) the location in NU’s student cafeteria (a.k.a. the Norris Center); and 3) the crowds of students.
If you happen to be on NU’s campus or are within walking distance, forget the ambiance and get yourself some good Mexican street food.

I was very excited to have this Rick Bayless location at Northwestern but I cannot begin to explain how disappointed I was. Frontera Fresco could be a whole lot better if some of the kinks were worked out. Perhaps all of the issues stem from it being located in Norris rather than being a stand alone building in Evanston? I am not sure.
Firstly, the food was plain awful. Definitely not something I would expect Rick Bayless to approve. I had shrimp tacos. Literally 4 shrimp with some cilantro on a corn tortilla. I cannot believe I let myself pay money for that. Also, you’re only allowed 1 minuscule container of salsa. The prices for food is extremely unjustifiable.
Finally, the staff were extremely rude! They were ignorant of the menu (which is simple and right behind them). I’ve witnessed them being very unwillingly to accommodate dietary needs of other customers.
Overall, this is a poor excuse for a restaurant by such a renowned chef. I wouldn’t waste my money here. But for some reason my fellow undergrads vehemently disagree with me. I guess you must try it for yourself.

I really like the tacos here, especially the shrimp one and the mushroom one; I get them as a snack occasionally. Chorizo was okay at best. The salsas and guacamole are good, but not amazing. I think this place is expensive for the portion, the wait is long and service is meh, but it is tasty and convenient for NU students.

Did I just pay $ 8 for a tiny chorizo quesadilla?! Did I just leave a restaurant after dropping $ 30 for 2 people, still hungry?!
I really do like Rick Bayless and love Xoco, but Frontera Fresco is a poor excuse for his restaurants downtown. The food tasted alright but it could’ve been better.
Considering the average entrée costs $ 8 and above but the portion size is smaller than tapas I would’ve expected tons of flavor in every bite, but I just tasted cheese.
Won’t spend my money here again. Now I’ve got to go home and make a sandwich because I’m still hungry…

I’m surprised by the rating for this Frontera Fresco. I’m not, however, a student at Northwestern so I don’t know what this location is usually like on a school day. With that said, I didn’t think that the service was particularly slow and I really enjoyed my pepito torta. See my photo for reference.
My boyfriend happens to be a graduate student at Northwestern so I sometimes come here to hang out with him on weekends while he studies. He ordered some chips and guacamole for $ 3.00. I thought it was expensive, considering how much they give you. It’s a tiny little bag with a small container of guac. Really? That little amount for $ 3.00? I felt like they ripped him off, but whatever. The guac was good, but it wasn’t $ 3.00 good. My ex-​roommate made better guac.
Luckily, I didn’t feel ripped off about my nearly $ 8 sandwich. I ordered the pepito torta. It was packed with juicy, braised shortribs, caramelized onion, fresh arugula, pepper jack cheese, black beans, and pickled jalapenos. Yum! The sandwich had just the right amount of juice to keep me coming back. Kenny O. probably only got two bites of this sandwich because I was so incredibly hungry and the sandwich was so incredibly good. I’d come back just to order this.

This place is terrible. Not so much the food, but the service. I came here when it first opened, when service was extremely slow, and I assumed it would get better as time passed. I came back two months ago. Better service, food was okay. I’m not a big fan of the actual taco. Guac and chips were always good. However, I went today and I was in a hurry so I wanted guac and chips to go. I asked for no onions. After a few minutes of slowly assembling my order while chitchatting and laughing with her colleagues, the lady puts onions on my guac and I have to wait for her to redo my order. This time, instead of guacamole, I get 3 huge pieces of avocado together with maybe two tablespoons of actual edible guac. I hope Rick Bayless sees this and notices that the Frontera in Northwestern is not on par with his other restaurants and does something about it. The chains at O’Hare are so much better…

Do not go here during regular lunch hours, I repeat do not go here during regular lunch hours. If you do happen to go during this time of day you will be welcomed by a snaking line of undergrads who stand too close to you and run into you with their huge backpacks.
While this place seems to still be working out a few kinks in their service line, the food, once you get it, is pretty tasty! I have had both the mushroom quesadilla and the short rib torta. Both were very good, albeit a little on the expensive side especially for a university eatery. I would definitely go back, but not anytime between the 12 – 2 lunch hour.

I finally got myself to go to Northwestern’s long running B movie festival and the theater that host the festival is inside pretty much what I call the student Union of Northwestern’s campus. Since where we literally get locked into the building until the next day I thought I would get dinner in their cafeteria. Turns out Frontera pretty much took over all the cafeteria space. The other option was the snack shop that had hot pizza and appetizers along with snacks like chips, candies and sodas. Knowing that I already had a bad experience with Frontera Fresco I decided to give them another chance. Unfortunately the food has disappointed me once again. I decided to try their Milanesa Torta along with a side order of guac and chips. The guac and chips were very good straight up, normally its not that hard to screw up guac but the guac was fresh and tasty, it wasn’t the best I had but it was fine. It came with two sides of their version of green and red chili salsa’s. I“m sorry to report that both sauces were bland and pretty dull. They didn’t have a kick or any flavors that stood out. I had better salsa’s at local Mexican grocery stores that give out for free. As for the torta, it was by far the worst torta I have ever had and at a cost of 8.95 $ it was a tragedy. The sandwich included breaded steak, Chihuahua cheese, cilantro, chimichurri, poblano rajas, black beans, wild argula and avocado. I couldn’t even taste the rajas, and the chimichurri overwhelmed everything else. I have had tortas made on a street cart that were way tastier for a hell of a lot less money. Even the bread wasn’t your typical bolillo or telera bread it was almost like bread you would use for a panini and it was built like a panini.
When you order your sandwich they give you a pager to let you know when your food is ready. Well I waited almost 20 minutes for my torta. Why does a simple sandwich take so long its not that complicated?
For paying over 14 $ for my meal I expect way more for such a respected brand.

OM NOM NOM NOM.
As someone who works in the area, I am crazy excited to have Frontera Fresco at Northwestern. I am now within walking distance of some of the best Mexican food in all of Chicagoland. I have heard that when this Frontera first opened a couple months ago, there were some service issues. On my recent visit, however, I did not experience any issues. There was no wait at all, and my food was ready within minutes. It could be that maybe I went at a slower time in the day (1:30pm), but I’m also hoping that all their original problems have been worked out, and we are left with just the good stuff. As it stands, my tamale and tortilla soup were simply amazing.
Anyway, the details. This restaurant is in fact located on Northwestern’s campus. It is not easy to get to via car, and unless you have a Northwestern parking pass or guest pass you’re probably not going to be able to find easy parking. The location is in the basement of the Norris Center, so you’re basically eating alongside the diners at the NU cafeteria. Frontera replaced a Sbarro, Jamba Juice, and crepes place. I was a little sad to lose Jamba but the other two places are not missed. If you go during a peak time it may be difficult to find a table because of the cafeteria eaters, and also people that are just studying or whatever. They do, however, have a long wall with a counter where you can stand and eat if you so desire. Or just take it to go and eat outside when the weather gets nicer.
As for the food, it is the exact same menu as the Frontera Fresco that you’d find in downtown Chicago. I’ve only been to this location once so far, but the food seems to taste exactly the same, so there doesn’t appear to be any loss of quality here. Unfortunately, even though this is on a college campus, the prices are also the same as the downtown location, so you’re looking at spending well over $ 10 for a full meal with a drink. But if you can absorb that, get ready for some amazing food, right on Northwestern’s campus.
Also, you may want to check the Norris Center website before you go to make sure the place is actually going to be open. There seems to be an occasional break in the service. For example, the website currently lists breakfast from 8am-10:15am, lunch from 11am-2:30pm, and then dinner from 3:30pm-7pm, with a «limited hot food menu» from 7pm-​10pm. I am also not sure if the location will be open during school breaks, summer, etc. Might want to double check if you are making a special trek.

KAY FIRST THINGS FIRST. SAWCES.
salsa was meh passable. green salsa was eh… poop.
and then i got to the guacamole… THERE WE GO: D thats what im talking about.
couples of the chips were glazed with salt and it looked like there was a crystal field on them. i stayed away from them and ate the normal looking ones.
the tacos though. oh my. that short rib taco was so good
the sawce on the beef was great and omg so peaceful.
everything on that tortilla worked together to make a nice symphony in my mouth.
the shrimp taco was pretty good too with some lemon-​y stuff but short rib was better
now to the dessert. that shit was weird
i got the bacon cashew caramel vanilla ice cream thing
idk why but it tasted like plastic-​y like candy corn or something. actually i dont remember what candy corn tastes like so dont listen to me. idk it was weird but i finished it so i guess it was good enough for me!
the ice cream isnt the typical vanilla ice cream and it was unique. try it for yourself since idk wtf im saying anymore
⁴⁄₅ for pretty good tacos and guacamole

I was so, so excited to eat at Frontera Fresco, having eaten at all of Rick Bayless’s restaurants throughout Chicago, and being used to friendly professional service, and of course amazing, authentic Mexican food. But, unfortunately, Frontera Fresco at Northwestern so far, in its first several days, has fallen short. Honestly, my complaint isn’t as much about the food (which is good) but the service, which I have found extremely lacking. In general it has been curt, dry, and at times even rude. I was shocked, and deeply saddened when, waiting for the restaurant to open today (they are running about two hours late), one of the lead chefs said to his colleague,
«Dont worry that we’re late, these spoiled little rich kids will just have to wait.»
I’m not kidding — this was actually said. At Northwestern. In ear shot of customers. In case anyone in the restaurant is unclear, Northwestern actually is much larger than it’s undergraduate population — some of the graduate students are not spoiled, rich, or kids, but instead work extremely hard just to get by. (Note: the vast majority of NU undergrads cannot be accurately described in this way either.) If this is the attitude that Frontera is bringing to Northwestern, then I personally have no use for them. Ugh!