Frontera Grill

Frontera Grill at 445 N Clark Street in River North is chef Rick Bayless's long-running regional Mexican restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the best-known Mexican dining rooms in the United States. Bayless and his team built the menu around the regional cooking of Mexico rather than the Tex-Mex style common in American restaurants, with dishes drawn from areas such as Oaxaca, Yucatan and Puebla, and the restaurant is credited with helping bring that approach to a wide American audience. Signature dishes include tacos al carbon, grilled meat tacos served with warm tortillas, a range of regional moles, which are complex sauces built from chilies, nuts, spices and chocolate, and fresh guacamole made to order. The beverage programme leans on mezcal, tequila and margaritas, with a bar that is a destination in its own right, and non-alcoholic agua fresca options are also on offer. The dining room is colorful and loud, decorated with Mexican folk art, and has an energy suited to groups and celebrations; there is no dress code. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Monday, with weekend hours starting earlier in the morning for brunch-style service on Saturday and Sunday. Weekday lunch runs 11:30AM to 2PM, and dinner is from 4:30PM or 4PM until 9PM or 10PM depending on the day. Reservations are recommended and can be made through OpenTable or Resy, and weekend dinner is the hardest slot to secure, so travellers should book well in advance; the bar area offers some walk-in seating when the dining room is full. Prices are upper-moderate for downtown Chicago, with entrees and drinks adding up quickly. The restaurant sits next to its sister restaurant Topolobampo, which offers a more formal, tasting-menu focused experience. The River North location is walkable from the Magnificent Mile and the Chicago Riverwalk, making it an easy pairing with other downtown sightseeing.