Disappointing #2

I've decided to bite the bullet and write a second negative restaurant review (here's my first). This meal was particularly disappointing, since it was part of our anniversary weekend in Chicago. Thankfully there were several other culinary experiences that saved the weekend.

On Saturday evening, after a less-than-enjoyable afternoon at the Field Museum, we got all dolled up and walked to Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, winner of a 2007 James Beard Foundation award.

My first issue with Frontera is that they don't accept reservations. I understand that once a place gets famous (via Food Network, PBS, etc.), the owner wants locals to still be able to come and eat without getting totally shut out by the reservation process. But when you walk in at 6:30pm and are told that your wait will be three hours, there's something wrong.

Still, we had it on good authority that this place was ah-maz-ing and would be worth whatever wait we had to endure. So we found a place to stand at the bar (all the seats were taken) and began our three-hour wait. Thankfully a couple at a side counter were taken to their table about half an hour after we arrived, so we were able to grab their seats.

We finally flagged down a bar waiter to take our drink orders. Upon his return (20 minutes later), he asked if we'd like to order food. Appetizers, right? we asked. No, he said, we could actually order dinner there, if we'd like. Great! Our three-hour wait just got cut in half.

What I Ate:

• for the table - corn chips with guacamole, chipotle salsa, & tomatillo salsa
• appetizer - Flautas de Camarones: crispy taquitos filled with wild Mazaltan shrimp, Prairie Farms goat cheese, poblano chile, and sundried tomatoes, served with roasted tomatillo sauce and frisee-watercress salad
• entree - Trucha al Guajillo: crispy guajillo-marinated Rushing Waters trout with quajillo-lime salsa, served with garlic-poached fingerling potatoes and Three Sister Garden "shoots" salad
• drink #1 - Topolo Margarita: Sauza Conmemorativo tequila, Gran Torres liquer and housemade limonada, shaked at the table
• drink #2 - Vampiro Fronterizo: El Milagro Silver tequila and Maraca bloody Mary mix, spiked with fresh lime juice - this drink was so tart & strong (read: disgusting) that I almost couldn't finish it

It all sounds so good, right? Well, the dishes just weren't as flavorful as the menu descriptions made them out to be. And Topher's entree wasn't hot; it was barely lukewarm. And imagine trying to balance on a bar stool to eat while being elbowed in the back by people trying to get to the bar - fun times. Apparently we're not the only ones who have had a subpar experience here, either.

Another tip: don't order the Trago Bravo (100% Blue Agave Silver tequila with spicy sangrita chaser and serrano chile) - it's downright painful.

Bottom line: For the money, and for all the hype, we expected much better. Mediocre food + poor service = disappointing.