Tortas Frontera

Typical airport mall type overcharging and excessive in price. Just frozen and microwaved taste… go down towards b9 gate there is a mcdonalds at least you know what your getting.

Terminal 1 Tortas Frontera is still good, but there were a few mistakes at my last visit.
Breakfast options include cazuelas (subtitled as bowls), molletes, and yogurt. I said to the cashier, «I would like an egg and mushroom bowl, please.» I’m not sure where or how the communication error occurred, but she said «We only have breakfast, no bowls.» I ordered the fully dressed yogurt instead. But the customer behind me ordered the cazuela. I’m not sure what transpired between the cashier and I – if she thought I wanted a bowl of soup, surely «egg and mushroom» wouldn’t make sense? Plus, for the cazuela, they were out of stock on mushrooms and also out of lids for juices and agua fresca.
That said, my fully dressed Greek yogurt was very good. It features pureed fruit on the bottom, whole milk Greek yogurt, and topped with honey, dried cherries, granola, and pumpkin seeds. Yogurt also has the advantage of being already prepped so you don’t have to wait in line. If you really want to cut down on your line waiting time, you can use the Tortas Fronteras app to order ahead of time (although weirdly the app doesn’t include yogurt).
The seating area is smaller than the other terminal’s Tortas Frontera as well. Next time I’ll head to my preferred T3 location.

I had their egg and mushroom bowl. Surprisingly good particularly on a leg of this red eye and I don’t know which way is up. But the flavors and ingredients were all distinct, and melded into a tasty whole. Sweet potatoes, eggs, mushrooms, arugula and some other goodies. Pretty righteous for airport food.

Well, that was easy. After making it through ORD’s long security lines, my stomach growling, I ran smack dab into two options: McDonald’s or Tortas Frontera. With those choices, I have no idea why anyone would choose the former.
Yes, it took a few minutes to get through the line and a good 15 minutes waiting on my chipotle chicken torta. And yes, the cashier was a little cranky. But the end result was worth it. Tortas Frontera’s food is made to order and the fresh ingredients are exactly what I’m looking for when I travel to avoid feeling gross on my flight.
You might not be able to snag a table here — it gets very crowded. But don’t worry, the food is just as good sitting in front of your departure gate!
The price of my torta wasn’t too bad — around $ 10 or $ 11, if I remember correctly. But the cheapest bottle of water was nearly $ 5. (Airports, man!)
My only other complaint is the amount of paper waste I experienced. I didn’t really need the massive pile of thick, high quality napkins that were shoved into my hand along with my order… I used one of the five and left the rest in a shared space in the airport waiting area. Here’s to hoping someone needed them and that they didn’t just go directly into the trash unused. :(

Love the food and all the flavors that pop in your mouth. that they are located at three areas of the airport, terminal 1 at the B concourse, terminal 3 by the food court and in the international terminal 5.
You could have breakfast, lunch and dinner reading the same exact food.

This is a nice option if you’re looking for something decent to eat at the Airport. The food is pretty fresh and tasty. But I am always starving when I eat between flights, so I wasn’t really satisfied with the amount of food you get, especially for the price! I had a torta and shared an order of chips and salsa. The tortas are $ 10-​$ 12 which isn’t a lot but they are not very big. I was still hungry after that and sitting on a plane for several more hours. It was very tasty though. The chips and salsa order was even less worth the money ($ 3.75). It was a box of chips (caked with salt, but tasty) and two tiny containers of salsa that were only half filled. It was also tasty salsa, but literally about 2 bites full.

I scouted this place out on Unilocal before my flights through O’Hare, so I knew exactly where I wanted to eat! I stopped by on Friday at about 12:30pm. I stood in a short line and ordered a taqueria salad with smoked pork. To my amazement, it was whipped together right then – all the previous orders required cooking – so I had my salad in hand in about two minutes! Keep that in mind if you’re in a hurry: get the food that involves no cooking.
The salad was a good size, especially for airport fare. I was a bit disappointed in the smoked pork because it didn’t seem like much for the $ 4 add-​on charge, but I still loved the salad.
Note that Tortas Frontera is right near security, and that area has a severe lack of seating between the folks getting their shoes on again and the other folks waiting at their assigned gates. You might need to walk a short ways to find a vacant chair.
I went back through O’Hare on Sunday and knew where to get my food again. This time it was about 11am and there was a much longer line. My salad was again assembled fast, but a lot of hot orders came out of the oven, so the server addressed those first. I still had my food in about ten minutes. This time I ordered the taqueria salad with chipotle chicken, and I enjoyed that much more! It had whole breast pieces, cut long, and everything was perfectly seasoned. It had a pleasant kick to it, great flavor – I say that as someone who has a bad reaction to dishes that are HOT-​HOT.
This is probably about the best meal I have had in an airport – it truly stands out among the mediocre fare – and this is a place I would happily dine at if it existed outside of an airport, too. It really deserves the kudos.

COST:
$ 12 (Pepito)
We all know the deal. Airport food is expensive and well, crappy. We expect to pay insane amount of money for something so dull or straight up disgusting. Chicago prides itself as a good culinary town, so I consulted Eater Chicago for the best spots at ORD.
I almost got persuaded by some hotdog chain that came with free fries but I’m glad I made a «trek» back to Terminal 1 Concourse B upon hearing Rick Bayless owns Tortas Frontera.
Even then as I waited for my food, I had reservations that it won’t be as great as everyone says it is. But my god! Was I wrong?!
I ordered the Pepito sandwich which had short ribs, jalapenos and arugula. I usually hate arugula, but this is the only time I remember loving it. The service was fast and yet the food tasted well prepared.
I shall have another when I fly home next month!

Yup, this place gets a 5-​star
Bartenders– entertaining for a 3+ hour layover– tip them well please
Drinks– strong and you can take it TO-​GO! Yes please
Service– fast and friendly
Hype– yup lived up
Food– loaded guacamole freakin amazing, I think the sundried tomatoes and fresh jalapeño did it just right; corn chowder — sweet spicy and light — do they serve it with torta bread on the side? They should!
We enjoyed the MOST the pepito, so good, def get this one, do not pass go, do not collect $ 200, just get the pepito.
Also had the cubana, which was ok, very mustardy and smoked bacony, need to add a bit of pulled pork and winner winner.
So full…

So I went to dinner yesterday evening to a lovely Italian restaurant in downtown Chicago with a couple of chaps I met at the conference I was at, and all one of guys could talk about was how amazing this «Mexican joint» he ate at the previous evening was. He even showed us pictures he took of his food — and I swear, he’s not even a Unilocaler!
So I did what any self respecting Unilocaler does, I looked up all the 4 star plus Mexican restaurants in the area and showed him pictures till he figured out that the establishment he was raving about was the Frontera Grill, by Rick Bayless, of the PBS series — Mexico: One Plate at a Time.
So when I was wandering around O’Hare a couple of hours ago, killing time and getting my steps in while waiting for my delayed flight to SFO, I noticed a long line snaking around blocking my way, and looking up, noticed it was an airport version of Frontera, by the very same Rick Bayless, of the PBS series — Mexico: One Plate at a Time.
Before I could stop myself, I was at the counter, ordering a corn and poblano chowder and a smoked pork Mollete (a warm open faced sandwich).
The chowder was flavorful but a bit cold. It had just the right consistency, but the onions and other finely chopped veggies inside it weren’t to my taste.
The sandwich was sweet but nothing great, until I dipped it in some of the salsa they served it with. And that made all the difference. It went from 3 stars to 5 with that little move — magic!
So just a little taste of Frontera O’Hare has me looking forward to my next trip to Chicago. Rest assured my first evening back in town will find me at the downtown location of the Frontera Grill, by Rick Bayless, of the PBS series — Mexico: One Plate at a Time.

This Latin spot By Rick Bayless is like a food oasis in the airport. It was a great sight to see at 6 am while waiting for a connecting flight. I got the egg and chorizo torta and corn chowder which were both delicious. The egg and bacon torta that someone next to me was chowing down looked pretty good as well. There’s about 4 or 5 tables, which filled up early in the morning. Def worth the price.

Nestled between B10 and B11 in terminal 1, this is my favorite airport eatery in any airports in the entire US. My friends route their flights through Chicago to just hit this restaurant on the way. My colleagues rush to the gate 10 minute before departure just to squeeze an order in at Tortas Frontera.
Everything is delicious, made with care with local ingredients and authentic Mexican flavors. Fantastic value for the things you taste here, to make brilliant food accessible to the mass market.
My favorites are corn and poblano chowder and the molletes (open sandwiches with melted cotija cheese). The chowder is super flavorful with a bit of kick and not too creamy, spicy accents from the poblano pepper. One can taste a slight hint of cotija cheese, along with chunks of tender poblano pepper and little bits of corn. The molletes are definitively different than anything else I have tasted with crusty thin toast on the bottom but generous with tomato sauce and cheese on top — probably much better than pizza to take on the go for the airport crowd without succumbing to a soggy pizza crust. Local ingredients are the key. The sauces and spices are there to enhance the local ingredients which are carefully picked from the local farms and proudly exhibited on the board.
If you want to be Paleo/​healthier, then ask for the chowder and the taqueria salad with chipotle chicken without the tortilla chips. The salad is the opposite of what I experienced in Dallas airport with tasteless leaves and ready-​made luncheon ham slices layered on top. Here crunchy romaine lettuce is sprinkled with radishes with a bit of vinegrette and red onion, topped with pieces of grilled chicken in chipotle sauce. Fresh, quick, simple, on point.
If this is in SF, I would go regularly. And it’s a particular standout among chains of chains of mediocre food with wilting leaves and processed meats at the airport.
One thing to consider: because many menu items are made fresh, ordering can take 10 – 15 minutes. Try to budget this in to not race around the airport like I usually do. If Chef Bayless can optimize the ordering flow at this place, I wouldn’t be surprised if the revenue could jump by 10−15% immediately! (And to make many more people happy on a daily basis…)

Yummy! The I love Rick Bayless and it’s been a long time since I’ve been to one of his restaurants. With time to kill in the airport they have quick and easy order to take out, and seating. Full bar and handpicked ingredients by Rick Bayless I knew I just had to stop. The cojito cheese, pep it’s and sun dried tomatoes topping the guacamole to go is so delicious!

I fly about 100 times a year, and this is the best airport food I’ve found anywhere.
Tortas Fronteras is celebrity chef Rick Bayless’ airport exclusive torta spin-​off. Rick owns several acclaimed Mexican restaurants in Chicago, including Frontera Grill and Topolobampo (considered Obama’s favorite restaurant in Chicago and led to Rick Bayless becoming a serious contender for the White House Chef in 2008). However, this airport rendition more closely represent’s Bayless’ restaurant Xoco, which is the downtown Chicago fast casual torta spot.
Here, Bayless has taken Xoco and brought it to the airport, with some overlap in the recipes and some sandwiches you can only find in the airport. The Chipotle Chicken Torta is one of those airport exclusive sandwiches, and I actually prefer it to anything served at the downtown Xoco spot.
Anyway, enough with the history lesson. The point is, Tortas Fronteras is amazing. Incredible torta sandwiches with fresh ingredients and strong flavors. I will shamelessly admit that when given the choice, I plan my layovers through O’Hare just so I can eat here. It’s that good.
Next time you’re in ORD, skip the McDonald’s next door and grab yourself some food that will blow your mind. (note, it can get crowded, so leave yourself at least 30 minutes to enjoy your food here)

I was elated when I looked up places to eat in Chicago’s airport on Unilocal,and saw Tortas Frontera was right next to my connecting-flight’s gate (score!).
There was a line when I walked up, figured this to be a good girl the heat was stealing sign. I chose the Cubana Torta. Juicy thick slices of pork, several tasty avocado slices. This sucker had some heat on it. But from here, I was somewhat disappointed. Why? Whatever was causing the heat was stealing the show. I got flashes of the pork flavor, but couldn’t have told you it had bacon (where?), black beans (must have been a teaspoon scoop?), or cheese (no sight, here!). The chipotle mustard was must have been the culprit…
I like Latin food. No, really, I LOVE Latin food. But this meal left a lot of fizzled out desire.

Tasty sandwiches.
It takes a little bit for the order to come out, but the food is decent enough to make it worth the wait. I ordered the chipotle chicken sandwich, and I was pleasantly surprised. Flavors were good, and the portions were pretty decent as well. Don’t expect any customer service though… they’re more focused about taking and fulfilling your order and nothing more.

This is my go to spot when I’m hungry at O’Hare. I’m usually there in the early mornings and get the egg and chorizo breakfast tortas. It’s absolutely delicious and definitely very filling. On Sunday I was there in the evening and decided to try the Pepito (ordered without black beans) and it tasted really great as well. I hadn’t eaten all day so I also got an order or guac and chips — equally delicious.
The only thing to note is that the food takes a good 7 – 10 minutes to prepare so if you are in a hurry skip this spot. If you’ve got some time to kill– definitely check it out!
I also wish they had sizes for their beverages and not just 1 tiny size.

Always awesome. Great selection of Tortas with various toppings, and surprisingly great service given the location.
They have a nice selection of salsa with varying heat levels, so ask for something different if the spice level of the salsa that comes with your item is not to your liking.
The TORTILLA SOUP and TORTA PEPITO willing not disappoint… Awesome!

Wow. Did not expect such a yummy sandwich in an airport! I got smoked garlic shrimp ($ 12)
Pros:
Yummy sandwich!
Reasonable price for an airport food. ($ 10 – 12)
Cons:
Can be a long line because it’s popular
There’s nothing more to say. Food was good and my tummy was happy while I was waiting for my connecting flight. Recommended!

Hurray for decent airport food!
Date of Visit: 6÷1÷15
After a bit of research during a long layover at ORD, I settled on Tortas Frontera, mostly due to their killer rating (4* & 700+ reviews). I heard that the lines could be brutal, but I had my food in less than 10 mins, so maybe I got lucky there. I settled on the Pepito (braised beef short rib, Jack cheese, pickled jalapeño, cilantro crema, black beans, arugula), which was fresh and flavorful. I also got a side salad that was haphazardly thrown together and not too fresh, but the torta was enough to warrant 4 stars, as this isn’t a salad shop.
When in ORD, Tortas is a good compromise between sit-​down places and cruddy food court offerings.