Tortas Frontera

I would have given this five stars (for having one of my favorite eateries inT5), but taking half an hour to make a taqueria salad? The take out section had three people waiting to pick up their orders as I was placing mine… all three got their orders and the three people who ordered after me got theirs as well. I actually had to ask the guy behind the counter if my order was still being made… he nodded affirmatively after looking around a bit. The order was completed, but the guy handing me my order stated that it was missing the tortilla strips, and that he would go get some… at this point I couldn’t care anymore… during the time my order was in holding pattern, there was a very vocal back-​and-​forth between the guy tending the bar portion and the guys at the carry out side — very disconcerting.

This is my first ever bad review. Poor service ever possible. When we waited to be seated, the staff asked if we need a table or the bar. I asked for a table and then ordered a drink. The waitress rudely replied that I can’t just order drinks on the table and I need to be seated at bar if I want just drinks. There was no clear sign or instruction from the staff which stated that. The worst part was that I was never asked if I wanted something else, but was given the check right away and was expected to pay up. A better service is expected in an international terminal.

ok, I love Rick Bayless and I love Frontera’s food. But the Tortas Frontera at the International Terminal 5 ruined my experience with their RUDE waitstaff in the bar area. As we ordered our food to go, we then decided to eat at the bar. There are no signs saying that’s not allowed, but there are extremely angry wait-​staff who slam menu’s on the table and yell behind your back that the seating area is only for full service and bar orders. Seriously people, it’s an airport… how formal does it need to be… Anyway, If Rick Bayless wants to give me complementary dinner at Frontera in Chicago I’ll forgive his rude employees…

Although I got the wrong breakfast bowl, it was amazing. The habanero salsa is real. Do not dump it on your food until you try it… Holy mother of God. It’s hot…

Whether waiting for a flight or suffering through a long layover, do yourself a favor and indulge in one of Tortas Frontera’s excellent Mexican meals. Each torta (sandwich) or bowl (cazuela) costs about $ 10, and there are plenty of fresh, filling options for vegetarians and meat-​lovers alike. Stuck in the airport realllllly long? Go all-​out and customize your order at the guacamole bar.

Basically, Tortas Fronteras is the best part of O’Hare. It’s the ONE thing I know will be good about any visit to ORD because for sure my flight will be delayed, there won’t be TP in the bathrooms and the security line will stretch into the next century.
So imagine my delight when I found that there is now a location in Terminal 5 so international travelers can enjoy Rick Bayless’ tasty sandwiches, along with the last ice they’ll see for a week or so. Because airline food is nasty (and believe me, LOT air takes that to a whole new level) why not stop here and fuel up before your flight?
I had my beloved choriqueso sandwich and the Mister settled on a Cuban. Because they make everything to order, it’ll take a few minutes but you’re worth it. The person working the register was super friendly and even fronted us some free chips. Yay for Tortas Fronteras!

Egg and chorizo breakfast sandwich is the best. I go it of my way to get breakfast here when I fly in/​through ORD

I made a point of trekking over to Tortas Frontera during a particularly long layover at ORD. As a Rick Bayless fan, my expectations – somewhere between «incredible» and «revolutionizing airport cuisine forever” – were probably unrealistic. Overall, I thought the food was barely passable and the service did the best they could under the circumstances. I am, however, in no rush to return, and one may be just as well-​served hitting any average sit-​down airport eatery – there is no getting out from under the pall cast over O’Hare cuisine.
The Tortilla Soup was actually first served to me missing the tortilla strips, but even with the tortillas, the final product was watery with a very weak flavor package carried almost entirely by a little bit of cilantro. The Albondigas Torta was a little better – probably most analogous to a meatball sub. The smokiness from the roasted tomato sauce was appreciated.
Service was very helpful – the server noticed I had a bottle of water and asked if I wanted a glass of ice to go with it. Ambiance, on the other hand, is about par for the course for an airport eatery – complete with views of travelers meandering about the concourse, and obnoxious families with screaming kids and blaring iPads, asking the poor server for a chicken quesadilla. Pro tip to my fellow restaurant patrons: This isn’t Taco Bell.

Yummy Albondigas Cazuela and a Pacifico at this Rick Bayless Mexican restaurant. Pleasantly surprised. Staff was friendly. Now I need to hunt down one of his regular restaurants.

Good grief Rick Bayless. Do not associate yourself with a substandard experience. Wanted to order at 7:50 but lazy boys at the grill had shut it down. And THEN were rude and inflammatory about it. Very sweet girl trying to take the order. Hello. This is an international terminal where planes depart later. I would improve it or shut it down. Your brand will suffer because of it if it continues the way it is.

Super rude wait staff at the dine-​in area. We ordered from their carry out, and they then wouldn’t allow us to sit in the frontera seating area. The staff got pretty salty after we mentioned we ordered carry out.

This place was awesome! Wife and I both loved it. Worth every penny. Clearly high quality ingredients which made all the difference. Highly recommended!!!

One star might seem a little harsh, but I am 99% sure my husband’s credit card information was stolen here, and it was a serious inconvenience when we found out his bank had shut the card down as we arrived overseas. He hadn’t used his card for the past several days at home and this was the only place he used his card in Chicago/O’Hare. The next day as we arrived, he was alerted to huge charges from a Chicago jewelry store– coincidence? I don’t think so.
Aside from that, I would give it three stars. The food was as mediocre as the service (we were waiting out a 4 hour layover so the food taking forever didn’t really affect us). The rice dishes we ordered were filling, however the pumpkin seed dip was bland and not worth the money. Additionally, as I mentioned it took quite some time to get our waitress’ attention and then get our food.
Both my husband and I travel through Terminal 5 regularly and won’t be returning to this place.

Tortas here are really good, but the wait is out of this world.
They do have a new app that you can be savvy and download and pre-​order your food so it’s ready when you get to the terminal, but I feel like that’s only if you’ve had food here a few times and you know what you want and exactly when you’ll be arriving.
Could use some work with speed here– maybe more staff would help?

I had the mushroom torta and didnt enjoy it at all. On the outside it looked great but it was so simple. But you cant expect much from airport food.

The food was great. We thought we had a great experience until I realized, a couple of days later, that my credit card information was stolen at that location and then used in several Chicago area shopping excursions.
Based on my experience, I would recommend paying with cash.

The thing I love about Tortas Frontera within O’Hare Airport is the fact you can get a table and enjoy the great food. It’s in the Airport — so the service you get here, versus the regular brick and mortar stores in the city will be worlds apart.
The food was fresh, delicious and way better than eating at a traditional food court at the Airport. The bartender that served me was very helpful and friendly. It is certainly on the higher end pricing wise– but well worth the cost.
Reccomended.

Uhhhh… I feel like a blasphemer, giving anything attached to the Rick Bayless monicker less than 5 stars, but Tortas Frontera… Yikes. Frontera Grill, you are not.
We had about 45 mins before our flight began boarding and we figured that would be plenty of time to eat at an airport restaurant with a limited menu and a staff that understands all of its patrons will be extremely strapped for time.
Nope.
The service here is not good. It is flippant, unknowledgeable, young, confused, slow, and borderline rude. We advised our server we were pressed for time, and she barely acknowledged it. We wanted to order our drinks and our meals all at once to save time, but our server walked away from us before we could. We had to call her back to our table because she continued to wander away as we tried desperately to order.
Drinks came after food. Food tasted as though it had been prepared and sitting under a heat lamp. Chewy bread and gloppy cheese adorned my torta. We heard them call our flight to begin boarding, and asked for the check. They called again for us to board, and we asked AGAIN for the check. They began making final calls for boarding, and we finally stood at the little bar and begged for the check so we could catch our flight. Despite asking for separate checks as the first words out of our mouth, our server forgot and then slowly, deliberately, mindlessly wandered over to a manager and called back to us «sorry, he’s like, the only one who can do it.» I finally flung my credit card at her and asked her to please just put the whole thing on my card so we could leave. We were very clearly rushed and dare I say, a little panicked, but she didn’t move faster once. We ran to our flight and made it just in the knick of time.
Never again.

All tortas are not created equal. Even if they’re from the same Chicago machine known as Rick Bayless. I loved my meal at XOCO, and at TF at Terminal 3, but this location in the International Terminal was just so-​so.
This time around I ordered the Cochinita Pibil Torta – Yucatan pulled pork, black beans, pickled red onions, roasted habanero salsa. The sandwich was good and flavors were wonderful, but there wasn’t much of it. The bread to filling ratio was off and I found myself saying «where’s the pork?» And the bread, I know it usually has more chew to it than the traditional torta bread, was a little hard and tough.
This location also seemed to be out of every agua fresca flavor – maybe because it was Monday afternoon? The wait for the torta was less than 10 minutes and service was friendly.
Nice that they have this food option in this terminal.

Foot airport food which is extremely limited at this terminal, Tortas rates highly. The table service was fairly swift and the food was seasoned well and had bags of flavour. All in all a great little place to have a bite between flights
Food ⁷⁄₁₀ service 6.5÷10 décor ⁷⁄₁₀