Before designs are drawn and menus penned, a restaurant begins as a vision of a place, of smells and tastes. It captures the essence of good times, the sharing of good food, good friends. In the case of ourrestaurant on the corner of Clark and Illinois, it all started in Rick Bayless’ mind. Mulled over, researched, stewed (or better yet braised) away for countless hours. In late 2007 it grew into a project that moved from back burner to front. To get there, Rick put forward a set of strategic goals – the foundation for what he wanted to see in Frontera’s third restaurant on Clark Street.

The Goals: Open in Fall 2008. Build it LEED Certified. Serve quick-to-fix, reasonably priced, gutsy Mexican inspired dishes from a huge wood-burning oven. Use ingredients grown sustainably by local artisan farmers. Be sustainable financially; be sustainable environmentally; reflect sustainability in our community. And because we all love chocolate so much, produce our own Mexican-style chocolate ground fresh from Mexican cacao beans. In short, Rick wanted this place to carry on the mission he and the Frontera Team have fostered on Clark Street for 22 years.

Now Fall 2008 has passed by, but the rest of the goals are on track... July 2009 is the new timeframe. And we are on target. Demo just started today