Topolobampo — Restaurant in Chicago

Some might now chef Rick Bayless from his series on PBS. In order to conjure up that memory you would have to reach way back to 1979, six years before my birth. You also may know him as the brother of ESPN announcer Skip Bayless. Others might know him as the very first winner of Top Chef Masters, also how I remember him. He went into that season and is portrayed as an underdog that rallies in order to win with his pedestrian Mexican dishes. We all want that which is comforting. I must admit it is hard for me to think of Mexican cuisine as something to be bought to a fine dining level. Once you taste the food here, you will be a believer.

It was my first time at Topolobampo since Restaurant Week a year earlier, and I wish I would have went more often. In the meantime, my fix for Bayless dishes has been satisfied by eating at Tortas Frontera in the Chicago O'Hare airport. If you ever fly through O'Hare, it is a good place to stop in for a quick bite before your flight leaves. I often stop there if I have bags to claim on the way back as it gives just enough time for the bags to start at the baggage claim carousel.

Dinner at Topolobampo is definitely a classy white tablecloth fine dining experience. The octagonal brown floor tiles break through any since of pompousness that may be present and bring things back down to earth. Combine that with the beautiful low hanging blue lights and comfortable booths and you feel as comforted as some of the amazing dishes you will eat.

You would be remised to come all this way and not enjoy one of the signature Margaritas. I went for the Blood Orange Margarita. They are shaken for you tableside. These drinks are dangerous as you taste the sweetness of the blood orange with a little tanginess from the lime juice and subtle floral notes from the tequila. All in all a pretty awesome drink.

Guacamole and chips, take the place of the bread and butter here. Their Guacamole (Capital G used on purpose because Bayless' guac is so good that should be referred to as a proper noun) is the best I've ever tasted. If a place like Topolobampo seems a little out of your price range, you can also try this dish at Tortra Frontera, or at the neighboring (and much cheaper) restaurant Xoco.

The restaurant week menu started off with Beet Salad. It was pretty tasty, and you had the yummy bit of peanut oil. To be honest though the beet salad at Aria was a little bit better, but not by much. I also found the orange in the salad slightly too bitter. I added in the Soupa Azteca between the appetizer and main course. It is essentially a Chicken tortilla soup so good that in the middle of a Michelin star restaurant, you have to use tons of restraint in order to prevent yourself from picking up the bowl and licking up the tasty broth. The elegantly plated thin strips of crispy tortilla along with tender chicken get the wonderful earthy broth poured over them tableside from a beautiful copper saucepan. One stir and you can scoop up a bit gooey melted cheese at the bottom with each bite. (A similar soup is also served at Tortas Frontera, but I've had it and it is great but not quite as good)

The main course was pork shoulder. It was served with this tasty earthy black bean sauce. The dish also had corn tortillas. I'm not a fan of corn tortillas at all to be honest, but Rick Bayless is kind of like the Godfather of Mexican cooking, constantly making you offers that you can't refuse. The tortillas are light and don't have that heavy, overpoweringly strong corn taste to them. For dessert you get these very rich and buttery crepes, served with a nice sweet...

You will find this Michelin star rated restaurant located on the corner of Clark and Illinois - smack dab in the middle of River North surrounded by an array of bars/restaurants to spend your time imbibing and/or indulging in a nice meal.

Considering Topolobampo has been at the top of its tier for nearly three decades (just recently receiving the James Beard Award for "Outstanding Restaurant" because of this and other factors), their operation is effortless, it is foolproof, it is concrete, and your stomach [and wallets] will appreciate this fact.

Aesthetically, Topolobampo provides just the right mix of class and casual. Plush leather booth seating, stark white table cloths, fine glass and dinnerware are juxtaposed against playful pieces of artwork and a playlist serving up tunes to brighten the mood and set the tone of the meal.

While the tasting menu would be the advised route to take when ordering (to receive the full extent and range of Chef Bayless' cuisine), do not hesitate to opt for a la carte options if you seek a budget friendly meal.

I visited for lunch - opting for their prix fixe menu which includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. I did add an additional appetizer - unsure if the lunch portion sizes would satiate my [greedy] appetite. I assure you, ordering the additional appetizer was not necessary (although I am still thankful I chose to do so).

The guacamole and made-to-order tortilla chips were served first. Beautifully plated, this appetizer was just what I wanted and expected. The chips were still hot and definitely made in house (next door at Frontera - another Bayless restaurant) and the guacamole was smooth, zesty, thick, and had just the right amount of surprise bits of avocado. The radishes on top were a nice touch.

Next came the classic ceviche. This is the best ceviche you will have in Chicago. The tuna was uber fresh, plump, not at all mushy and had the perfect amount of bite. FLAVOR! The ceviche was cirtrusy, zingy, even a tad sweet, and had a notable trace of spiciness in the afterthought of each bite. The tortilla chips holding the ceviche were super crunchy, crucial when needing to withstand the juices of the ceviche itself.

My server recommended the carne asada served medium rare. I went with it. The mole sauce, she mentioned, is slowcooked for days before being plated. Understanding that steak is actually my favorite food item - choosing this dish was a no brainer. And, again, it also did not disappoint. The steak was cooked impeccably well (no juice bled when cut), and that mole sauce...divine. I mixed the greens accompanying the dish with the steak and created mini tacos thanks to the soft tortilla shells that also accompanied the dish. 5 stars.

Finally, the brownie sundae. My only complaint is that there was simply not enough brownie - which saddened me because it was decadent beyond words. The ice cream component was bursting with real vanilla flavor and smoky chocolate accords due to the Mexican chocolate used for the cream. The fresh whipped cream mixed with the cajeta sauce and the sprinkles balanced the density of the brownie and ice cream. Somewhere in this dish there was a banana component, although its physical appearance was not present. Each bite made you feel like you were just whisked away on the beach in Playa del Carmen.

Overall Topolobampo is an experience. One that you should not miss when visiting Chicago. Take advantage of this...

Our dinner here (with the seven course “Flavors of Merced Market” menu) was definitely an interesting experience.

Pros: Service was very attentive The restaurant itself is beautiful inside, and we felt the ambiance was pleasant. The table/seating itself was very comfortable, which isn’t always the case at most restaurants. I appreciated the bold flavors and interesting culinary juxtapositions present in some of the dishes. Many of the dishes were quite memorable, and a couple were outstanding. I think the goal of a lot of the courses was to present specific bold flavors in interesting ways, and when they successfully accomplished that, the results were terrific.

Cons: The execution of the dishes seemed uneven. A few of the courses were simply outstanding; however, some were just decent, and a couple were bland/forgettable. I feel they would do better to focus on executing a smaller number of dishes really well, rather than trying to turn out seven courses of varying quality. I would characterize some of the courses as being “failed experiments”. While I appreciate that the chefs were taking chances and being edgy with their flavor juxtapositions, there were too many situations where various flavors just didn’t meld well. Most of the dishes involved one or more bold flavors, presented in a way that was often interesting; however, beyond that one specific flavor, the rest of the dish sometimes didn’t support that flavor well. I guess I would characterize the culinary style as being “Mexican fusion”…? For all the talk about how much Rick Bayless specializes in the depths of Mexican cuisine and flavors, there were a lot of elements of these dishes that seemed very “continental”. A great example: fois gras was served as part of one of the courses. I don’t believe that’s a typical element of Mexican cooking? It takes a loooooong time for them to finish the full meal service. After about 2 hours, we were only on the 3rd course (they added a bonus course at that point that wasn’t on the menu). We actually asked if they could speed it up a bit at that point, and the waiter agreed and replied in a way that sounded like it wasn’t the first time he heard a table ask for that. It still took upwards of 3 hours to finish the meal (as we were leaving, another table seated at a similar time to us still had several courses to go!). While I appreciate the idea of having a lengthy multi-course dining experience, a 3-4 hour meal is frankly just too long. My wife ordered a margarita that was mixed just unbelievably strong…basically a glass of tequila with a splash of lime juice. It was borderline undrinkable. While I appreciate that they weren’t skimping on the alcohol, my wife asked for OJ or something else to dilute the tequila, and they fortunately agreed to remake the drink instead (the remade one was a lot better).

Overall, it was a good (perhaps even very good) meal - but for the $500+ entry price, I would have expected a bit more consistency and fewer missteps with the dishes. I don’t regret the meal, but I also don’t think it was the sort of transcendental dining experience you’d expect at this...