Fonda Frontera Shutters After 3 Years in Wicker Park
WICKER PARK — Rick Bayless’ Fonda Frontera served its final brunch on Sunday, ending a three-year run in Wicker Park. The abrupt shuttering came as a surprise to the restaurant’s workers who say they got the news just minutes before the public did.
All 35 workers employed at the restaurant will be getting a severance and some staffers will be transferred to other jobs within Frontera, a Bayless spokesman said.
A few employees on Sunday night were huddled outside the closed restaurant at 1471 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Patrick Ortiz said he’d just arrived after missing a team meeting earlier in the day when the closure was announced to the staff, after brunch service ended.
“I will miss the connection we all have here. We were all like family,” said Ortiz, who was part of the restaurant’s opening team.
Ortiz began as a dish washer and now works as a cook.
“I learned my way up,” Ortiz said.
Olga Ruiz, a line cook, was also one of the original employees. When asked what she will miss most about her job, she replied “todo” or everything.
“Everyone is family. My family is my job,” Ruiz said.
When Fonda Frontera opened in August 2014, initially as Xoco Bistro, it was Bayless’ first full-service restaurant outside of his Clark Street trio of Topolobampo, Frontera Grill and Xoco in River North.
