Rick Bayless Opening Frontera Fresco at Northwestern

This is a good news day for students. First, this morning, news broke that the Longman & Eagle team is working on opening The Promontory, a restaurant, bar and music venue, down in Hyde Park near University of Chicago. Now, Rick Bayless plans to open a Frontera Fresco at Northwestern up in Evanston.

Bayless is opening the fast-casual Mexican spot inside Norris Center, this fall, likely in late October. Frontera Fresco, with its hand-crafted tacos, tortas, salads and more, will bring a more elevated dining experience to the student center as it replaces a Sbarro pizza, Jamba Juice and Crepe Bistro.

The larger footprint also allows Frontera Fresco to add more breakfast and dessert choices like coffee, hot chocolate, pastries, smoothies and soft serve. Don't be surprised if sweet and crispy churros show up on the menu.

Currently, there are only three other Frontera Fresco locations, all inside Macy's locations—two in the Chicago area and one in San Francisco. Of course, Bayless has similar concepts at airports with Tortas Frontera. The opening of Frontera Fresco in Evanston is the company's foray into college campuses. And yes, they'll accept your NU meal plan for payment, along with cash, natch.

· Longman & Eagle Team Opening the Promontory in Hyde Park in Early 2013 [~EChi~]
· Frontera Fresco Coming to Norris Center [Northwestern News]

Rick Bayless [Photo: AP]