Barrio Cafe

Reviews 4

ES

Esmeralda Ramirez

The menu cover was right. "Comida chingona" is the only way to describe the cuisine here. Although I had a savory experience, the service was at times awkward. Was my server having a bad day? Hungover? Tired? I dont know, but he didnt make me feel comfortable. At one point he just left without letting me know someone else would be taking care of me. I was waiting for him to come back and he never did. Another man just started talking to me and I didnt even know he was my new server. Anyway, lets not punish the food on behalf of my servers lack of professionalism. Yes, they served bread with tapenade instead of chips and salsa. So? I was actually happy to see something else being offered. Everyone can serve that, but tapenade? Ive actually never had it before but have been meaning to try it. Now I know what it tastes like. Be open to try new things, even at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered the corn chowder and chile en nogada for my meal. The chowder was probably the best thing out of this whole ordeal. It was sweet without being overbearing and it had a similar taste to a warm cup of cornmeal. Ive had corn chowders before but this was different. The corn was definitely the distinguished guest. I didnt even care about the shrimp. It was that good. I love chiles rellenos and have always wanted to try the other variation: chiles en nogada. Unfortunately Ive had a tough time seeing them in menus until now. It took a while for it to be cooked, but the wait was worth it. Albeit, the chile itself is not spicy, the contents are sweet and fresh. Chicken combined with raisins and other fruit was a different spin to Mexican food. Im all about spice and heat, and I liked the cooler aspect of this dish. The almond sauce is light and the pomegranates add tiny explosive bursts of flavor. The side vegetables were good as well. Ill be honest though, this was the first time Ive seen a Mexican restaurant serve mashed potatoes as a side dish. But hey, Im open to new things! I loved the idea of having the horchata inside recycled Coke bottles. It was refreshing in both concept and flavor. I dont like too much sugar, and this horchata had the perfect sweetness to it. What I would do for some corn chowder and horchata from a Coke bottle... I was REALLY tempted to try the churros filled with cajeta, but I didnt dare. I was extremely full. Thank you for the food, even though I had to put up with some messed up service to obtain in.

CO

Cole Ruth

While visiting my folks in Phoenix, we decided to give the Barrio a second chance. The first time we tried it, on my previous visit, the wait was long. There was no place to stand inside and, because of my mothers Grade 3 asthma, we couldnt wait outside. So we left. This time we planned it right. We arrived at 4:50. There was no wait, and we skated in under the rubrik of Happy Hour, earning us half-off on our drinks. Wed read the Yelp reviews, pro and con, and decided to play it safe. We ordered the guacamole table-side, the cochinita pibil and the chile en nogada - all to share. I ordered the house margarita and my folks got beer. Contrary to the negative Yelp remarks about the service, our server was charming and helpful. And while she might have wished wed ordered more food, she never let onto it. We were all surprised when she showed up with the guac cart and it had pomegranate seeds on it, but we asked how she recommended it. "With everything!" she said. So we went all in and were glad we did. Although it was more like a fruit salad than a dip, the guac was light, refreshing and tasty. Next we dug into the cochinita pibil. Weve all three eaten this a lot (and often in Mexico) and we agreed this was the best wed ever had. You could really taste the oranges. The drippings had been removed and were served on the side, which really lifted the dish up - since this also removed a lot of the excess pork fat. And Ill never say no to pickled onions. Yum. But I dont think any of us were prepared for how good the chile en nogada would be. My mother noted that its usually served cold in Mexico. My father and I were glad it wasnt. The creamy almond flavor meshed with the cilantro and again, the bright taste of pomegranate seeds alongside the roasted chile. We licked our plates.

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Tricia Gustafson-Mitchell

I have lived in Arizona since 1985. I have even worked in the area for 5-6 of those years down the way at Phoenix Childrens hospital. I am FLOORED that i have never been here before! My hubs had some family from out of town, staying at the Embassy Suites and they googled places around (my husband and I looked worriedly at each other because i know this is not my husbands scene at all (doesnt care of Mexican Food, other than Julios Too across the street from where we live in Scottsdale) I knew I would love anything they picked and he had brought up Barrios Cafe. We parked across the street because honestly we didnt see the place right away but when we did we were all excited. The Calle 16 artwork was just awesome. Walked in and they were packed (always a good sign) 20-30 minute wait. No biggy. Had lots of catching up to do with our guests. Got some drinks from the tiny bar area (it is really so darn cool looking) then we were seated. Our waiter was awesome, great personality. When he took our order, he warned us that they were running behind in the kitchen. We didnt mind, honestly, we were in no rush. Some time went by and the waiter had brought a cart to our table and apologized that the kitchen has not seen our ticket yet (so busy and behind) but was going to make us their infamous guacamole on the house, due to the wait. Avocados, cilantro, onions, pomegranate seeds. YUM It looked more like a pica de gallo vs a guacamole, but OMG it was FANTASTIC!!! Everything was just awesome. Different flavors hitting all the senses (sight, smell, taste) What a meal!!! Fabulous! If you come here, YOU HAVE TO VISIT THE BATHROOM!!!! (hint:Artwork - Nacho Libre) such a cool place!!!

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Gina Salvatore

Was so excited to go to this place but let me tell you what a disappointment it was. The parking sucks so we had to park in front of someones house down the block. We were seated after 10 minutes which isnt bad but the waiter didnt come around for 15 minutes. I and my boyfriend are Mexican but we dont speak Spanish and the waiter was Mexican and spoke to us in Spanish and I responded in English so he rolled his eyes. It wasnt busy at all. There were 3 tables that had white people at them and he went around and joked with them seemed nice until he came to our table. It was awkward as heck. We had no utensils or napkins. Didnt like that we asked him for some. Brought our food and it wasnt good. I hade mole enchiladas and it looked like soup. No flavor at all. The drinks had no alcohol considering the price. I didnt complain to anyone. When the waiter finally decided to be nice was when he gave us the check. Telling me he has a lot of bills to pay and that he has to work overtime to support his family. This gentleman is older probably my dads age so he should know how to be nice and decent to people. We paid for up to leave and he had all these plates in his hands from another table and wanted to see how much we left him as we were walking out and all the dishes fell on the floor and broke. LOL its called KARMA. Definitely wont be back.