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| - First, I love Cafe Barrio. The experience has always been top notch.
Unfortunately Barrio Queen completely missed the mark. I didn't want to like it, I wanted to love it! Wet arrived about 7 last Friday night. My partner was very excited because he loves CB. I liked the interior, it was fun, playful and half-hazzard like CB. Mike didn't like it, he thought they were trying to hard. Our friends from Denver liked the interior well enough.
The experience... the waiters, servers, staff all looked busy, looked is the operative word. The restaurant was less than half full and the staff looked harried and rushed. When we got to our seats on the patio we all thought what a great night, beautiful weather, fun exciting place and we know the food is good at CB so it should be great here. We playfully talked to our waiter... which I guess was the wrong thing to do. Our friends love to laugh and flirt and push boundaries, our waiter was short, abrupt and acted offended. I reminded him that he was working for tips, then he conveniently remembered he is/was in the service industry.
We had to ask for water repeatedly, and finally our waiter said "I told the buss boy to get you water..." Unfortunately this sums up the waiter experience. The bus boys were standing at the end of the bar talking... all night... which explains why we waited for thirty minutes to get water.
We ordered the choriqueso and the guacamole for appetizers. When it came out the choriqueso was a monster bowl of cheese with some spicy sausage which was tasty if a bit overwhelmingly large. The guacamole was surprising, it came in a very small bowl. Usually at CB they come to the table and make the guac table side with flourish and panache. Then I noticed that two tables were there the quac was being made table side... I looked at the tables to see what the difference was and it was glaringly obvious. Not one of the four of us had boobs. Then I looked at all of the staff, excluding the two women at the front desk who were wonderful by the way everyone else was male. The servers went out of their way to make the quac for the tables with ladies but the tables with men we got a quarter order of guac made in the kitchen... reverse discrimination or homophobia... either option sucks. Unfortunately it didn't stop with the guac...
For dinner Mike ordered the enchiladas de pollo. I ordered off the "sushi" taco sheet the cochnita pibil tacos (great idea, love the concept). Our friends from Denver split the 16 de septiembre chiles rellenos. Mike was disappointed by his enchiladas, they were not very flavorful and the plate looked like a Chopped Chef threw everything on the plate just to be done in time. My tacos were as expected, similar to CB good flavor but the same IronChopped Chef ran out of time on my plate. The chiles rellenos were the highlight, the chef took time to make sure it looked great. The boys from Denver loved it.
Dessert... the same chef who ran out of time plating Mike's and my plates also ran out of time and I think some ingredients for the churros. At CB they finish the plate with some ice-cream which (I know it sounds funny) cuts the sweetness of the caramel. It was sorely missed.
Unfortunately when we left Mike and I said to each other that the food and the experience was not worth the drive or money (we live by the Biltmore) and if we wanted the food CB was a better bet. It is a shame really, it is a great space, in a really nice area but it misses the mark by quite a bit. Our bill was just over 120 for the four of us. Yes I had two margaritas which were good but 120 plus tip? Two apps, three entrees and two desserts... 120 plus tip for Mexican food? CB is worth it BQ... not so much.
I truly hope they can get the staff trained to be as professional and friendly as CB to all patrons not just those with boobs. Yes, Phoenix is more diverse than Scottsdale but great service should extend to all patrons regardless of mammary glands. I also hope they can get the kitchen staff to take time, slow down and make the food look great (especially when the restaurant is only half full). The flavors are mostly there, the plating enhances the experience and visually adds to the food.
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