I visited Bakersfield a week ago and haven't stopped thinking about the place since. It's incredible that a recently opened restaurant can hit so many home runs.
I'll start with the downside because there was really only one:
The wait. We got there a bit after 8 on a Friday and encountered an hour wait. This can only be explained by two things--there aren't a ton of tables...and the food is pretty awesome.
Okay, this place has really f*cking good tacos. Way better than Barrio. If you still prefer Barrio after trying Bakersfield, you're clearly from another planet. All of their descriptions sounded great, so I asked my server for help. He recommended the steak taco and the pollo rojo. I love both of these! Seasoned to perfection, perfect portion sizes, just all around awesome.
Their margaritas are great too--not too sour and not too sweet. They go down real smooth.
Their guac is a little different than most places. They leave the avocados in chunks, which threw me off at first, but I quickly learned to smash the chunks on my chip with a fork and then add some of the mystery green sauce from the table. So yummy!