bakersfield otr

fav new place. jeff the bartender is at the top of his trade. he made the night more enjoyable than it already was. i was there with my two lady friends who (like me) enjoyed everything about this place.....except for one little thing. there isn't enough room, or enough tables to accommodate all the guests properly. they can hardly be blamed for being so awesome that they run out of tables. the food is great, my favorite is the pastor taco, and the queso is awesome. for a good exp. sit at the bar, and the guys are guaranteed to entertain

tasty tacos, but overpriced. the tacos were quite good. i'm not surprised it's overpriced, i'm just saying thats what it is. i'm very familiar with the trendiness of the neighborhood and it's somewhat high prices. but i would definitely recommend trying it out.

3 hour wait. always. i hate that.
off the hook margaritas, guacamole, salsa verde, tacos, salads and boot of pbr.
so, naturally, i have waited. because i love it so much.
worth the wait? most of the time.

p.s. you can get stuffed and giggly for about $15

authentic? sure. but to wait 35 minutes to eat small $3 tacos is a joke. very hipster crowd. rude wait staff. place is full of themselves. their popularity is because of location not great food.

very crowded with hipsters, even on a tuesday evening. waited about 30 minutes with a party of two. we got a drink at the bar and stood on the small patio looking out into vine st. $13 for a pint of agave nectar wheat beer and an 1800 margarita. i will definitely continue ordering the 1800, the bakersfield house margarita had far too much sour mix (although i love that it comes in a mason jar.) chips and queso are to die for, as well as the pork shoulder torta. only complain i had was that by the time out server remembered we wanted to order tacos, we had finished all appetizers and drinks and we were too full to order them. loud, crowded, and quite trendy but the food was definitely worth the wait.

don't get all the hype. foodies i guess. decent enough tacos, good salsa but the wait is just not worth it and they are very over priced. thank heaven for the bar.

awesome tacos! and salad....come here soon..!

worth the wait!!! great food, moderately priced. fabulous atmosphere, speedy service. $2 boots if beer, you can't beat that!

nice atmosphere. i ordered the jonny, it was good, pretty to look upon. queso was terrible, chips were a bit stale. wait staff not so friendly. i reckon i would give it a 3 out of 10.

grade: c+. loved the old building, but atmosphere was more like a college bar than a place to dine. it is not set up well for groups, there is really only one table that can accomodate more than 4 people. i was part of a group of 5 and instead of pulling up an extra table for me they decided to squeeze three of us together on the wall with the booth-like seats and i had to basically eat off the corner of the table. it was so loud in there that conversation was difficult and the tacos were flavorless. the tortilla shells were brittle and broke the instant i tried to fold them to eat them so they ended up being messy. i guess the tacos were priced ok considering they were very full. i would definitely go back to hang out and drink but would not be interested in dining with them since the food really wasn't that great.

great food, great drinks, but apparently its a library. i've never been asked to leave a bar because i was too loud before. not roudy, just loud conversation at the bar. our group could've at least been asked to watch our conversation level. whatever, i liked this place pretty well up until that point. bummer. i'm sure this place will continue to do well without me.

yes!. bakersfield is a small place, but it has a great atmosphere, great drinks, and delicious food! our server, andrew, was very helpful and definitely knew his stuff. i will definitely be back... a lot.

cool restaurant, food was okay. bakersfield otr is part of the "gateway" district revival and it definitely looks the part. it's chic and trendy. it is somewhat more of a bar than the other new restaurants on vine. i guess you could say it is trying to do for tacos what senate does for hot dogs. the idea is fantastic but the execution is a little lacking.
service was friendly and prompt. all of our food came out quickly after ordering which allowed us to sample a couple of tacos at a time.
the drinks were great - they make some of the best margaritas in the city. they also offer a massive tequila list.
we started off with chips and guacamole - both of which were excellent. while i would've liked the guac to be chopped up a little better, in terms of taste it was probably the best i've had. the chips didn't really hold up to the physical part of dipping in the guac but were great tasting. the tacos ranged from not-so-great to pretty good. we tried six of the eight varieties of tacos. our favorite two were the pollo verde and fish tacos - the chicken in the pollo verde tacos was perfectly tender and the slaw that came on the fish tacos could've been useful on all of their tacos. our least favorite were the carne asada and rajas tacos. the carne asada tacos were just too heavy and greasy and the rajas ended up feeling a little slimy.
it's important to note that they make their own tortillas and they came across to me as somewhere in between the texture and taste of corn and flour tortillas. also, most tacos have a crumbled cheese on top instead of shredded cheese.
overall, i really liked the space and the vibe of the restaurant. it would be an awesome place to go to for a drink. the food would certainly do for a drunken appetite. in the end i did enjoy what i had but it wasn't as great as i had hoped it would be. the taste just wasn't as aggressive or intense as i had come in there expecting. i'd recommend if you're in the area and looking for a good bar and bite to eat, but as far as tacos go there are a few better options in the city.

we decided to drop by bakersfield otr recently to sample their mexican-influenced street-fare tacos, two of which are vegetarian-friendly. the restaurant is smack in the middle of the busy, buzzy gateway quarter...

in my opinion it's better than nada. much better prices and really good food. watch out for the premium margarita. it's strong!