barrio cafe

alta cocina mexicana, mexican haute cuisine comes to phoenix. mexico has a long tradition of fusion gourmet cooking, particularly centered on the city of puebla, where the nuns of the convents would compete to see who could prepare the best and most exotic dishes from the fusion of native american and spanish mediterranean foods. this was the first fusion cooking in modern times, which resulted in all the regional varieties of mexican food. most americans are not familiar with this tradition of alta cocina mexicana (mexican haute cuisine), as the mexican restaurants in the u.s. tend to servefoodthat comes out of the working class tradition (and is good, too). barrio café changes this: you can experience for yourself how good, exotic and gourmet mexicanfoodreally can be. it's more expensive than your taco-bell-with-waiters restaurants most non-mexican americans are used to, but then goodfoodusually does cost more. i love this place, my family loves this place. it's cutting edge, yet continues with the long tradition of innovation and creativity that continues in mexico to this day.

wow! bestfoodi've had in a long time. period. great ambience, professional staff with friendly attitudes. the table bread, salad and pork sandwich were unbelievable as were my wife's pork tacos.

it was very good but not the'best'. chile en nogada was truly outstanknding. cochinita in pibil was good, not great. churros were great but overpriced. nothing bad but a bit pricey.

fortunately i kinda expected this so wasn't disappointed. but probably won't go out of my way to go back.

two years later... i have never found a chile en nogada as good as what you can get here. i tried it again, and it was as good as i remembered. so i came back a couple of days later to get another one. :-)… so i suppose i was wrong (i will go out of my way!) ... i also tried the chicken poblano, the sauce was good, the chicken was fine. the cochinita pibil was once again very good.

two problems:
1 they don’t answer their phone. not at all. it rolls over immediately to voicemail, and the mailbox is full.… this means you cannot place a to go order or contact them for any other reason.
2. they’re overpriced, twice as much as any other mexican restaurant in the neighborhood. thefoodquality is better, but not that much better.

overall, balancing quality and price, my score remains a 4.

this place is tough to review. thefoodis incredible! most flavorful mexican cuisine i've ever had. unfortunately the service does not match the food. waited 30 minutes just for the check at the end of the meal only to finally find the waiter sitting in the lobby playing on his phone! as a former waiter, thats totally unacceptable. props to the chef but management needs to lock down the service issues.

great place to eat. our waiter was dick vic. richard. he helped with the ordering and was superb. thefoodwas the best. the pork was great and we loved the tampanade and bread. the desert was at the suggestion of richard. i don't remember the name but it was fritters with carmel and vanilla ice cream. overall an a+

if you’re a real mexicanfoodlover (not southwest, not tex-mex, not fast-food), looking for an upscale and sophisticated rendering of mexican cuisine fused from all of mexico, needing a place to take out-of-towners for a delectable meal… then here’s the place you need to be! if you are looking for chips and salsa, find somewhere else. taste, authenticity, service and enjoyment is what you’ll find here! from the facility created from sweat and tears, to the décor and settings, the fabulous tequila selection and the passion that’s been put into this work of love is indescribable but shows up in the meal you will enjoy here. barrio was given birth by the amazing, renown and award-winning chef silvana salcido esparza who trekked alone across mexico, bringing that knowledge to phoenix and in 2002 opening barrio café with business partner wendy gruber. “…i wanted to introduce people to thefoodi had eaten backpacking my way through mexico” she has said. chef esparza’s creation is now the epitome of “modern mexican cuisine” in phoenix! in our multiple visits to barrio, i can only say that we never tire of the incredible food. whether it’s breakfast, lunch, happy hour or dinner, you can’t go wrong. in our visits we’ve enjoyed beverages the likes of jamaica margarita; dos xx amber beer; bohemia beer; and a fantastico sergio el suave milagro añejo tequila with pineapple, and fresh lime juices, agave nectar, cilantro and candied jalapeño. our dinner and lunches have included, but not limited to: tableside guacamole del barrio, served and prepared table-side during your meal; a delectable cochinita pibil which they marinate with achiote, sour orange, wrap within banana leaves covered in red onion and pico de gallo; their posole verde is the best i’ve had ever and is jam-packed with pork, hominy, roasted tomatillo with poblano chiles, cabbage, radish and onions; the chiles en nogada that’s a roasted poblano filled with chicken, apple, dried pear and apricot, almond cream sauce along with cilantro, queso fresco and pomegranate seeds is to die for - one of the best poblano renditions i have ever had! in the desert arena, one of our fantabulous tries have been pastel oaxaca; and to wrap it up their coffee is barrio café’s blend of chiapas izapa coffee, pressed at the table – all completely recommended, yet they have more! i could not walk away on our first visit without purchasing their apropos ‘comida chingona’ t-shirt - a tribute to esparza’s “bad-ass food”! i go barrio whenever i can, ‘cause their consistency never fails to satisfy us. if you really want a great meal that’s like being in someone’s mexican home, this is as close as it comes. kudos to the chef, staff and cooks! bon appétit!” or you might say “buen provecho”!

met a friend here for lunch. the atmosphere feels authentic right down to parking on the street where the neighbors stare as you park. the service is helpful. the chef is famous for making mexicanfoodwith a french flair. she is worth the hype. i had the chicken mole enchiladas and they were excellent. enchiladas was a new take on chicken mole and an interesting one at that. they brought out a delicious french bread and olive tapenade prior to serving our meals. i could have eaten it all my self because it was the perfect blend of oily and salty. i can’t wait to go back.

not as great or as bad as the reviews. barrio cafe does not live up to the raving "best ever" reviews, but certainly not as bad as the poor opinions. we dined at barrio last night, a busy saturday. though the wait line looked outrageous, my wife and i waited, and were seated within about 30 minutes and promptly served by cesar, a friendly but very busy waiter. thefoodwas good and presented in a manner that you would expect in that location and that facility.... an authentic neighborhood cafe experience. if you want glitzy southwestern or tex-mex (i.e. the mission, scottsdale old town) this is not the place. if you want suck-up attentive servers.... sorry. though other reviewers said the price was "expensive for what you get" i disagree. the princess and i ordered two appetizers (including the world famous guac) and two dinner meals and ourfoodtab was $70, more than taco bell to be sure, but not much more expensive than similar establishments. the portions were very generous and we could have easily split an entree. the exception on pricing was the margaritas at $13 are good but almost as expensive as a martini at ocean club or a very good glass of wine. i'll go back and when i do i'll have the delicious enchilada suizas that my wife ordered and wash it down with an ice cold mexican beer (only $5).

the once staid and homogeneous world of mexicanfoodthat we once knew, think bean and cheese burritos, has been replaced with a vibrant tapestry that represents the true diversity of a country full of distinct regions and tastes.  arizona's proximity to our great neighbor makes phoenix one of the nation's top starting points to explore this colorful world. this entry will help you navigate this world and will reveal that there are a myriad of tasty options for those willing to look beyond the crispy shell of the chimichanga. the sonoran staples given that the state of sonora is our neighbor to the south their cuisine will be a natural launching point.  this also makes sense as this is the style of mexican that we are most familiar with.   to phoenix graybeards there are a few names that stand out- mata's in the east valley, la perla in the west valley, carolina's downtown, and the teepee in east phoenix. think enchiladas, burros, deep fried tacos...all familiar combinations on the mex

apparently, we've never had real mexicanfoodbefore! we loved it, you must go to barrio. service was amazing, the mexicanfoodwas like nothing we've ever tasted before in florida. we were instant fans and wished we were staying in arizona longer so we could go back. the wait staff were informative and took great care of us since we had no idea what to order. they make guacamole fresh at your table man! prices were reasonable. cool paintings on the buildings surrounding the neighborhood. fun and relaxed atmosphere. and busy! they are popular because of their great product and staff.

flew from portland oregon to try out barrio cafe and it was worth the trip. ok i did visit family. best damnfoodi had since visiting arizona. would recommend everyone to stop in. f*****g delicious. just say'n

dinner june 12th 2013. this was my second time to this restaurant. after all the hype thought i would try it again. once again i was disappointed.foodwas bland and overpriced. worst was the waiter. if anyone goes here in the future, don't let the gentleman with the bald head serve you. we got there at 4:52, we were given menus immediately, then he never came back until 5:08pm. the whole idea was to avoid the happy hour which ended at 5:00pm. he never asked us how ourfoodtasted, and gave us the bill concurrently with the desert menu. better off going to tia rosa or other mexican places.

i came from california just to eat here... i was extremely disappointed. thefoodwas ok, but waaayyy overpriced!!!! your talking beans and tortillas... i love paying for good service and ambiance. however this was a nightmare. you'd be better off going to a mom and pop joint where you can feel the spirit of mexico!!! not a place where they're trying to get rich and the customer is the last priority!!!

i'm in utter disbelief of how bad this place was. with all of the amazing reviews i thought there was no way it could be bad. how on earth does this place get such great reviews in az? there's so much better mexicanfoodhere, even right down the street from barrio. i will say the guacamole is great-super fresh but super awkward when your henry rollins look alike server is angrily smashing it together next to your table. apparently he doesn't like that part of his job. actually, it seemed like he pretty much hated his job, which may have ruined a lot of my experience. we ordered our guac & he asked if we wanted anything besides water-we told him he hadn't looked at the drink menu yet and he slams it back on the table and says "guess i'll leave this here then"....sorry, henry. i'm also the kind of person that says "thank you" throughout my meal...like when you fill my glass, bring my food, take my plate etc. not once did he say "you're welcome". such a douche. anyway, got the conchinita pibil tacos. pork was dry and tortillas were soggy. you get 4 street tacos on corn tortillas and for some reason someone thinks its a good idea to dump salsa on them so they fall apart by the time you get them. pair that with a side of ore ida steak fries and you have yourself a $13 dinner? thank god i didn't spring for a pricier dish since i thought after the guacamole i'd be mostly full anyway. my boyfriend got the seafood chile relleno and said it was ok - for 21 bucks it should have been weary better than ok - i don't eat seafood much so i didn't try it but i've seen him get more excited over a shrimp burrito from señor taco. to end the evening our server took 10 minutes to pick up our payment from our table, and blatantly ignored my boyfriend trying to get his attention. i took my leftovers in a to go box to be polite when the busser asked if i wanted them since i still had half a plate of food, but did not hesitate to throw them directly into the trash when i got home. i don't even normally write reviews, but i was so blown away by the vast difference between the reviews i'd read and my experience that i just had to. the only reason i'd ever return to this place would be for happy hour. drinks and guacamole, yes. dinner - never again.

as soon as we arrived, it was like love at first sight! it has a tiny, hole in the wall feel. there was live music, and the whole atmosphere seemed really authentic! there was a pretty significant wait, but we all sat outside and chatted, and thefooddefinitely was worth the wait!