04/02/09

Horrible...

by caddy2202

So first I have to admit that I have actually never been able to try the drinks and food at Barrio, however I have on two occassions dealt with horrible front of the house service. My first visit was a Saturday night and there were only 2 of us. I was surprised at how tiny this place is and that most of the clientele appeared to be overaged women trying to be 'hip'. After spending close to 30 minutes trying to get the bartenders attention we ended up leaving. On the 2nd trip three of us went on a Thursday at 4pm for Happy Hour. We arrived and waited at the hostess stand for 5 minutes while two people stood behind it with their backs turned and ignored us. Finally I was asked rudely if I had a reservation. I said no and was promptly laughed at and told with a roll of the eyes in a very demeaning manner that the wait would be at least 1.5 hours. It was hard to believe this to be the case when there were more than a couple of open tables. Needless to say I agree with the other people on here who say the service is horrible and I won't be going back a 3rd time to try the food/drinks.

• Pros: Location, Concept
• Cons: Hostess, Space, Attitude

02/21/09

Wonderful and Unique

by scons

This has become one of my favorite spots in the Twin Cities and I have brought groups here 4 times and everyone loved it. Frequently crowded and loud but food is worth the wait. I haven't had the poor service others refer to. I've found the servers to be friendly and helpful (perhaps it was the guests attitude?).

In any case the prices are actually wonderful. You can get a wide variety and a lot of food for a really good price. All depends on what you order.

Try it at lunch and you can get a feel for what you'd need at dinner to save $'s

02/16/09

Good but overpriced food/bad service

by kea0013

As a server for over 10 years in the restaurant industry, I was disappointed by my first experience at Barrio this Valentines Day. My boyfriend and I had made reservations a month prior to the day, so were disappointed when we were sat at our table, which was so close to the tables to our right and left that I had to struggle to avoid hearing every word of the conversations of our fellow diners. This might have been ok if not for the fact that the table to our left was very unhappy with their experience (and reasonably so) that they complained the whole time which put quite a damper on what started off as a fun evening. I couldn't blame them...the women at the table was vegetarian, and since the featured "tasting" menu was all that could be ordered on Valentines day and none of the items on the menu were vegetarian, she was told that she would be charged 40 dollars for chips and guacamole. The server was rushed and unhelpful. She told the women that she could make substitutions which basically consisted of taking the meat out of the meat dishes. I'm not a vegetarian but I don't see how taking the Spare Ribs out of a dish that consisted of Spare Ribs and Yucca could be considered a vegetarian entree. Finally after a few attempts to ask the server to remedy the situation, the couple asked to speak to a manager who was finally able to meet their request. The server wasn't trying to be rude, but it was obviously she was either too busy or just not experienced enough to provide the service that such an expensive restaurant requires. Not that I expected Barrio to be fine dining, but if I am going to spend 175 dollars on an evening I guess I expected a little more. What I did get was expensive food and drinks with the type of service that I would normally get at a regular sports bar. The food and drinks were tasty which is why I would go back, but only for happy hour where hopefully it would be less expensive and I wouldn't care about inattentive service.

• Pros: Tasty food and drinks
• Cons: Price, service