Barrio Cantina & Grill

A few months ago I saw the "Coming Soon" banner hung up on the former Fuddrucker's by PV Mall and was giddy with anticipation for the place to open. A new Mexican restaurant....I couldn't wait! I kept checking their website to see the menu (which is not posted) and for when it was going to open, and finally, my friend Strudel mentioned to me that she got invited to the Grand Opening. She went, she had a fine time, it was more of a cocktail reception, so she nibbled on snacks and thought it warranted a return visit. We both LOVE Mexican food, so when we decided to go to dinner on a Friday night, she suggested Barrio and I was game!

We met at 6:30 on a Friday night and the place was packed. We were told that the wait would be 15 minutes, but it ended up only being 5 minutes; so far, so good. We were led into the main dining room and seated at a table halfway in the kitchen area....no joke!! We thought this to be odd, but the place was packed. My first impression of the interior was it was very open, high ceilings and minimal walls, which contributed to the high volume level. There was loud music playing, mixed with all the voices, it was really hard to hold a conversation. I started looking around and noticed that most of the tables were full of families with children, or people over the age of 60, neither of which are conducive to loud environments. Strudel then mentioned that the place was owned by the same group that owns Axis/Radius, a nightclub in Scottsdale; that is when the light bulb went off, they are trying to be a bar/nightclub! Suddenly the two separate bar areas made sense (one being right in the middle of the main dining room), this is not a family Mexican restaurant, this is a nightclub wannabe! But nightclubs don't usually open until 9 at the earliest, couldn't they keep the music turned down until then? Oh well, maybe the food will make up for the unbearable noise!

We sat for about 5 minutes before we were approached by a waitress, I mean how could you miss our table, we were halfway in the kitchen! She did bring by the obligatory chips and salsa, so at least we had something to munch on; the chips were thicker than normal, but at least they were hot, the salsa had a smoky flavor to it, not my favorite, but it was decent. We ordered some drinks and an appetizer since we had had plenty of time to look at the menu by this point. While she was taking our order, a little kid walked right past me and into the kitchen, I turned to look at what was going on, and the waitress said not to worry because he was one of the owner's kids. What?? On a Friday night, the owner's just let their kids run wild through a packed restaurant?? Strike One.


For our appetizer we decided to try the Jalapeno Bacon Wrap Hot Dog Sliders ($10). I have been hearing a lot lately about Sonoran hot dogs (bacon-wrapped with all the fixings) and have not had the opportunity to try one yet, so we thought we would give it a try. When the plate came out there were 3 sliders on soft potato buns, some pickles and a bowl of pinto beans. We each took one and tried a bite. They were quite spicy due to the pepper jack cheese and the chipotle mayo, and overall had good flavor, but I was a bite disappointed. The name implied that the hot dogs were wrapped in bacon, when in fact the hot dog was just split in half with a piece of jalapeno bacon on top. I don't think that these are quite the same as the real thing, but they were tasty, and at least they used a good quality hot dog.

When we ordered our entrees, Strudel asked the waitress what her favorite item on the menu was, she quickly replied the Shrimp Tacos ($11) which were cooked in a tequila glaze, so Strudel decided to try them. She opted for flour tortillas over corn, and black beans over pinto; they also came with rice. When the plate arrived, it was nothing fancy, but just by looking we could see that both the rice and the beans looked dry; one bite and Strudel confirmed this. She also said that the beans had not been cooked properly, they were not soft, but had a bit of firmness to them still. The culprit of the hard beans can probably be attributed to them not being soaked long enough before cooking; but whatever it was, The Bean Queen is never happy when a Mexican restaurant serves bad beans! Strudel then tried the tacos, her first comment was that the shrimp were tough, which probably meant that they had been overcooked. Strike Two. Taking away the preparation, she said the flavor was okay, but nothing to write home about. Their was a sauce that was served on the side with the tacos, we both thought it had good flavor, but we could never figure out what it was!

I had opted for the Carnitas Quesadilla ($9) for my entree. I thought the Barrio menu was interesting because they had a whole section of quesadillas under the entree section instead of under the more typical appetizer section. The quesadilla came out and well, it just looked blah. The presentation of the plate made it look really boring, and unappetizing. I took a bite and was immediately disappointed. The carnitas meat was some of the most unflavorful I have ever had, I make better shredded pork! It seemed to have no seasoning whatsoever, the only flavor came from the roasted poblanos that were in the quesadilla. The quesadilla was also lacking in the "queso" element as well, there was barely any cheese, which also annoys me, I mean it is called a quesadilla for a reason! Strike Three.

So after strikes one, two and three; Strudel and I decided that a return visit to Barrio was probably not going to be in our future. It was loud, the tables were too close to each other making it hard to navigate, the food was poor and to top it off, it took the "manager" about 15 minutes to figure out how to split our check. There is far better Mexican, and even Modern Mexican in this town....but if you dare....try Barrio and let me know your experience.

Barrio Cantina & Grill

4731 E. Cactus Rd.

Phoenix, AZ 85032

www.barriocantina.com