.jpg)
Via Daily Candy Seattle, I was reminded that Barrio – the latest venture from the people behind the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar – will open today. Barrio will serve up Northwest-style Mexican Food. They are located at 1420 12th Avenue East – the Trace North building. Highlights of the menu include:
Wild Salmon Ceviche
Wild salmon, coconut milk, cucumber and mint ceviche
Steamed Local Mussels
Steamed local mussels with dry-cured chorizo, habanero chile and crema
Duck Confit Tamales
Duck confit tamales wrapped in plantain leaves
Flank Steak Tacos
Flank steak tacos al carbon with grilled onions
Pork Shoulder Tacos
Smokey pork shoulder tacos with golden raisins and sliced almonds
or restaurants by their menus. this place seems way too pretentious even for someone, like me, who likes to see dressed up versions of street food on a menu. though i will likely end up trying barrio at least once i’m not sure the full menu will be enough to draw me in on a regular basis.
of course i’m also not a fan of purple cafe either so that may be tainting my initial hesitation.
taco shop here. Sigh.
I get the “trying too hard” vibe too. Although the menu sounds like it could be very yummy. Mmmmm… pork shoulder.
Something weird about the word “confit” on a Mexican menu. :)
Mainly, I like a place with great food and a vibrant atmposphere but doesn’t try overly hard to impress either with uber-chic decor or culinary acrobatics (Poppy anyone?).
Also, these days I won’t wait more than 10 minutes for a table and I’m too lazy to make a res anymore unless I’m part of a large group.
I second that!
It’s such a hassle that I have to go to Columbia City for good Mexican. I mean, I’ll do it, sure, but it would be nice if I didn’t have to.
That phrase makes me think of tacos dressed up in little polar fleece North Face jackets and carrying little Nalgene (er, wait, make that Sigg) bottles.
The words “barrio” and “confit” totally don’t go together, but it’s worth a try. Anything is better than Las Margaritas on Broadway. Barf.
Gallerias also passable. There’s no good place to park a taco truck! We also have the hipster Mexican options of Bimbo’s and Gringos. I’m told Gringos is kinda special but I don’t eat tacos at 1a very often these days.
I’m glad to see something new coming to the Hill. I get the feeling it’s not necessarily good business to do something without a spin on it — either that or it’s too boring for the biz owners. My assumption is that without a gimmick, the business of just making great food doesn’t scale.
Why does everything labeled northwest style lack anything resembling spice?
La Puerta????
That place is awful, absolute crap. There are way too many bad mexican places on the hill, well places that think they are doing mexican food
Tacos Gringos, Cocina Y Cantina, Bimbos, etc.
The phrase “tacos dressed up in little polar fleece North Face jackets” has totally made my day. Thanks, avitania.
– who apparently couldn’t handle anything spicier than salt, and maybe nutmeg.
what about Tacos Gringos on Olive Way?