Barbacoa — Restaurant in City of Spruce Grove

We decided to try Barbacoa for my birthday a few weeks ago after following them on Instagram for some time.

A reservation was made in advance as we knew it was a popular place. Upon arriving we were seated promptly but advised that there was another reservation at our table in an hour and half. This was extremely off putting and having visited many of EDify magazine's top picks or other Edmonton "hot spot" restaurants previous to this we have never had the next reservation mentioned to us. We did not enjoy feeling like we were being rushed from the get go.

The hostess then asked if we would like still or sparkling water, we ordered still and we were surprised when it came out in a bottle, as we saw many people with just water on tables. Perhaps we missed the server asking still, tap or sparkling or maybe tap was not offered at all. No big deal there, however once we finished this bottle of water and declined another we were offered no further water even though there were several jugs circulating through the dining room.

We then ordered our drinks, the server was very informative and offered many suggestions. After waiting close to half an hour and still not receiving them our server informed us that the bar was behind. This did not sit well considering the fact that when we were seated we were basically told to hurry up as there was another reservation.

When we finally received our drinks the server explained and suggested some items for appetizers. The Stracciatella was exceptional! We can't say enough about it. On a positive note, our drinks finally came, and they were excellent.

In between courses we were also asked if we wanted to "reserve" chocolate cake for dessert. Very strange, I have never in my life been asked to reserve a dessert. It felt like a pressure tactic as we didn't know what the mains would look like or if we would even have room or time.

When our mains arrived, I had the branzino and my fiancée the pork chop. The fish was a whole butterflied fish on top of a creamy base, on the side was broth and a very large bowl of couscous. I was unsure of what the broth was for - the fish? the couscous? There was not enough room on the plate to fit everything in order to eat it together, it was very confusing. If it was to be served family style it should have been noted on the menu.

My first few bites of fish were full of bones and when we informed the server he spoke to the chef who indicated to start eating further down?

My fiancée's pork chop was mediocre for the price with the best thing about it being the cowboy butter. The sides were simple being a few potatoes, broccolini and carrots, (which are things we do make at home). The carrots were not par cooked, so they were basically charred raw.

We felt like it was also worth noting that the biggest ticket item coming from the kitchen during our time in the restaurant was burgers... which did look good.

Looking back at the overall experience and meal, then comparing it to similar style restaurants in the Edmonton area, it did not live up to the hype or what we were expecting to experience. I was prompted via "Touch Bistro App" to leave a review and when I tried to comment similarly to this, the space provided didn't have enough characters. I left my phone number and email then selected the option to be sent to the restaurateur in hopes that someone would reach out to discuss the experience further. However 2 weeks later and I have yet to...

I went here for a bday party and have to say I’m quite disappointed. Not by the food or server that I had, but because of the chef.

I ordered a 12oz striploin, rare, and about 25 minutes later it showed up in front of me. It look alright but upon cutting into it, it was medium rare. Not a big deal, but as I took the first couple bites, I noticed it wasn’t very flavourful, or seasoned well. Again something I could overlook because the meat itself was very good. My issue came when I got to the last third of the steak, only to realize that it was a giant cap of fat. I was kind of surprised, and honestly wasn’t going to say anything until my gf chimed in that she wasn’t happy with her food either.

So I told the waitress, who seemed very understanding, and she took my feedback and told me “I’ll go tell the chef”.

This is where the issue came. Around 5 minutes later, the chef came over and said “I heard you weren’t happy with your food?”. I started to explain my issue, and told him that even though the steak was “good”, I don’t think having almost 1/3 of my steak being fat was very fair, for the price point (52$). I basically said that I understand it’s not his fault but I dont really understand how that much fat could possibly be on a striploin…….. except I never got to say that before he interrupted me, and said well my recommendation for you, is next time don’t order a ribeye, order a striploin and started to explain where they get their meat and after he finished telling me about where the fat in a ribeye is, I got an opportunity to say, “I did order a striploin”. To which he replied “no you didn’t”. I said “yes I did”. He seemed a bit taken back, but insisted I ordered the ribeye, and it was punched in as a ribeye.

To some this may seem like an innocent exchange, but his tone of voice was along the lines of “you don’t know what you’re talking about” and very condescending.

This is where my main issue with the whole thing was, not the food, or the waitress or atmosphere, but a chef who confronted me about my issue and decided to make me feel like I had no idea what I was talking about or I was wrong for ordering a certain steak.

After that little exchange, he walked away and went back to his spot, to confirm that indeed I did order a striploin. He never came back after that, and the manager came over to apologize. And so did the waitress, about a hundred times. (Even though it wasn’t her fault). But no chef.

So what started as a small issue to me, something that I could have let go easily, became a larger issue because a head chef who likes to talk down to people.

Overall, minus that one issue, our waitress and the manager were extremely helpful and friendly so I will give this place props for that. The waitress in particular was very pleasant, if not flustered after that whole situation, for what I’m assuming was because she got blamed for it…

To finish, I won’t be coming back, I’m sure if you’re reading this your experience will be different and hope you can enjoy it but for the staff that read this, maybe don’t let the chef approach...

Based on other reviews, this review will be atypical. We were seated at our table for four, where my friend who booked the table was told a party had the table reserved for 1:45 after our reservations. Odd. After placing our order straight away, with only two drink orders, we caught sight of a delicious looking appy go by and flagged down our waitress to order one as well. This would be the only food at our table for the next 50 minutes. After nearly an hour after placing our food order, the floor manager made eye contact with one person at our table after she checked her watch. The manager offered no explanation for why our food was taking so long, but assured us it would be out soon. She offered to comp us desserts, but we hadn't seen food yet, so desserts were not a consideration. Sure enough though, within ten minutes, three of our table of four had meals in front of them. My meal would be along shortly, she stopped by to assure me, after my friends began to eat. I told them to go ahead as I didn't want their food to get cold. The floor manager stopped by to assure us that we would not be rushed out, since their next reservation for the table was in a few minutes, to which I replied I had no intention of hurrying, but she had already turned to walk away, so I doubt she cared what I had to say. My wife's pork chop (14oz) was juicy and delicious, perfectly prepared. My salmon risotto was good (the risotto al dente as it should be). My friend's 7oz tenderloin was quite small with proportionally small serving of veggies. Lastly, our fourth's burger was significantly overcooked. When he expressed his inability to eat more than half, expressing concern that it was overcooked (at best, burned at worst), the waitress suggested that it was the bacon marmalade that made it like that. I admit I was speechless when she suggested that the char on the burger was the marmalade and that my friend had misjudged his meal. We asked for our bill, not intending to prolong this experience any longer. The bill arrived nearly ten minutes later, giving us plenty of time to observe the number of diners who had arrived after us, dined and left, to be replaced by new diners (some of whom already had their food). We checked the bill over to make sure that my friend's wine was not charged, since he never received it. Our appy had been comped (I didn't review the bill because I was keeping my anger in check). My friend tipped 10%, because we didn't believe the waitress had done anything overtly wrong, but he refuses to give no tip, no matter how bad of an experience. The floor manager's repeated explanation that we wouldn't be rushed out of our table, because "they" had a reservation for it, was a "great" concession indeed. Rest assured, they won't have to worry about us tying up one of their tables again. I didn't...