Barrio Café, Soul Kitchen & Drinks — Restaurant in Mexico City

Came here based on the Google reviews. So glad and excited that we came here. The service is unbelievable. I think this is a Nicaraguan family run restaurant but don't quote me on that. The service was so kind and friendly and efficient and patient. There was an older gentleman that I think was running the show. The young people that were serving and cooking were all wonderful.

We didn't ask for filtered water so I don't know if that is served here. However, we ended up getting a cold latte, and a guava juice. The guava juice was perfect, but in my opinion too small a serving. If it had come in a half gallon maybe that would have been enough. I watched them make the cold latte and it was simple with a lot of milk and two shots of espresso and it tasteed very rich and refreshing. Many people drinking the guava juice. I wish I had order it with ice. Keep that in mind if ordering and that's important to you.

We had seen the pictures of the pancakes on the internet but the pictures just didn't do justice to the actual meal. Pancakes were exquisitely perfect tender and delicious. We ordered the Nutella syrup and fresh fruit on the side. Fresh fruit was so cool delicious and sweet. We also got the bananas on the side and they were served very cool. They were so sweet and ripe and tender and amazingly refreshingly delicious. My daughter ordered this and she loves her pancakes but could only eat one at the restaurant. We ended up taking two of the three home.

Now let me tell you about one of the most amazing breakfasts I have ever had. I ordered the Nicaraguan breakfast that comes with their rice and beans eggs steak guacamole and pico de gallo and plantain chips. Here's why they were amazing. Now I've never had this dish before and I've never eaten in Nicaragua but it doesn't matter. When you get great food you know it. I was told the meal is huge and they were not lying. Obviously I'm not Nicaraguan and couldn't finish the whole thing. You've got to be a huge eater or power lifter to be able to finish something like this. I almost finished it all because it was that great. Let's go piece by piece. I ordered the eggs done soft and they came out perfectly soft, perfectly seasoned buttery and tender. Just like I love it. Guacamole was great guacamole. The pico de gallo was fresh sweet and tangy and colorful. I think they put dill on top but don't quote me on that. Now in addition to this they had fresh green plantain chips. It felt like they gave me a whole plantain of chips. They were all crunchy and freshly made. I wish I could have eaten them all or at least taken them home with me. I left quite a bit. Now the rice and beans which they have a name for that I don't remember we're not unusually flavored but were rich with an imami savoriness. Within the rice and beans was probably the most wonderfully tender and perfectly seasoned steak I have ever tasted. Every piece was perfect. No gristle no fat. It was like the most tender cut of pecanha.  Bits of fried cheese! Everything balanced and complemented everything else. I couldn't stop eating it although I was very full after the first few bites. I would highly recommend this to anyone. Consider splitting it if you're not a huge eater but make sure you at least try it once in your life. You've probably never had anything like it. It really was amazing. I really wish I could cook like that.

We waddled our big butts out of the restaurant happy content and ready to sleep the rest of the day....

The place is beautifully decorated. Ambiance is quiet professional and even romantic. We just love this place. Highly recommended.

There were so many other good things on the menu but unfortunately we couldn't eat them all. Eggs Benedict looked great. There were other Nicaraguan dishes that we saw coming out of the kitchen which were all looking better than the next. Great prices on the drinks and coffee. Really good quality commercial espresso machine. These guys were making great...

Finally made it there today for brunch. I love Gallo Pinto and haven't had it for a long time. I got the Gallo Pinto bowl that comes with steak, eggs, crispy plantain chips, crema, guacamole, cubes of fried cheese, pico de Gallo. I asked for extra black beans and they were happy to accommodate but showed me the way the bowl normally would be served first because they were afraid I would be overwhelmed by the quantity of extra black beans (but I wasn't). Service was really wonderful and it was nostalgic for me to have Gallo pinto since it's not something that's easy to find where I live. I will definitely be back. The people working there are also so so nice and accommodating.

Just a note, my partner is sensitive to the smell of cleaning products which are very fragrant and strong in Mexico in general, so we sat outside rather than sit inside. The outside seating is close to a busy intersection with cars lining up, so he was also affected by the smell of exhaust. For me it's not so much an issue but if you're sensitive to cleaning product smells or exhaust smells, the location might...

Made a reservation at 9AM so I could ensure that I would have enough time to eat before our plans at 10:15. It’s also important to note that when we arrived the restaurant was relatively empty, and the other 2 or 3 patrons that were there already finished ordering and were wrapping up eating. We placed our order at around 9:05 and then continued to wait until 9:45 until someone (assuming it was the manager) came to check if we were done eating???

Turns out that they totally forgot about our order and we were not able to eat at all before our plans. Our waiter practically just ignored us the entire time. It would have been extremely easy to recognize that our dishes were missed if he had just checked up on us at least once after us ordering. To make matters worse, there was no attempt to reconcile things and we were instead told to just wait for the dish to come out even after explaining that we had plans right after the breakfast. We ended up just walking out and still had to pay for the overpriced mineral water we ordered… Total waste of little time we...