Barrio Queen — Restaurant in Avondale

(An honest review from someone of Mexican Descent) I feel almost sorry to write this one but it's well deserved after what me and my family experienced. This place has been on my Foodie List for quite some time after seeing how popular the location in Tempe was. I was excited to learn a location on the West side of Phoenix was finally open so it was more accessible but it was just a huge disaster. I'll start with the pros.

Pros: Interior design is modern, pleasing to the eye and colorful. Latin themed with art and sugar skulls to make it more "obvious". The location was clean and seemed to be well organized.

Cons: the food and drinks were absolutely horrific. Being of Hispanic and Mexican background myself along with my family who joined me..we were so so upset. The course went as such:

Chips and Salsa - Chips were glistening with grease and the salsa had zero flavor. It was neither spicy or salty or anything...it kinda just tasted watered down.

Queso Fundido - or also known as "Cheese Fondue". The menu mentions a lot of Oaxacan inspired dishes including Oaxaca Queso for the fundido. If you know anything about that you'll know that Oaxacan cheese is extremely stringy when melted and you should actually even be cautious when eating it because you could choke but never complain because once it cools it becomes a delicious solid chewy cheese perfect to enjoy with tacos and other dishes. BUT this was not the case. The cheese was soupy when hot and when cooled it curdled. It looked like you were scooping ice cream almost.

Quesa-birria tacos: the taco is listed on the "special taco" area on the menu. Insinuating it must be better then the other tacos right? since it's also priced higher as well. What you'll end up getting is a small corn tortilla the size of a child's palm with melted cheese and a two-finger pinch of actual Birria (meat) with raw onion and one leaf of cilantro. FOR FIVE DOLLARS.

Chorizo Tacos: what were those? Soy? Because they weren't flavorful at all and I could see just how dry they were as they were being brought to the table. The grease from Chorizo is where the flavor is!

THE WORST PART: Torta de Pollo with Poblano Chile, seasoned fries, and consome. The torta was not toasted at all. The bread was very soft but dry! I should've had the sides of my mouth cut from the buttery flaky goodness those torta rolls are able to achieve. The chicken was thankfully well seasoned but the only thing that saved it was that grilled Poblano Chile. They forgot the consome at first and then I regretted asking for it at all. The whole top layer of the, what is also known as the mexican "Au Jus" was OIL and GREASE. Someone could've used that for their 8th grade Density Science Diagram project. And the FRIES??? The one thing I thought would be impossible to mess up on but boy was I WRONG. THEY WERE LIMP AND SOGGY?! the fries were Steak style fries that someone forgot to leave in the fryer for a longer amount of time to get crispy.

Grilled Chicken with Rice and Beans Platter: Rice was weak in flavor, beans were okay, chicken was DRY. (forgot the tortillas, (corn) when we got them they were sad looking and broke when opened from the foil wrapper)

The SERVICE: we kept having to ask for everything and received attitude from waitresses. Didn't bring us any Silverware or napkins until the main courses got there. We did not have small plates for appetizers. It was very painful to continously ask for attendance.

So in conclusion, all of that (1 complimentary Chips and Salsa, 1 Queso Fundido Appetizer, 2 Birria Tacos, 3 Chorizo Tacos, Grilled Chicken Torta and Fries, 1 Grilled Chicken Platter with Rice and Beans, and 3 Aguas de Piña) for a whopping $130.

The meal ruined the rest of our evening and we had to save ourselves with a...

First time dining here because my sister had been wanting to try it. When we walked in the atmosphere was nice and welcoming. The hostess greeted us right away and sat us down within the first 2 minutes. Not long after the waitress came and took our drinks down. When she brought the drinks back she asked if we were ready to order with it being our first time we needed a little more time to look over the menu. I wish we would of just ordered then because we ended up waiting 20 minutes to get our order in. After ordering it took FOREVER to get our food. After finally getting our food my 10 yr son was disappointed at the 2 Carne tacos he got from the kids menu. Tiny tortillas which came with about 5 pieces of meat & a small bowl of rice. My sister ordered shrimp and sautéed Zucchini which I believe was $22 such a disappointing serving size, NOT WORTH THE PRICE AT ALL. I ordered the barrio bowl which consist of lettuce, beans, rice, a fried egg.. and chicken. When I placed the order I thought I was choosing the meat which I chose Carne asada. Apparently it comes with chicken and you have the option to add either shrimp or Carne asada for $9 extra charge. It came to me with only chicken so I was annoyed at how long it took only to come back with a serving not the way I ordered it but I tried it anyhow because I didn't want to wait any longer for a correction. It tasted like water with a fried egg. Absolutely disgusting. When the waiter came to check on how the food was I mentioned to her how I didn't get any Carne asada & that it was fine just as long as they billed me for what I got and not charge extra. I couldn't eat it because the lettuce tasted like pure water, the chicken did have flavor so i got the couple of pieces off the top & gave it to my son since he waa still hungry. I asked if any dressing came with it "like ranch or something "because i remembered the menu saying it came with a creamy avacado sauce and she said the way i got it is how they make it... She did offer to bring me ranch but i denied thinking i would probably be charged extra for it and i already didnt like it. She said she fixed the problem and then came back with our receipt not only charging me for the bowl but also the additional $9 for the Carne asada that I didn't get, which came to a final total of $81 for the little food we got. My sister then said she was going to ask someone else because the waitress obviously didn't understand what needed to be fixed & the total was crazy especially because i didnt even eat my food, so the manager came and comped the meal which was appreciated. However the waitress seemed bothered that my sister chose to do that because she didn't apologize for still charging us for the extra food or that she misunderstood us. She just slapped the receipt on the table and turned to another customer. After that experience I have definitely been letting who I know not to waste their time or money at least at...

Summary: long wait for table, long wait for food, cold food served, prices exorbitant, staff was friendly at least but seemed disorganized

A friend of ours raves about the Tempe location and highly recommend we try this place.

Party of three arrived for a late Sunday lunch around 2:15. Was not expecting such a crowd. We were told a 30-35 min wait. After a 45 min wait we were brought to the patio. Since we were waiting so long we already looked at the menu and knew what we wanted. We were not given silverware or napkins.

We ordered drinks, appetizers and our entrees. Our drinks came out quickly enough and so did the chips and salsa. Chips were greasy and lacking salt but we were starving (no breakfast and a hard morning packing). Salsa lacked a kick, it was a smoky heat which I didn't mind but the other two at the table didn't care for.

We both ordered coctel de elote which was fine, a little watery. It took some time to arrive at the table as well. We had gone through 1 1/2 baskets of chips. The waitress removed the first basket even though there were a significant number of chips remaining. She was prompt in refilling our drinks but neglected to give us napkins or silverware. The table behind us, which was seated at least 10 minutes after us, got their food before we did.

Our food finally arrives and it's definitely been sitting for awhile. I ordered the Pork rojo and it was tasty but again...pretty near cold. Also, I only got two tortillas as opposed to the usual three. The chorizo fried beans were sour for some reason and tasted odd. The rice was nice. My friend's burrito was to his liking. My boyfriend's tacos were okay but not amazing and tiny. The highly recommended Pibil chicken was nothing amazing.

Again, we were hungry so we finished the plates. We tried dessert: the flan and the churros. I was disappointed that my flan which cost $8 was almost inedible and TINY. It was the diameter of a drinking glass and only an inch high but coated in a slimy, Kaluha flavored sauce. I immediately cringed when I tasted it. I almost didn't finish but I knew I wouldn't be eating again that day and it was so small it wasn't such a hardship. My boyfriend's churros were stale.

For three people to get sodas (no alcohol), two small appetizers (CORN, no less), 3 entrees and 2 desserts to cost $93 and a total time of over 3 hours from start to finish (with most of that time not even eating) better have been worth it. I don't at all feel it was.

We're not sure if we're going to come back, perhaps if our friend who recommended it so highly...