El Barril — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I'm not usually one to leave poor reviews. My friend and I left this restaurant after not being served. We were told there was a 20-25 minute wait by a back-of-house staff member upon arrival. We were more than happy to wait, considering the good reviews (confused by them now). We waited 20 minutes, not sure how they were keeping track of a wait-time since no host or server took our name or even spoke to us. There are two doors, we thought maybe we had walked into the wrong one? So we walked out and back into the other door. Still no host or service of any kind available. Was given a kind of overwhelmed/annoyed look by one of the staff members that had seen us wait, leave, and check out the next door. So we left and had a great night otherwise. It was Labor Day weekend, and we didn't have a reservation, I understand that, and I would've understood if a staff member communicated they weren't taking walk-ins at that time. But, there was no service available. We felt embarrassed and quite unwelcome standing there. They seem to be understaffed and poorly managed. But, the food we saw on the tables looked delicious and so did the margaritas! Won't be returning, though,...

Was working around the corner from the restaurant on a house. Decided we didn't want to drive off the hill and just a quick walk from the job. Very glad we decided to stop by. We were seated within a few moments after arriving. The outside seating was very comfortable and cool with the temp in the 80's and good humidity. Nice crowd there! The waiters obviously worked as a team because we were checked on by almost all of them. Very pleasant staff and the service was great. Started off with some great chips and salsa. My son had a create your own pizza with chicken, peppers, and pineapple. He loved it! I had the Bang Bang burger. Creamy spicy Mayo sauce and the burger was very good! I am used to fast food and eating without tasting. Today was a treat with the chance to sit down and enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant and the relaxed mood of the staff! I will definitely return to this place soon!...

This place is gross. We’ve only had take out from here two separate times and the first time was relatively decent, but this most recent order was abhorrent… the first time, the food was okay for a cheap “Mexican” restaurant, but our most recent order was appalling. The rice is dry as hell. The beef and queso dip is greasy as hell and tastes like a dumpster fire. The burrito my husband ordered is in shambles, quite literally, it’s falling apart and looks like it’s own miniature dumpster. Smells like hell, too. This place is great if you WANT diarrhea. It’s a waste of money. Honestly, you’re better off ordering from Taco Bell. The queso dip, just melted cheese for gods sake, is like some sort of white bland disgusting substance that’s genuinely insulting to cheese…. Seriously, do NOT waste your money here. This...