Red Bridge Barrio — Restaurant in Kansas City

I hate to ding a new restaurant, but I'm doing it here hoping that they can accept some constructive criticism and make some improvements.

We were greeted and seated quickly. The decor was clean and fresh. The chips and salsa arrived in good time. Chips were fried to quite dark and had some sort of spice mixture sprinkled on. The salsa was very thick and lacked flavor. There was some heat -- either on the chips or in the salsa. Neither of us really cared for the chips or salsa. Oh well -- on to lunch.

The waitress was a bit slow getting to our table and drinks took a bit longer to arrive than they should have. My wife typically orders a single chicken enchilada, but there was no a la carte menu so she decided on the two taco meal. She asked for one with beef and one with chicken. The waitress took the order, but said she wasn't sure she could do one of each. There were a lot of unique sounding things on the menu, but I decided to play it safe and ordered the two crispy tacos meal also. The waitress returned and told my wife they couldn't do one beef and one chicken taco unless it was happy hour. C'mon -- really? That's a restaurant that's just not trying too hard.

The food took longer than it should have to get to us. A server came and laid the plates down -- and had the orders backwards. Didn't ask who got what, just laid them down, walked away and left us to sort things out. Not a big deal -- but if you ask you'll get the order right!

The crispy tacos were on fried flour tortillas -- not corn. I personally don't care for that, but I may have missed that detail on the menu. The chicken was very spicy and simply too hot for my wife to eat. I tried her second taco and found the heat inconsistent -- from mild to very hot. The chicken was also quite dry. The ground beef tacos I ordered were not good. The meat tasted like ground beef with two packets of store bought taco seasoning mixed in. It was very dry too, and tasted like it was a day old. The only thing we had to combat the dryness of the tacos was the thick, flavorless salsa. Just not good.

The sides were rice and black beans. My wife's plate had about twice as much rice on it as mine, so it was apparent the folks in the back weren't really paying attention. The rice was dry and bland anyway. I had one kernel of corn in mine to liven things up a bit. The beans were --- beans. And bland. We struggled through a taco each and completely passed on the sides.

Of course all this dry food meant we were sucking down the drinks. The waitress was slow refilling. Always after the glasses had remained empty for too long.

This feels like a place with a lot of potential but has a lot of problems right now. Service wasn't sharp, menu didn't have options for lighter eaters, and the food we ordered just wasn't that good.

It's a great space in a decent location. Some improvements to the...

Today was our second visit to Red Bridge Barrio. We live next to the one in Brookside but wanted to check this place out for a second round. Brunch is my weekend "must", as we all know by now. Without brunch, the weekend didn't really happen. It takes a lot to impress, especially in the world of brunch.

We were quickly greeted, seated and provided menus. Chips & salsa are excellent and bottomless. Hint: someone should convince them to bag and sell their chips retail style... they'd beat out anything carried by our local grocery stores.

I nose dived into the Breakfast Burrito again this visit. Now, to be fair, I simply do not like chorizo. I've tried it a million times, just isn't my thing. However, breakfast burritos are my jam. The chef was kind enough to swap the chorizo for steak and put all the extra "fixings" on the side for me. My partner ordered the Pork & Egg Enchiladas, as per offered on the menu.

Food was fresh, served timely and in every way, most excellent. I love the burrito, especially the steak (although the thing is massive and served as my late lunch and probably my mid-night snack). They do have a special touch to their potatoes, they're probably in my top-five favorite of all times. Their sauces accompanying breakfast were fresh and delicious. Although not typically a fan of any sort of enchilada, my partner convinced me to try his. These could ultimately be a paradigm shift for me in the way of enchiladas.... game changer. The sunny-side-up egg is the magic trick to this dish.

Staff has both times been very friendly and professional. Albeit they are certainly not over-staffed, their team is attentive and kind. Our waitress both times was an absolute delight. You won't be left waiting for attention or a refill. I'll send out my sincerest cyber-apology to our waitress, as I'm horrible with names and didn't catch her's either time... she deserves a shout-out.

As a local business owner, I will always default to supporting locally-owned-and-operated vs. a chain. This local business is superior of many. I strongly recommend everyone to give the Red Bridge Barrio a try, at least once. Brunch, dinner or just for a quick cocktail... they won't disappoint.

Anne - you've got an awesome location, excellent food and a superior team. Thanks for the invite back. You win with the "wow you on your...

My partner and I have dined at the Red Bridge Barrio many times and I would say all around it's a solid four. Our first experience we shared the shrimp lettuce wraps with the cucumber margarita and classic margarita. We absolutely loved it and craved it so much we came back a second time! Our second visit was at night. I had the fried avocado tacos and he had the chicken burrito. Aside from the beans being a bit dry we pretty much ate everything in one sitting it was quite good! The vibe inside is airy and has a California feel so we've enjoyed bottomless mimosas there and did a photo session. On weekends they have live music so that's a fun time. Our favorite server Augustine helped us our very first visit and seems to always be there when we're there. He seems to carry the floor every time because he's on point, attentive to details, and all around an excellent server. That's perhaps why we had such a great experience our first visit! Request him if you can!

The reason I give it only four stars is it simply comes down to lack of attention by staff and cleanliness. Our most recent visit was quite distraught and threw off our appetite with how messy the tables all around were. We noticed a menu and food items all over the floor and had to request the bar top be cleaned in order for us to sit down. We ended up sending the food back and leaving. The manager did his best to correct it and the employees jumped to action to clean after we said something but for future this should be second nature. The service on the other occasions we've been seems to be a bit laxidative as some servers are attentive to their sections and knowledgeable while others just kinda walk about pretending to stay busy. Aside from that one terrible visit we've generally had an awesome time here and enjoy the food! If this location can step it up staff wise they would absolutely blow it out...