Barrio 37 — Restaurant in McAllen

Barrio 37 Taquería is one of those places that immediately catches your attention the moment you walk in. The décor is beautiful, warm, and authentically Mexican, with music, colors, and details that make you feel like you just stepped into a taquería in Mexico. The staff is friendly and the service is excellent.

One thing that really stands out is the concept — inside, there are different “mini taquerías,” each one specializing in something different. You’ll find asada tacos, trompo, carnitas, sincronizadas, quesadillas, and a well-stocked salsa bar right in the middle. Everything looks clean, organized, and inviting.

Now, to be fair: The meat is good — well-seasoned and cooked just right — but the tortillas don’t do it justice. They’re plain, lacking flavor, and they take away from the quality of the rest of the experience. Considering how much effort and investment clearly went into the restaurant’s design, service, and ingredients, they really need to take the next step: fresh tortillas made in-house. Even a small tortilla machine or someone pressing them on-site would give their tacos a special touch and complete the experience.

Another thing worth mentioning: the metal plates. They look nice and fit the “Mexican cantina” style, but they cool the tacos way too fast, especially in an air-conditioned environment. Nobody enjoys cold tacos, and unfortunately, the metal plates make that happen pretty quickly.

In short, Barrio 37 has great potential — it’s a beautiful spot, with excellent service and solid food. But to truly stand out, they need to match their impressive concept with fresh tortillas and a way to keep the tacos warm. With those small changes, this could easily become one of the best taquerías around.

⭐ Rating: 4 / 5 • Atmosphere: 5/5 • Service: 4.5/5 • Flavor: 3.5/5 • Price: 4/5

👉 Recommended for anyone looking for a nice, clean, well-run taquería with good food and a true Mexican vibe. Needs improvement: tortillas made fresh and a better way to keep...

Nice concept, same as calles de mexico or calacas but executed with more detail.

The whole place is full of smoke since their kitchen is out in the open.

Fajita had a weird taste. Carne asada was a bit better, not sure what meat was used. Went specifically to try their al pastor since there's an actual trompo. It was undercooked. Caritas were ok.

Asked to try their tacos de canasta and they were "out". They had been open for an hour. Another review says they were told the same. Makes you think theyre not always made. That does not reflect the score given however.

Theres a lot of servers walking around, it feels chaotic. Even then, theyre not attentive. Order did not arrive until i reminded server and it was...

Wanted to try this place since it opened, and I’m glad we did. We tried the Carnitas, fajita, pastor and asada, they were all good, but our favorite was the carnitas. Best carnita tacos I’ve had in a while. Server was attentive and friendly. Place is a little loud inside but decorated so creatively! They have a whole thing if you’re celebrating a birthday, they have a piñata and have you hit piñata while all of servers are singing, it’s definitely lively and different. Like I said, it’s loud in there, but if you like that or don’t mind it as long as you have yummy tacos being placed in front of you, then you’ll...