Bar J Chili Parlor — Restaurant in Occoquan

I still don't know why I left a tip. I guess I felt bullied into at least leaving something. We split the check, so we both tipped out of human decency - though we didn't find it there.

The waitress was so rude. She was a white middle-aged woman in jeans and a t-shirt. I ordered chorizo with eggs and thought it said the eggs were over hard. I also ordered a tamale and asked that it be plain with no sauce.

The chorizo plate came with runny eggs and the tamale covered in red sauce. I didn't make a big deal of it. I kindly asked for over hard eggs and no sauce. I was having a good time talking and didn't mind waiting.

But the waitress came back with the menu in hand and rudely had to corrected me. "You see? The menu says the eggs are sunny side up," she said as she shoved the menu in my face.

I just quietly looked at my friend in disbelief. Did that just really happen? Had this woman been drinking?

As if the service wasn't already a tipping point....the food wasn't any better. The chorizo was more like big picadilo chunks and very lightly spiced. The tamale was tiny and looked old or microwaved because it was stale and oily. It was not edible. I had asked for lemon, for the food, and she brought me two stale slices of lemon used for bar drinks. I had asked for toasted tortillas, and they were cold. I ended up only eating the tortillas I ordered with the eggs. I left the rest.

She saw that I left the food there and didn't ask me why I didn't eat the food or if we needed anything else. She ignored me. Had I said something wrong to her? Was I being discriminated against? Was this a race thing?

I was going to ask to have it removed from my check...but she was so aggressive that I didn't want to have a confrontation and ruin my last few hours in town. I loved visiting the little town....but I will definitely never return to that place again. To be honest...that woman terrified me.

The service was terrible and the food was bad too. I'm not sure how this place stays open. Just a terrible experience overall. So sad because I was excited to eat Mexican food, but Mexican is most definitely was not.

And $13.75 for one little stale tamale? That blew my mind... I had to stop to buy food on...

UPDATE: An even worse response to my review! "It was Father's Day weekend"???!!! When we arrived there was two people sitting at the bar and maybe 3-4 tables outside. It was no where near busy, so that's a lame excuse!

In addition to catching our server on his phone multiple times, we saw the rest of the staff hanging out near the managers office chit chatting -- manager never came out BTW, even after we complained.

Now I see why the service was so bad -- you just make-up stuff.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: This place was horrible. The service was abysmal and with maybe 2 or 3 other tables. The young man who sat us and "served" us should NOT be working in the service industry. We had to chase him down for just simple things and reminders.

But his attitude was even worse. When we asked for any recommendations on the menu, he only told us things that were bad. Yes, he said bad. Then he got mad when we called him out for ignoring us and passed us off to someone else. Horrible service!

Wish I could say something nice about the food, but I can't. It was awful, too. Nothing tasted fresh, and we watched the kitchen pack up food in the coolers for the next night's unlucky customers.

This place needs to be on Kitchen Nightmares or some other show like it. Until then, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Oh, and don't let the cheap prices fool you I to thinking it's worth...

It's not often that, years later, something is just as good as you remember it being! (could it be even better?) A dish I have been trying to recreate for years—ever since the original Bar–J closed, the Pork Burrito is AMAZING! My attempts at duplication (and I am no slouch in the kitchen...) have paled by comparison. Heaps of tender pulled pork in a burrito with awesome salsa verde and 3 (YES!) cheeses melted over the top. Huge portion was enough for 2 lunches the following day to boot (haha). Everyone else's food was excellent and all surrounding diners seemed well–pleased. Service was excellent and the decor is awesome. Beer and wine selections are good and $1 off during Happy Hour, which also features small plates for small $. Well drinks are also $1 off. They are very popular, so pay attention to the best–time–to–visit guidelines or just be prepared to hang a bit. Really, people who fault them for sometimes having a long wait should be ashamed of their idiocy. How exactly is it their fault they are so popular? If you do have a wait, be assured it's worth it. With the new patio and the staff all settling in, that problem should ease... Enjoy! (and stop by The Preservation Station at 204 Union Street and grab a book from our Little Free Library if you need something to pass...