El Barril — Restaurant in South Salt Lake

It seems that this place is trying to be way more pretentious and exclusive than they deserve to be. Upon going to what appeared to be a mostly-empty and quiet restaurant, we were greeted with a pull-across barrier and were curtly told that we would have to get on the waiting list. Okay….. but wait…. We have to wait outside - even though there was nobody else in the waiting area? (Or seemingly the entire restaurant?) Whatever. Maybe we were a fire hazard or something… so we wait for 20-30 minutes. We go into the auto parts store for a bit to escape the heat. We go to the Walgreens to use the restroom, since all the other businesses restrict their restroom access (including this restaurant - even if you are on the waiting list.) …. And after a half hour passes with no update on our table status, we eventually gave up and decided to take our business elsewhere.

Now here’s the thing…. I’m no boomer. I am not typically one to take an entitled stance and make complaints - public or private - about mostly anything…… but I feel like this place was just….. weird…. And I wanted to leave something to counter the several 5-star reviews that have been left for this place - since those just don’t seem to paint the same picture of the experience I had here….. it seems that they want to be pretentious and exclusive. The entrance is plastered with stickers saying “no strollers” “no loitering” “no outside food” “no animals except service ones” “no shirt no shoes no service”…… but they should frankly just put a “no people” sign up - because we did not feel welcomed here at all.

And on top of it all, the hours here are so limited that they are basically nonexistent - and totally inaccessible to anyone who works a normal job.

If you want decent authentic Mexican food with much better service and hours, just drive a mile east to Tres Hombres (3300 S and Highland). You will be seated quickly, waited on promptly, and have a lovely meal….. but if this is how El Barril wants to do business, I frankly hope they close down and make way for something else sooner rather than later… the area here really isn’t known for its high-end, affluent, and high-society clientele. You are located on an intersection that is shared between a car wash, a gas station, and a chain pharmacy, and your neighbors are an auto parts store and a gym… there ain’t no Ritz Carlton or luxury Dayspa in sight, guys… We don’t need or want an exclusive club in this part of town…. Just a decent and somewhat-affordable place that I can reliably take the family for some...

This is a very small place. I counted 35 customer seats. That includes the approximate 10 seats at the bar.

We waited approximately 10 minutes to get a table. I don't know if they take reservations but we showed up on a whim.

When we got seated the restaurant was about half full. It took about 5 minutes for someone to bring us menus. And also about that long after receiving our menus for us to get water.

There was yet another bit of a wait for us to place an orders. However they did bring out an appetizer at no charge in the interim. It was a chicken cutlet butterflied and stuffed with cheese, pineapple and something else - which escapes my mind - with a light breading and sesame seeds on the exterior. It also included a dipping sauce. I added a photo. It was very delicious.

There were three of us at the table. One of the orders included rice. You'll notice that in one of the photos"rice" is spelled "rise" LOL. Well, they ran out of rice and it was going to be an extra 10 minute wait for that person's dish to be completed. I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant that ran out of rice. Especially a Mexican restaurant where rice is an absolute staple. He was given an option of a salad in place of the rice. We were all hungry so he chose the salad.

The food came out in a reasonable amount of time. But throughout the meal we saw a significant lapse in the waitress coming to the table to check on us. However they had plenty of time to talk amongst themselves in the back of the restaurant. From what we were told the restaurant opened a couple years ago. Then it shut down for a bit and reopened under new management. I wonder if the new management is also making mistakes.

The water was like mediocre tap water with very little ice. The person at our table who had the rice issue ordered a Coke and it arrived in a can. Without a glass of ice.

I have to say the food was very, very good. But at the prices charged, not a very good value.

$17 for a small plate of huevos rancheros that probably cost $3 to prepare might not be worth...

My friend and I visited El Barril around 3 PM on a Monday. She had a stroller that converts into a car seat, and we were aware of the “no strollers” sign posted outside. As we entered, the host immediately told us that strollers weren’t allowed. My friend explained that she was in the process of folding it into a car seat, which complies with their policy.

This was her first time out with her baby since giving birth two months ago, and we were doing our best to be respectful and follow the rules. The host, however, didn’t seem particularly welcoming. She said she would check for a table, and we waited inside the front area — behind the rope where there are benches — for about five minutes while she looked. We didn’t try to go past the designated waiting space.

The restaurant looked fairly empty, and we could see several open tables from where we stood. Still, the host came back and told us there was no space for the baby’s car seat at the moment, and that we’d have to wait for a party to leave. She took down my number and said the group had already paid and was just finishing up. When I asked if we could continue waiting inside, we were told they needed to keep the area clear and were directed to a bench outside.

It was a very gusty and windy day, and asking a new mother with her baby to wait outside — despite visible indoor seating and us standing quietly in a designated area — felt inconsiderate. It was also misleading to have benches inside that are not actually meant for waiting.

About 15 minutes after we arrived, we received a call saying the kitchen was closing early and they wouldn’t be able to serve us. That was especially frustrating — if they knew the kitchen was closing soon, we should have been told right away rather than being made to wait outside.

The entire experience felt dismissive and unaccommodating, particularly toward a new mom trying to enjoy her first outing. We followed the rules, were patient and respectful, and still ended up being turned away. I won’t...