Mariscos El Barco — Restaurant in Sparks

12.22.23: I wanted to try a molcajete as I never have before and recently saw one in a video online. After researching a few places I decided to try Mariscos El BarCo for my belated birthday dinner with a friend. As we walked in we immediately heard live music, which was unexpected and a total plus. There were 2 men playing a guitar and a keyboard. They sounded good and it made for a lively atmosphere.

Although our server only spoke Spanish and me very little Spanish, we were still able to describe, show a picture, and easily order the molcajete I've been wanting to try. As for drinks, we both got the double Michelada and it was served in a huge tall mug and complimented our meal perfectly.

The molcajete came out steaming hot. There were shrimps, cactus, chicken, steak, chorizo, and cheese, which all tasted really good and the chicken and steak were tender and not dried out! My only complaint was the shrimp with the prawn heads weren't cleaned very well, but the dish also included shrimp without the heads and they were clean with no vein. The molcajete broth was tasty and unique and not oily, so that's a plus! When we ran out of tortillas, they had no problem giving us more.

Overall the service was good and despite the language barrier, our server was nice and friendly and answered our questions about the menu. Having live music with our meal was fun and made the ambience that much...

Went for dinner with 5 adults and one child to celebrate a birthday. The music was pretty good, the food was tasty. The service was a bit slow and seemed like we were annoying the server by asking for more limes and a second plate of bread.

I was pretty happy overall until I examined the receipt the next day. My fault for being so trusting, it still put a bad cloud over the overall experience. We were charged for a drink (that wasn't ordered), the second plate of bread and a 15% service charge.

When you sign the receipt there is still a line for the tip, even though they had automatically added the service charge for a party of 6. Did not see this listed on the menu, but I wasn't looking for that either since these types of charges are typically for parties of 8 or more.

I would not mind the charge for the second plate of bread even though it seems petty, but the extra drink (that wasn't ordered or given) and the service charge is terrible. Hope the server was happy with her service charge, the tip I added, AND the cash on the table.

I will not return by my choice because of this. We were talking about coming back for my birthday but I will opt for something else.

Too bad greediness ruins...

Went here because of the good reviews but really, it's not all that. Aside from them jacking up prices after you get the check, service is also very poor. They never check on you even though you're the only customer there. Then they proceeded on telling the prices have increased yet they fail to reflect it in their menu. And even if they're supposed to honor the prices they have on their menu, they came up with excuses such as, oh we have a sign saying this or saying that. We'll, when people are hungry, they go through the door, they don't bother reading whatever sign is posted there. It is their job as servers to let the guests know that the prices on their menu is not the correct price. I know if the owner will read this, he'll just apologize. Nah... do better next time. I hope when you guys get audited, you get fined for posting wrong prices on the menu and charging for an increased price instead. Food is not that good anyway. I will make sure to pass on the message to other folks not to come to...