Barrio Queen — Restaurant in Tempe

To sum this review up into one sentence, I would say this place was all right. When I look at other reviews where people are saying this is "Mexican food for white people," I can't help but agree with them. I'm a white person (embarrassing) and after two of the three tacos I had, I kept saying, "it was ok :|" because it was true; there was something missing from everything I ate. For the price point of literally everything at this place, that's quite a bad reaction.

We pulled up at around 3pm for a late lunch/early dinner situation on a Saturday and the inside was already hopping. Luckily, we were able to be seated almost immediately and our server came to us quickly too. Our server was so nice and relatable - really made the experience worth while.

I ordered the Queen's Cooler because I knew I wanted a drink in a tall glass so I felt like I was getting my money's worth. This was a good choice. The drink was my favorite part of the meal. Not too strong at all; really felt like I was in Mexico as I was sipping.

The chips and salsa came out right as our table side guacamole was being made. The chips were some of the hardest chips I'd even eaten. I don't know if hard, thick chips is authentic to Mexico, but I didn't care for that style. It also didn't help that the chips had no flavor at all - no salt, no nothing. Like crunching down on hard, thick paper almost. I said this to my friend and she said it might be because the guacamole is so thick/chunky and that made sense. But then again, why is the guacamole so chunky?

You're honestly just paying the $14-$15 for the fact that the guacamole is prepared table side. If you like your guacamole in the consistency of halfheartedly diced avocado (meaning it's literally just chunks of avocado mixed with other ingredients) then you would like this guacamole. I know it wasn't just our server who prepared it like that because a lot of other pictures/reviews display the same thing, so I know I'm not crazy. I prefer my guac creamy and mashed, not the other way around. The salsa was good though - had a nice kick to it.

I ordered one quesabirria taco, one al pastor taco, and one carne asada taco. The quesabirria one was the only one I remember eating because the other two weren't memorable at all. The other two were so dry as a whole and DEFINITELY NOT worth $5-$6 each. Meat lacked flavor. Plus, I was surprised at how tiny they were. I've had food truck tacos with bigger tortillas than that (at half the price too). The quesabirria one was good because that actually had melted cheese and the tortilla itself had been doused in what I'm guessing is the birria au jus so that one actually had flavor. It was also the first time I've ever had a quesabirria so I can't even tell you if it was a GOOD, authentic quesabirria taco, you know?

I still can't get over the fact that they charge you $4 for one side of rice and another $4 for a side of beans like... all other Mexican restaurants I've been to included the side of rice and beans with the main part of the dish.

Long story short, I'm glad my friend got a hefty gift card to this place so I was able to enjoy without cringing at the prices charged here. Simply not worth the almost $80 for some guac, two drinks,...

Passive aggressive from the start.

We were a group of 4 trying to enjoy reverse happy hour. The host sat us at a high top, same as last time, but right away the server told us this wasn’t a happy hour table. Only the bar was. Problem was, the bar had just a few seats and they were all taken. I asked if we could order drinks from the bar and food with her; she said yes. A minute later the manager came over to repeat the same thing. The mood was starting to shift from welcoming to awkward, because there was nowhere for us to sit at the bar.

To keep things from escalating, one of us grabbed a bar seat while the rest of us hovered around them. Not exactly a fun setup, but we were there to have a good time. Then the margaritas came out, bad. Just two weeks ago they were some of the best we’d had, so the drop-off was surprising. The bartender seemed annoyed too. I asked for extra spice in a jalapeño margarita, and he told me that would require paying for the full-price version. Wait, what? Lol. Ok.

When I asked his favorite dishes, he shot down the happy hour menu entirely and pushed three pricey entrées instead. It felt less like hospitality and more like he was trying to squeeze extra money out of us. These could've been his favorite, but he never elaborated on why he liked them or asked what kind of stuff we liked, so he could guide us. He was short and to the point.

Here’s the thing: I don’t mind paying more, especially with friends, but not when the vibe makes you feel unwelcome. Between the server, the manager, and the bartender, it felt like we had stumbled into the prisoner camp of happy hours. We were doing our best to keep the vibe around us light. I even paid for the pricier margarita to contribute to the bartenders time hoping that would open him up to a better night. The margaritas was awful by the way. Tasted like straight lime juice.

By the end, it felt like the staff either thought we were cheap for wanting the happy hour menu, were annoyed we moved ftom table to bar, or were just in a bad mood from something else and the vibe just got passed down to us.

Whatever it was, it turned what we had built excitement for, into something we were joking about afterward for all the wrong reasons. Next time, we’ll find a place that actually wants us there.

Not sure why you would have a happy hour if you're going to exclude everyone that can't get a seat at a bar that's half closed off. Isn't the point of happy hour to bring more business at time that has little to no business in that hour?

Besides sitting at a bar makes it hard to socialize for a party of more than 2. Someone always feels excluded from the conversation. Happier people...

It’s good! Not your average Mexican food, that’s for sure! We stopped in after seeing the first “snowfall” and tree lighting at Tempe Marketplace. So fun! I got the Enchiladas. You get three with beans and veggies. I thought it came with rice as well, so I had to add that on. Most of the other entrées do. My sons did. It was an added fee. Oh well. I asked if I could get the enchiladas without onions and they couldn’t do that, but did say they’d not add them on top. They were still delicious! I also got one carne asada taco on the side. I’d asked if I could get a combo plate as I just wanted one enchilada and one taco, also a no go. So my star loss (4 stars) is for the lack of flexibility all around. Super odd for such a nice restaurant. They wouldn’t work with us on anything and I thought the requests were pretty simple. I couldn’t substitute rice for veggies, couldn’t get my food without onions and had to order a bunch of food I didn’t want. I’d say I spent probably $15 I didn’t need to and took home an entire meal. My son got the carne asada burrito with rice and beans and it was also wonderful, he said. We have no complaints about the food quality - it’s awesome! The meat is fire seared, you can taste it. This is no pan fried fast food; it’s heavenly! We also brought the baby (just turned 3) and didn’t even bother ordering her a separate meal as I had to order so much. Haha! She loved the chips and salsa too!

The salsa was also great. The chips could definitely use some work. They’re super thick and cold. Worse than store bought, but the salsa is amazing. Very flavorful and has a great kick. We didn’t eat much there due to the chips, but took it home and ate it with our own chips.

On to the service. Other than not being able to substitute anything, Hugo, our server was fantastic. We came about 40 minutes before closing and he was still attentive and very kind. We had refills and he was in a great mood. We didn’t feel rushed or unwelcome. He even gave us a salsa container to go when he saw how the baby loved it! As we left many other people working said goodbye and everyone seemed to like working there. One of the main reasons I stopped in was because I remembered the restaurant gave away food to people in need during the hard times of Covid - the beginning when things were shut down. I wasn’t one of them, but we don’t forget things like that.

I’ll definitely be back, but I’ll be more aware of the menu and what to...