bartaco — Restaurant in West Hartford

This was my 1st time at this location, I usually go to West Port. Hartford traffic overwhelms me but things went smooth this trip. There is parking in the from and back but you have to pay at the meter. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me, so I had to download the app to pay. I walked into what I thought was Bartaco but it it was Barcelona. Apparently the two are right in front and behind each other. Bartaco is in the front lol. The ambiance in both was top tier lol. Once I got to the right establishment I was immediately greeted and asked where I’d like to sit. Everything was clean and very nice. After I chose my sit, I was asked how I’d like to order and if I was aware of the QR code and dragon card. I replied yes and placed my order through the qr. typically I’m used to not having many interactions with staff this way, but that was different here. The manager checked in and asked if everything with my order went okay. I pointed out that the price was a lil higher. When we checked I realized I ordered 2 street corns. He offered to take one off but I said I was okay, if e could just send the 2nd to go. I ordered Korean Bbq Ribeye Rice Bowl, Pork Belly taco, Street Corn, Pineapple Express and Churros. Each dish was brought out by a server that confirmed the order and greeted me with a smile. This was my 1st time trying a rice bowl and the Pineapple Express. The bowl was yummy but the kimchi was way too salty. When I removed it, everything else was perfect. The tacos are really small, like you can finish them in one bite, so I usually order 3. Pork Belly is my favorite. I love the flavor and the texture of the meat. The Street Corn is elote which I love. It’s the perfect combination of salty and sweet. The Pineapple Express was a 10 out of 10! If I wasn’t driving would’ve ordered another one. The flavor was delicious and is was not weak! The churros are always top tier. Perfectly crispy, warm and sweet. They come with two sauces. I find the chocolate to be overpowering. Very strong like dark chocolate meets expresso. The vanilla is lightly sweet yet very flavorful. You can taste the vanilla bean. The manager and other staff checked on me several times. The customer service was top tier. I highly recommend and I will be back to try something new. Especially that...

Treat yourself to some amazingly delectable food, but be prepared for some unorthodox practices.

I took my niece, my brother, and her boyfriend there for her birthday dinner. It was 6:30 PM on a Monday. The place was busy with the outdoor patio dining area full. The method of ordering your meal is a bit confusing, and when the food comes out, it is not each party's individual order on a single dish. Instead, similar foods are combined on aluminum trays (like a mini cookie sheet pan) and placed on the table. The atmosphere is really noisy, and the ordering methodology is so uncommon that it is easy to get disoriented when realizing that meals are actually delivered family style. In other words, one person wants 3 chicken tacos, and another person wants 2 shrimp tacos, while the third one wants 3 tuna tacos. They are delivered on 2 aluminum pans holding 4 tacos each. In actuality, their tacos are more like mini prefilled fajitas where the flour tortilla shell is no bigger than the diameter of a tea cup.

I had the spicy chicken tacos as well as the pork tacos (which my niece's boyfriend ordered, but because they all came on the same aluminum tray, I had them both), the spicy chicken verde rice bowl, and the key lime pie in a jar dessert. Mouth watering food delivered with a smile and friendly service.

So DO treat yourself to some of bartaco's scrumptious foods, but be very attentive to what you and your party are ordering. You may want to make a special request to have the meals delivered as they appear on the menu each person fills out (a sheet of paper where you check the food you want and then turn all those in to...

4.5 stars. I was craving tacos and we were in town, so this place popped up on Yelp. There was a packed patio area but we decided to dine inside. The place was pretty busy on a Saturday a little after lunchtime; however, service was great.

The hostess/server brought us water and explained the ordering process. They had a unique setup where you order on their website by scanning the QR code. They have regular menus also. We placed the orders and the appetizer came out in two minutes, super fast service. It was an order of fresh cooked tortilla chips and guacamole, it was authentic and tasty. I ordered three tacos, they were about 4 inches wide which the hostess explained prior. The flavors I chose were:

-seared chorizo: ground pork with sweet onion, cilantro, smoky red chimichurri sauce -glazed pork belly: with spicy arbol chili sauce -baja fish: spicy tempura battered cod with chipotle slaw

These were so good and a good price. The flavors intermingled with my taste buds. They had three different hot sauces on the tables; those were jalapeno, roja, and habanero.

I did notice that they were a little bit disorganized; they mixed my husband's tacos with mine so we had to figure out which ones were which. Aside from that, everything was great. The margarita and food were 5 stars; I liked that I was able to pick the type of alcohol and mix; I had a perfect margarita and it was $10.50, which was a good price compared to the $13+ most places are charging now. I looked forward to going back for more tacos...