Friday, August 21, 2009

Bring on the meat







I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I had never been to Barbacoa before Friday. Cafe Rio? Yes. Costa Vida? Check. Bajio. Yup. I've even eaten at a clone called Chipotle.

Scrunch suggested Barbacoa as one of several options and the idea sounded good, since the last time we'd planned to go there, we ended up hitting the more veggie-friendly Atlantic. We were only a three-Pak (me, Scrunch and Wingnut) because Greg was off burning some more vacation. Gary and Mark were AWOL as well.

One thing I liked instantly (and those of you who have been following this blog from beginning can probably already guess what I'm going to say) was that there were plenty of non-sweet meat choices. I decided to go with two spicy pork barbacoa tacos, though I was tempted by the beef barbacoa and the carnitas. Jonny, as usual, went with the cloyingly sweet honey pork barba-puka.

I found the meat to be perfectly seasoned and exceptionally flavorful, with a little peppery kick. The tortillas are clearly not as good as Cafe Rio's, though. While soft and fresh, Barbacoa's tortillas lacked the crusty grilled-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside feel of Rio. The tacos are somewhat smaller and they don't melt the cheese, either, which is a gigantic faux pas. Still, I was generally happy with my meal, which cost $8.16 for the two tacos and a drink. If I'd have asked for sides of rice and beans, I would have been near $10, which is what you'd normally pay at Cafe Rio.

The ambiance is upscale at the downtown Barbacoa, though Jonny reports that other locations aren't nearly as posh. I understand that the building used to contain another higher-class establishment. All in all, it was good, but not great.

Man-up possibilities: 9 (The burritos are supposed to be colossal.)
Food quality: 8
Fizz-o-meter: 0 (I had lemonade, go figure.)
Overall: 7.5

Quotes of the day:
I can't {bleeping} believe that {bleeping} {bleep} keeps {bleeping} {bleep}!

It's not easy carrying all of these purses.

They have stoplights in Idaho? Hey! It's not like we're talking about the Dakotas!

4 comments:

  1. Brady, as usual, does a humorous job of summarizing our lunch. However, I take exception with the "cloyingly sweet honey pork barba-puka."

    Yes it is usual for me to order something sweet, but I'm not going to apologize for the genius that figured out a way to get some taste of dessert into a main course. Quite simply, I'm a huge fan of the salt and sweet combination. If you dig that combo, you can't go wrong with these tasty tacos.

    I was in rare form as I actually chased my meal with Raspberry Iced Tea. I strayed from the water so neither Brady nor I can report on how watery the water was. The iced tea worked well with my meal though and I left feeling satisfied, which I always deem as an accomplishment for lunch.

    Man-up possibilities: 9.5 (there are no limit to the number of tacos or burritos one can purchase and they offer guac and sour cream if you desire)
    Food quality: 9
    Overall: 9

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  2. I do wish I had been with you fellas, not only because I quite like Barbacoa (I've been to two different locations in the valley), but also because I would have defended my home state of South Dakota!

    The real question is, when are we going to be a full GPaK again? I'll be around this coming Friday. Will everyone else be there?

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  3. I owe my fellow GPak crew members a sincere appology for not posting my thoughts sooner. And for completely blowing off the review from two weeks ago.

    So....Barbocoa was good. But that is about all I can give it. Just good.

    I love my meat. And when I had the opportunity to sink my teeth into two juicy beef tacos, I couldn't resist.

    The problem was....The tacos weren't the amazing.

    I had two different types, Caritas and Barbacoa Beef. Both of which had good flavor, but still couldn't compare to the standard beef tacos at Cafe Rio.

    And I complete agree with Brady, the soft flower shells were weak. Although Rio's occasionally fall apart, Barbacoa's lack of cheese melted and crisp-ness left me wishing for Rio's style.

    I ordered rice as a side, which really didn't have much flavor to it. And I really dislike having to order sides. I'd just assume have that included in my order, along with a side of beans.

    Overall, the meal was just okay for me.

    And I'm looking forward to what ever today's selection ends up being.

    Man-up - 9
    Food Quality - 7
    Service - 8 (nice atmosphere)
    Overall - 8

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  4. Correction: Just to clarify....I actually only blew off last week's review. I wrote the review the previous week!!!

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