A Much Belated Birthday Dinner. by violet

Party of my birthday present to J. was a nice dinner out at a restaurant of his choosing. But one thing kind of lead to another - basketball games, other parties, a bout with a nasty cold, pretty much life happened and before you knew it November turned into late February and still not birthday dinner.

Since we were taking Friday off to drive up to Mt Hood anyway, J. suggested we go out to Barrio on Thursday night to celebrate his late birthday. Done.

I was surprised by J.’s choice since it falls firmly into the category of what J. would call “fancy Mexican.” I should explain, J. prefers his Mexican food from a truck on the side of the road. He tends to find places like Barrio too fussy. This is a point of contention for me because I love Mexican of all varieties and sometimes, I like my burrito to come with white linens, sue me.

But both of us had heard good things about Barrio and wanted to give it a shot.

Barrio provided a great atmosphere; almost every flat surface is covered in tea lights. I would highly recommend for a romantic date night. And, much like its sister Purple, the door, chairs and tables are all hefty.

Fireplace behind our table

Then menu stole my heart a little bit – a folded up map of Seattle, handy for tourists looking for the best way to Pike’s Place Market from there.

The menu

The menu selection had me drooling and then this place stole another piece of my heart by offering queso fundito as well. The queso while delicious used actual cheese instead of the chemical altered stuff that I wax poetically about so often. This made it tasty but very hard to eat, especially as it cooled back into a more cheese like state.

Yum, queso

From the bar, I ordered La Paloma reposado tequila, grapefruit soda, lime, agave nectar and sea salt. Delicious.

J. ordered to pork tacos and I the Dungeness crab chile relleno. J.’s pork had great spice and the taco platter came with full assortment of extras. My chile relleno was amazing; the butternut squash was a great combination with the crab and chile. The cream sauce was rich and delicious without drowning out the other flavors.

Pork tacos

Yummers

And while I hate to say it, the service was a huge draw back. Now I’ve done some complaining about service on this blog and before you start thinking that I’m as bad as Statler and Waldorf I should say this, I know being a server is a tough job. I read Waiter Rant, had plenty of friends who were servers and even dabbled in food service myself. It’s not an easy thing to do. But it doesn’t take 20 minutes to run a credit card, especially when her other table got their bill and paid in that same span. Frustrating.

This lady was in the back making tortillas - lurved it

Overall, I like the food, atmosphere and drinks at Barrio but I wouldn’t head back there if I was in a rush to get anywhere.

Violet, in Seychelles Dare pump - grey satin pumps with metallic snake skin