Barrio Restaurant: Modern Mexican on Seattle's Capitol Hill

Contributed By John Wong (excerpted from May/June 2010 issue of GSBA's "Perspective" newsletter)

A couple of friends recently asked me to join them for dinner at Barrio, a new Mexican restaurant on Seattle's Capitol Hill (aka "gayborhood"). When they said Mexican, I was expecting sombreros, a lot of green and red, and a menu where they take the same ingredients, cook it in different ways and call it different names. I was pleasantly surprised!

Barrio blends Old World and modern elements to create a rich atmosphere in very subdued lighting. When I opened the menu, the first thing I saw was tacos and enchiladas and I thought, "Yep. Regular Mexican food." I read on and was immediately drawn to the smoky shredded pork tacos with golden raisins, almonds, caramelized onion-poblano rajas, jack cheese and guajillo pepper-tomato sauce. And I could order it in the “cazuelas” mode where the ingredients are put on a platter and you build your own tacos with warm homemade corn tortillas.  
There was even a vegetarian option for my friend, Mona -- enchiladas with roasted asparagus, jack, Oaxaca and manchego cheeses, tomatillo sauce and cilantro. We also tried their goat cheese and asparagus salad, which had large chunks of oh-so-tasty bacon, corn, red, onion and grape tomatoes.

While we were waiting for our dinner, I asked for the obligatory chips, salsa and guacamole -- it turned out to be the best salsa I’ve ever tasted. The salsas are homemade and the one I tried was a fire-roasted tomato and habanero pepper concoction that had me asking for three refills. The guacamole was also homemade, with tasty chunks of avocado. Dinner was, in my other friend Louise’s words, “Absolutely amazing." The entrees were exquisitely prepared and the flavors of each dish were fantastic. I don’t want to pigeon-hole their cuisine as Mexican. It’s Latin food taken to a whole new level.

I almost never order dessert in a traditional Mexican restaurant but the dessert menu was too tempting. We had homemade churros that we dipped in warm Xocalatl chocolate and homemade smoked salt caramels. Barrio’s desserts, just like the rest of its food, are out of this world.


So, next time you're in town if you're tired of the typical Mexican fare and are ready for something different, try Barrio. Barriorestaurant.com