Barbacoa

[malarkey]

This place opened mid-december, and I've been thinking I needed to try it, well the review made me decide I needed to sooner rather than later.

I went for lunch both days this weekend ;-) Its where McCarthy & Schiering used to be, and also what was 2 doomed restaurants before it. (Best Toast and something else). Food is Tex-Mex, BBQ and southern.

First lunch: I had the Louisiana Catfish Tacos with pepper slaw & borracho beans. The tacos were YUM! really good. I liked the beans, although they didn't have that pork fat flavor that colors my memories of Texas eats. I also wished they'd given me a spoon for eating the beans, as a fork doesn't get all the goodie in these.

Second lunch: Pinto Bean-Ranchero Cheese Tostados, with pepper slaw & pasilla oaxaca mayo, and the waitress told me they'd put chicken on them if I wanted. I wanted. So they did. These were also great. Really tasty and at 2 tostados, the plate looked a bit lonely but it proved to be more than enough food for me.

I gotta go back now for the BBQ. And, I need to go to dinner because there are things on the dinner menu that sound awfully tasty and I'm pretty sure I need them.

The cocktail list is interesting too, they have a "sage drop" which is vodka and fresh sage with a twist. Somebody needs to try that and tell me what its like I'm intrigued.

[col klink]

Cool, they've opened. The guys down at A&J (a block north) were telling me about it, supposedly they have a smoker!

[mamster]

I'm looking forward to trying it too. Nancy reviewed it last week in the Times. I actually reviewed one of that space's previous occupants, Best Toast.

[MsRamsey]

As I am stuck on the top of Queen Anne every Monday night, I was upset to read that this place is CLOSED Mondays!!

[malarkey]

stuck?! one is never "stuck" on Queen Anne! there are still good eats to be had on monday... isn't there??

malarkey, who is stuck at the UW on Monday nights...

[mamster]

Laurie and I had dinner at Barbacoa with heyjude and M. heyjude. It was an excellent meal despite the fact that my brisket was sliced wrong (with the grain) and not cooked long enough. The "borracho beans" that came with the brisket were great, and Barbacoa has some of the best onion rings I've ever had. Mr. heyjude had the mussels appetizer, with some nicely charred onions and a slightly too-rich cream sauce, and the chicken-fried steak, which is made with actual steak rather than cubed beef. I'll let the others talk about their entrees. Dessert was a "crock of key lime pie," which sounds stupid but was just good pie.

How they screwed up the brisket so badly I don't know--it obviously wasn't the same stuff Nancy ate when she reviewed it.

I really like this place. It's got good bustle, quick service, and some superb side dishes.

[malarkey]

I've gone there again (hey don't give me crap its in my neighborhood)

me and notaspeckofcereal went there on v. day. he had the ribs, and they were great. not as good as kansas city... but indeed great. I'd have 'em again. And I agree on the onion rings. So much better than anywhere else.

I had the chicken fried steak (with chorizo gravy!) and I thought it was yummers. We had the shrimp cocktail for a starter and while I liked it, I'll try something else next time around. Oh and we had their margaritas. The Maximo? It came on the rocks, which I found a bit disappointing, I assumed they'd be served straight up.

[LaurieA-B]

I'll let the others talk about their entrees.  Dessert was a "crock of key lime pie," which sounds stupid but was just good pie.

I ordered the mesquite [grilled/roasted?] chicken. The barbecued chicken enchiladas were tempting, and heyjude chose them; I was more interested in the sides that went with my chicken, but the whole plate turned out to be delicious. Sides were spicy slaw and chilaquiles (green chiles, cheese, other stuff). The chicken was swathed in barbecue sauce. Normally I take little interest in bbq sauce, but this had a nice flavor balance, not too sweet, quite spicy, and the chicken was moist and flavorful. Everything on my plate was hot and spicy. I really enjoyed this meal.

I didn't really think the crock was good pie; the crust can't help being soggy. But the lime custard was great and it was fun to eat. Matthew ordered a drink--mint julep, I think--that was not very minty, but was a delicious cocktail. All the drinks on the menu sounded good. I'm looking forward to more Barbacoa.

[little ms foodie]

We hadn't been to Barbacoa for over a year and we had a Restaurant.com gift certificate so we went last night.

A great evening for sitting outside at a table on their front sidewalk. We love the mojitos here. They are the best around IMO. They use grapefruit juice, fresh squeezed, which I'm not normally a fan of. But here it works! and they give you a sugar cane stick which is quite tastey for chewing on!

We shared the Queso Fundido appetizer. We had to wait quite a long time as they were busy but we had our mojitos to keep us busy The Queso was served in a small cassarole dish, melted cheese with ground and almost crispy chorizo along with pico de guillo (sp). Small flour tortillas on the side. You scoop the cheese into the tortillas and make little burritos, pretty good. I especially liked the texture of the cheese contrast with the crispy chorizo.

I ordered the center cut ribs w/ mashers and onion rings. The ribs were just ok I thought. They weren't falling off the bone cooked. the smoky flavor seemed just on top. The meat was good but not great. The sauce was thick and a bit too spicy for me. The onion rings however rocked!

My husband had the chicken breast which was wrapped around a piece of Andouille sasauge and some peppers, then "chicken fried". This was a huge hit! And it was served with corn bread pudding which is a favorite of ours. Very good, his dish was the winner.

We had another round of mojitos with dinner. Total was $60 before our gift certificate. We really do like this place for a casual tasty meal on QA!

[little ms foodie]

Took friends to Barbacoa on Sunday for maybe a last night of eating outside as fall fast approaches. Everything was great again! I tried the sage drop this time which I thought was good, but a little too sweet for me. Went for the kick ass mojito for round 2!

We all shared the pinto bean ranchero tostadas and the queso fundido for apps. The tostadas had a really spicy coleslaw on them, very good. The queso is always good.

2 had the brisket for dinner, both thought it was ok, not the best they'd had but certainly good. They both loved the beans and the grilled corn on the cob that it came with.

1 had the special which was andouille and crawfish enchilladas with really good guac. Yum, that was fantastic.

I had the chicken fried flat iron steak with chorizo gravy. what can I say?? I love this!! And we all shared an order of onion rings with habernero ketchup. The rings rock!

For dessert we shared an ice cream cookie. Huge cinnamon cookie filled with banana ice cream on a dish of chocolate sauce and carmel sauce. My husband almost licked the bowl, ok...he might have!! Really good!!