Barrio (Kalamazoo)
215 E. Michigan AvenueIt’s competition weekend again.
Both of the kids were entered in to the Margaret Faulkner Springtime Invitational figure skating competition at the Biggby Coffee Ice Cube in Ann Arbor this past weekend. When we signed up, we were told the free skates that the kids were in were going to be on Sunday, so we signed both kids up.
L competes in dance as well as free skate. We knew in advance she was going to have skates on Thursday and Friday so that was no surprise. What was a surprise is that they moved all the boys free skates to Friday night. We weren’t expecting to bring B until Sunday so we had to change some plans.
J and L were heading to Ann Arbor Thursday and staying the night so they could watch some of the other dance levels. J’s mom picked B up from school Thursday and took him to their house near Sturgis for the night. The plan was I would drive to their house Friday morning then take them and B to Ann Arbor for the competition. That way Nana and Grandpa could watch both kids skate and we didn’t have three cars there.
That meant I was on my own for dinner on Thursday night.
I still have a number of bars and restaurants I want to eat at in Kalamazoo. We don’t do family nights out like we used to because the kids can be awful about leaving the house and they don’t eat much….so we end up wasting money. These solo nights are my nights to try places I’ve been wanting to try.
I picked Barrio in downtown Kalamazoo because I knew it was a place I could never get the kids to and I’m not even sure J would like it.
Barrio is a small chain with about 25 restaurants in seven states. Kalamazoo’s location is on East Michigan Avenue just to the east of Portage Street in the Central Business District. The building has been empty for a really long time despite it’s prime location downtown. The last business that was in it was a bank well over ten years ago.
The design of the restaurant is visually stunning. They kind of take a Dia de Los Muertos theme and run with it. The walls are covered in intricately painted murals that cover every available wall space above the chair rail throughout the entire restaurants
The set up of the restaurant is two distinct rooms with a bar in the middle. There is quite a bit of space as you walk in to the restaurant there is a large dining space with green tables and black chairs that provide a pop of color to the black and white painted walls.
The bar is in the middle of the space and it’s spread across both rooms. It’s a unique set up that is actually different bars in two different rooms but there is a door in the middle so the bartender can work both sides on a slower Thursday early evening like he was the night I was in there. The bar continues the Day of the Dead theme, albeit with a little more color, and showcases the high quality tequila and whiskey bottles that are used in the bars signature cocktails.
I sat down at the bar and the bartender immediately came over and asked if he needed to explain the ordering system. As it was my fist time there, I had him go over. Essentially, you can order tacos however you want them. There are two notepads on the bar. One is completely custom. The other has some of their own creations. You mark down on the pads what you want and hand it to the server/bartender.
I put in the food order while he grabbed me a drink menu and a basket of chips. I thought I was going to have to order chips but they’re complimentary. They’re pretty simple tortilla chips but there’s a lot of them. Way more than what’s needed for one person sitting at the bar….although I did sit there long enough to finish the basket.
The chips come with salsa. There are also options to order queso, which is what I would have done if I was ordering chips, but I stuck with the salsa. It’s a thin and chunky salsa with just enough heat to make it noticeable but not enough obliterate the taste buds. The bartender actually asked if I wanted more when it was gone but I only had a few chips left so it seemed like a waste to get more.
I stuck with the options they laid out as there is are several that sound good and it’s just easier than trying to build them myself. I was only going to get two but there were three that sounded good thanks to one that was this week’s special.
The first taco I bit in to El Jefe Loco. This taco starts with the Stoner Shell (a flour shell plus a corn hard shell with chorizo and queso in between). It’s filled with spice rubbed chicken, fresco, smoked cheddar, pico de gallo, corn salsa, chipotle honey BBQ sauce, and salsa roja. It sounds like a lot but it all works really well together. I was surprised when I got the tacos how much is stuffed in to each shell. There was quite a bit of chicken but the main flavors definitely came from the BBQ sauce and the salsa.
Taco number two was the Bomba de Tocino. This one starts with the Bombshell (soft flour plus hard corn shells with bacon and queso in between). The filling is thick cut bacon, chihuahua cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, pickled jalapenos, and a cilantro-lime aioli. The aioli almost ruined it for me only because it made the taco look like it was some kind of crab salad or something. I don’t love mayo so the look was a little off putting at first but the flavor was amazing once I got over the initial appearance. The aioli was the dominant flavor but it was still super tasty. There was a lot of crunchiness from the bacon which made everything about this taco a little unique.
The final taco I ordered was one of last week’s specials. The Cubano Taco is a flour shell with garlic butter, gruyere cheese, ham, pulled pork, yellow mustard, pickles and pork rinds. Everything about this taco sounds like things that shouldn’t be on a taco but I like Cuban sandwiches so I gave it a try. The taco tastes exactly like a Cuban. Instead of trying to make a Cuban sandwich in to a taco they pretty much just put a Cuban sandwich in a taco and it was delicious. I wasn’t wild about the pork rinds but those were easy to take off and the rest of it was just delicious.
Cocktails are also a specialty at Barrio and while most people will go for the margaritas, I’m much more of a whiskey guy.
My drink pick was the Kentucky Highball. This drink is made with Buffalo Trace bourbon, lime juice, agave, old fashioned bitters, and ginger beer. Took one sip and knew I made the right choice. I did my best to savor each sip and not chug it like I would cheap beer.
I knew going in this was going to be an expensive meal and it’s why I also chose to eat at Barrio by myself. Before the tip, my bill was about $25. I’m always hesitant to spend $5/taco but that’s actually not a bad price. The tacos are loaded to capacity and filled with high quality ingredients.
Barrio is a cool place. It’s similar to a few other places in town (Condado and Holy Taco) but I think Barrio by far has the best location. It’s a great place to pick up a quick, delicious snack while bar hopping but it’s also a cool place just to sit and drink with friends. Definitely a great addition to downtown Kalamazoo.
SW Michigan Dining 