Barrio Tequila Bar

925 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis
http://www.barriotequila.com/

Barrio Tequila Bar is the new hip and trendy Latin American/Mexican restaurant located on 9th and Nicollet in Minneapolis. My first impression was "Wow this place is small and crowded." We had to scream at the hostess to tell her the name that was on the reservation. Thankfully, she sat us in a booth surrounded by three walls in the back of the restaurant so we were not subject to the constant thud of music coming out of lower level bar area.

There is a reason why they named it Barrio TEQUILA BAR. With over 117 different kinds of tequila on the shelf, its obvious what this place is all about. You are not going to spend a ton on food but you better be ready to drop some coin on booze. The tequila selection was impressive and you could order a small side of Sangrita to go with. There was a nice selection of beer if you did not care to spend $10 for a shot of tequila or a margarita.

The menu is set-up with small plates and large plates. Enchiladas and tacos are ordered ala carte. We started out with made to order Guacamole for the table which was very tasty. As a second course I had the small plate of Sugarcane Skewered Tequila Shrimp and a Red Chile Enchilada off the ala carte menu, both were excellent. However, this did not fully satisfy my appetite. An additional small plate of the Tequila-Cured Salmon only helped slightly.

The service was slow and the food comes out as its made. Don't plan on everyone getting their food at the same time and manners are out the door, just eat it when its hot.

My overall take was that the food was great, the atmosphere was alive and the tequila was awesome. I am not a huge fan of Tapas or small plates because of my large appetite. So if you do not want to leave hungry, try a large plate. Chef Tim McKee obviously knows what it takes to run a successful restaurant and Solera already has the Tapas thing going for it. My question to him is "Why the small plate thing?"

Ratings From 1-10:

Atmosphere 10 (If you like it loud!)

Food 7

Service 5

Noise 10

Price: Tequila and mixed drinks are extremely expensive. The food price was moderate.