Photos by Richard Maack stuffed chicken with grilled asparagus and roasted corn on the cob

Part Mexican restaurant, part nightclub, Barrio serves up some
offbeat items by day and puts on a show by night.

It’s no relation to Barrio Café in central Phoenix, and despite the rough translation of the name (“neighborhood tavern”), this is by no means your typical down-home Mexican eatery. This glitzy-rustic restaurant/nightclub has to be seen to be believed. A slick bar and lounge with an adjacent outdoor living room fronts a cavernous back room with a second bar that, no kidding, looks like a set for a Bollywood musical. But, please, don’t judge a libro by its cover.

The food here puts the fun in funky. It is frankly hybridized but built on authentic Mexican food principles and excellent ingredients. Even purists will find it hard to fault. It’s a tight menu (although expensive by regular Mexican food standards).

A handful of starters include some real winners. A colorful, restrained ceviche ($12) brimming with chunks of fresh, firm shrimp and chopped veggies could use a little spunk, but ladling in some of the textural deep carmine hot sauce takes care of that. (The sturdy corn chips make fine scoopers.) Love the incendiary hot dog sliders with jalapeños, pepper jack cheese, bacon and chipotle mayo ($10). Exemplary buffalo wings get the same kind of offbeat twist with a rich chipotle blue cheese dip and clever celery and carrot slaw ($9).

Roasted corn on the cob works as a starter or side. Either way it’s crunchy-sweet and irresistibly glazed with buttery chipotle mayo and cotijo cheese ($5). Pass, however, on the grilled asparagus, which are good but an expensive stretch at $5 for six skinny stalks.

hot dog sliders with Barrio buffalo wings

All the primary entrée fillings – carne asada, carnitas, pulled chicken and machaca – are excellent. They can be had along with shrimp in burros, folded quesadillas, stacked enchiladas and soft tacos (choice of corn or flour tortilla) in prices ranging from $9 to $12; they’re accompanied by nice ranch beans but boring rice.

Entrée especiales star a hearty macadamia-crusted chunk of chicken stuffed with cream cheese and roasted chiles ($15). A roasted poblano filled with either chicken, veggies and cheese, or shrimp and chorizo is satisfying on every level ($12, $14). It also can be had wrapped in a flour tortilla as a burro ($15).

A potentially excellent burger with blue cheese and caramelized onions needs only toasting to keep it from sogging out, as well as the usual accompaniment of lettuce, tomato and onion – come on guys, that should be a no-brainer at $13.

Desserts shine, with a fried blintz-like cheesecake production ($7) heading the pack.

A little questioning of the likeable if not always terribly smooth staff revealed Barrio’s owners have a nightclub background; after dining hours the restaurant morphs into a hotspot for dancing and live entertainment. That should work; it’s otherwise a neighborhood without a good Mexican restaurant or a hot nightspot.
¡Viva el Barrio!

DETAILS
Barrio Cantina & Grill
Cuisine: Mexican
Address: 4731 E. Cactus Road, Phoenix
Phone: 602-606-9150
Website: barriocantina.com
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday to Wednesday; 11 a.m. to close, Thursday to Saturday
Highlights: ceviche ($12); buffalo wings ($9); hot dog sliders ($10); roasted corn on the cob ($5); carne asada tacos ($9-12); stuffed chicken ($15); cheesecake
chimichanga ($7)