Barrio - Ybor City, FL
Oh man… This is one I’ve been looking forward to sharing, but it needs a bit of backstory. When I decided to (re)launch Tacothority, I made a list of about 35 places that I have had before that I’d have to revisit for reviews. Most of them were local aside from a handful of places I’ve had in other states….Bull Street Taco in Savannah, GA, XO Taco in Syracuse, and Barrio in Portsmouth, NH, and even in foreign cities like Tacquerias Tamarindo in Barcelona, Spain.
Several years ago during a work trip, after a night that included a few Old Fashioneds, I quite literally stumbled upon Barrio as it was the only place open. It was a true “walk that way, turn left, cross the railroad tracks and you’ll find it” type of place, and I hate to say it, but I don’t remember much aside from the shot of tequila that a coworker ordered to finish the night strong.
Since that trip, I’ve been back to Barrio a few times, and I’ve always enjoyed the food; So much so that I book a room in the hotel next door to the restaurant so that I can be that much closer.
Recently, with intentions of trying a new place in Tampa, I was several pages deep on Yelp looking for taco places when I saw Barrio in Ybor City. Very few reviews, and little information, I went into a frenzy of checking websites, facebooks, and started realizing that it could very well be the same Barrio I’ve loved. I even went so far to call the restaurant and asked if they were actually open and real. We immediately drove to Barrio, as giddy as a kid on Christmas.
While I lived in ignorant bliss, assuming Barrio was a Portsmouth only establishment, I’ve since learned that Barrio actually started in Ohio in 2012, before spreading out across Ohio and on to other states. I am very happy to have one within a short drive, and am happy to share it all with you.
Build Your Tacos
The Barrio order pads
There are two specific things that make Barrio unique when it comes to ordering food. At each table you’ll find two large notepads and some pencils, and you order like you order sushi. Use the pencils to note which tacos you want to order.
You might wonder why there’s two pads….and that’s the other unique aspect. One pad, titled “El Jefe’s Selecciones” lists their standard favorites, but the second pad, aptly titled “Build Your Own” lists a large number of options that allow even the pickiest of eaters to create something for themselves. I’m not going to do the math, but let’s just say there are a LOT of possible combinations.
Build Your Own Tacos Menu
Crunching the Numbers:
The Tacothority Scorecard
Our taco rating system runs from 0 to 10, where 5 is perfectly average, and 10 is pure taco nirvana. A 0 is the dreaded "Sad Taco"—so bad you’d prefer last week's leftovers. A 5 is a neutral, forgettable taco, while anything above that ranges from decent (6-7) to almost perfect (8-9). A 10 is the ultimate taco experience—flawless in every way.
Barrio Three Amigos - La Tierra, El Jefe Loco, Bomba De Tocino
The Three Amigos
Barrio is what we would call an elevated hybrid when it comes to their tacos. Their might be some “authentic” inspiration behind their food, but there’s also a lot of creativity in the tacos themselves, even down to the shell combos. It seems like they use nothing but quality ingredients, and we really think they execute well. Many of their “El Jefe’s Selecciones” use some combo of soft and hard shells and we found all of them to be quite good. Some of them even include cheese, bacon, chorizo, or some other item in between the layers like a fancy Cheesy Gordita Crunch!
It should also be noted, these tacos are massive. If you normally eat 2-3 street tacos, I suggest ordering 2 Barrio Tacos. They are incredibly filling.
La Tierra (Steak) - 9.2
(Bombshell (flour soft+corn hard+queso+crumbled bacon), coca-cola marinated steak, pan seared portobellos, caramelized onions & poblanos, chihuahua, secret sauce, cilantro aioli)
This is probably the most popular taco at Barrio, and it’s for good reason. As much as we love simple steak tacos with onion and cilantro, this proves that we also enjoy some complex bites as well. The La Tierra starts with their “Bombshell” which is a hard corn shell wrapped in a soft flour tortilla, with queso and crumbled bacon in between. It was a nice touch and added some great texture to each bite. The highlight of this taco is the steak itself. Some of the largest strips of steak I’ve seen in a taco, and they actually marinate the steak for 24+ hours in Coke, and that makes for a delicious “sweet” taste, and a very tender bite.
The rest of the ingredients complement the steak and this was everyone’s favorite during our visit, and some of us almost ordered another. This is the taco you’ll keep going back for.
El Jefe Loco - 7.9
(Stoner shell (flour+corn hard+chorizo+queso), spice rubbed chicken, fresco, smoked cheddar, pico de gallo, corn salsa, chipotle honey bbq, salsa roja)
The texture of the Stoner Shell was great, but the fillings of the taco were “too close” in similar consistency, making for a “singular” bite outside of the shell. The chicken was good, stuffed full with huge chunks of chicken, and everything tasted great, we just would’ve loved some added crunch inside the filling. We really enjoyed the sweet flavor of the chipotle honey bbq sauce.
Bomba De Tocino - 8.5
(Bombshell (flour soft+corn hard+queso+crumbled bacon), thick cut bacon, chihuahua, lettuce, pico de gallo, cilantro-lime aioli, pickled jalapeños)
Our second favorite from this trip, the Bomba De Tocino. It was the “pork” option we chose since they didn’t have a typical pastor or carnitas, and we were pleasantly surprised. Another “bombshell” structure, this taco was filled with thick bacon, covered in jalapenos, and had a great refreshing combo of pico, lettuce, and our highlight; the cilantro-lime aioli. Although we aren’t huge “lettuce on taco” people, we’ll make an exception here. It was all very good.
I really enjoyed the fresh citrus bites balanced by the savory bacon and cheeses, and the pickled jalapenos helped give it that extra kick. I didn’t think of it initially, but my wife described it as a BLT taco and that’s almost spot on for the flavor profile. (I googled Bomba De Tocino and it translates to Bacon Bomb and it’s fitting)
Barrio Wildcard - French Dip Taco (September Special)
The Wildcard
Going beyond the usual lineup, The Wildcard is the taco that stands out—whether it’s the restaurant’s go-to recommendation or just one that caught my eye. It’s the bonus option that brings something different to the plate.
French Dip - 6.7
When choosing the wildcard, we almost chose another of El Jefe’s favorites, but we felt that the best option would be to choose their September Special, the French Dip.
The French Dip was interesting… it had a flour shell with big chunks of ribeye, caramelized onions, swiss cheese, horseradish sauce, and crumbled Funyuns, served with au jus for dipping.
The idea of the taco was executed quite well, and all of the ingredients were top notch, but the flavor profile wasn’t quite for me. There were highlights from the bite of the horseradish and how it balanced the other flavors, but it wasn’t something I loved.
But again, executed exceptionally well like everything else at Barrio.
On the 1st of each month, Barrio releases a few new special items for that month. Typically each month has a unique taco, a margarita, a queso, guac, and even a different fish of the month.
Los Amigos - Chips & Salsa
Notable Mention
The Tres Amigos - not to be confused with OUR Three Amigos system
So to start, the chips and salsa roja are complimentary, and they are great by themselves. The chips are crispy with just the right amount of salt, and the salsa roja is smoky and spicy, and has just the right consistency between liquid and sauce. It’s so good that when visiting Barrio up North, I bought a jar of salsa to bring home.
In addition to the included salsa, they offer several salsa, guac, and queso options that can be purchased individually or in a trio that they call Tres Amigos.
We ordered it with their traditional guac, house queso, and buffalo chicken queso. The guac was fresh and tasty, the house queso was pretty good, but the buffalo chicken queso was a hit all around and is so far our favorite!
The Final Word
If you can’t tell, we like Barrio! It’s a unique atmosphere with great food. Although we always assumed it was more of an “up-north” brand, we are excited to have them here within a short drive. The biggest challenge they will face is getting a good foothold in the area. Not only is Ybor filled with great dining options, they are also saturated with taco places. Barrio, Los Chapo’s, and places we intend to try soon like Jimmy’s, Centro Cantina, and Mema’s Alaskan Tacos which just announced their reopening.
Barrio is the type of place that’s perfect for date nights, taking friends to new places, or to watch sports. Selfishly we’d love to have one come to our town (Parrish), because any restaurant that comes here will have virtually no competition, and I can’t wait for a taco place to come to town.
Barrio is a definite recommendation from us, and if you happen to go, tell them we sent you!
