Damian L.
Yelp
It's been a while since I've written a review on Yelp, mostly because I have Celiac and once I've found a good 5 or 6 restaurants, I have just stuck with them to preserve my health. That said, I was in Raleigh for a weekend and wasn't feeling my usual options, and I love tacos, so decided to give it a go.
--Food: I ordered delivery twice and ate in once. I ordered a crispy shrimp taco kit and a chorizo taco kit the first night and was blown away at how flavorful everything was. Having Celiac, eating Fried food is almost impossible, but their entire menu minus quesadillas and desserts are gluten free, and you couldn't tell. The shrimp had an amazing crispy corn breading and the slaw was super flavorful. I think the Chorizo was my favorite with a great spice and made it into my second take out order along with Baja Fish. The Baja fish was so crispy as well, a little spicy, and the lemon slaw amazing. Flavorwise, for sure 5/5 for all of them.
If you eat in, you can order just one taco (you can't do this take out, you can only order 4 or 8 pack tacos), so I tried most of the ones I hadn't tried. The duck was good, but perhaps my least favorite of the lot. Still excellent though. Lobster, while tasty, was confusing as a taco filling (and a bit expensive, but it's lobster so yeah.) I really liked the Pork Belly and was way crispier than expected. The shrimp and chorizo tacos still probably my favorite, but it's fun to have a myriad of tacos to choose from.
If someone is looking for advice on how many to get, I say probably 4 (or more!), even if you usually can't eat more than 2 or 3 tacos. I say this because they're not normal corn tortillas, they are small and are 2/3 bite tacos.
They also have rice bowls, which I meant to try, but was too obsessed with their tacos that I never got around to it!
--Price: A little on the pricier side, but it's upscale cuisine I feel. The lobster taco was $8, but the rest were around $4 a taco I think. For something so delicious *and* safe for me to eat though, I would (and did!) happily pay it.
--Service: Everyone is super helpful, super nice, and inviting.
--Environment: Feels a bit upscale in a really fancy shopping area. Parking was difficult, but I'm not a fan of those kind of complexes. If I go to Raleigh again I'm tipping even more for delivery because for someone not great at driving, it's difficult. Very nice area though.
--Overall: Hmmm... Probably my new favorite restaurant. It might not be the most cost efficient, I can't vouch for group orders, and I haven't tried the non taco items, but I absolutely loved everything I ordered. Will be getting bartaco anywhere I go that has one, and I'm crossing my fingers for a Richmond VA location to open.