El Barrio Mexican Restaurant

OK everyone the 4.2 raring on this place is super unfair based on long ago service issues. For us it’s about chips, salsa and margaritas- all excellent! I had the margarita with grapefruit liqueur and soda. Omg delicious! We had the vegetarian spinach and cheese quesadilla and my husband had a shrimp taco and a carnitas taco - both excellent. Our server Miranda - excellent and a riot. The bathrooms clean with great Mexican tile. Highly recommend!! If you live in Vista, shockingly the desert of Mexican food, go there!! Really

Great service, great food. Smaller dining area with mixed tables and some bar seating. Wide variety of offerings available including kid and dog menu! Try the fried avocado taco, Al pastor, carnitas, tostada, salsa flight. Several margarita styles to choose from; we went with the mezcal. Street parking.

Fun tequila bar a couple blocks from the beach. Stopped in for a tequila or two on the the way to dinner. Sat at the outdoor bar and got some terrific service from a gal who knows her stuff. Will try dinner there next time, looks pretty good!

Came here for some cocktails, and was pleasantly surprised. They have a nice grouping of mezcal cocktails, which is my favorite liquor, they are yummy. I had the Lolita, santeria, kaleesi and a nectarine margarita, all super yummy. (The one with the tamarindo candy is the Santeria and my favorite) I also had 3 tacos, 1 vegetarian which had tempura battered avocado with a jicama slaw, cannot recommend enough and 2 carnitas tacos, also delicious. The staff are great and take care of you, outdoor seating has heating lamps and they clean each table as soon as a patron leaves. Definitely recommend, support local

We came here for lunch. The special was chicken plate. It was delicious. One order feed 2.... 1/2 chicken with rice, beans and pico de gallo with guacamole and cream. Delicious. The salsa was really good too. We did not drink but it was only $22.00 because we order 3 extra tortillas. Unbelieveble good.

We were on a vacation trip and decided to try this place based on the reviews and the fact that we were craving Mexican food. My wife had the cheese enchiladas and I had the carne asada casa burrito. Both were wonderful choices and probably the best Mexican food we have had in the past 20 years or so. The service was unremarkable but not too bad. The food more than made up for the lackluster service by being so flavorful and having good portions. This is definitely going on our list for future vacation trips in the area.

Love this place. Been here for years and has a new owner with great staff and service. The chef really knows his craft.

We found this place just walking by, and decided to stop in to try one of the many tequilas. There are more than 100 tequilas, and what's especially unique is they offer half pours of several! We sat at the outside portion of the bar and service was prompt. Looking over a food menu, we saw that Barrio offers a dog menu, which we loved, so we decided to return for brunch the next morning. We brought our dog back for brunch, and were immediately won over by the chips and salsa. They are house/scratch made and sooo good! Our margarita and sangria were great also, and we were happy with the huevos rancheros and quesadilla. This place is pretty small and really cute, and we will definitely be back! Although we didn't get to try them on this visit, the happy hour specials and tequila tastings sound fantastic.