Mexican Make-Out

I’m going to begin by complaining. I’m tired. I am incredibly tired, so excuse me if this post doesn’t exude the excitement that I want it to. Today was my first day off in ten days (which you probably know if you’ve talked to me any time today, because complaining feels good sometimes). Unfortunately I still had to attend a long, but important work meeting. It was a total bummer to my summer sensibilities. Especially because today it was so freaking beautiful outside. Luckily, my fiancee and I had an appointment downtown to pick up our wedding bands.

Even more luckily, the jewelry shop is located right next to one of Minneapolis’ foremost non-Mexican, Mexican restaurants: Barrio. Our jeweler (a very nice gentleman, and former Prince marketing manager), highly recommended that we go there, and even told us to ask for the Executive Chef, and say that he had sent us over there. Doing this felt totally awesome, but didn’t pay off because the chef wasn’t around.

The only things I knew about Barrio before we ate there were as follows: it’s located on the Nicollet Mall and has great outdoor seating, a guy I work with highly recommends it and finally, that it has a taco truck delighting people over in St. Paul (which will soon be seen in Minneapolis now that the law has changed). But soon, I was to find out about their totally excellent lunch special: made to order guacamole with fresh chips, and two specialty tacos for $10. Every day.

Their specialty tacos for today were braised pork belly with heirloom tomatoes and watercress, which sounded fancier than usual, but like an interesting take on the standard taco fare. Because the special only comes with two tacos of the same variety, and because I typically order three of difference varieties, I decided not to break tradition but try something new, and ordered a third, very special taco. TACO DE LENGUA!

My drink came first. Because it was my day off, I decided to let loose a little bit, even though I hadn’t had anything to eat yet, and get a margarita. They had a wide, and really interesting selection of margaritas and tequilas, which makes sense because they are also knows as one of Minneapolis’ foremost tequila bars. I got the Cobra Verde, a fantastic, refreshing, and potent drink consisting of tequila, sour cherries, lime juice, and absinthe.

I was totally tipsy halfway through this little sucker. I hear a lot about how the new, legal absinthe is totally bogus, but this is my second time having the “wacky water”, and it definitely makes me feel way weirder than just plain boozeahol.

Next to come was the made to order guacamole and chips. As an added bonus they brought out three different types of salsa, including one really delicious habanero salsa. The guacamole was really delicious, but that’s no surprise, is it?

That shit was tasty! Then, before I had enough time to gorge myself on too many chips, and too much dip, my tacos came out. It was kind of weird, because the two tacos from the lunch special were on one plate, and my poor tongue taco was all by itself on a separate plate, like some sort of undelicious outcast, which DEFINITELY was not the case.

Here’s the thing about “fine dining” tacos. They are awesome, but they are so unfamiliar. It feels like the first new make-out after a break-up. The actions are familiar, but the taste is totally different.

The pork belly tacos were really good, although they were really really spicy, which I think was definitely exacerbated by the addition of watercress, the spiciest of the greens. I was disappointed in how few heirloom tomato slices were on the tacos, but I appreciated that they were there. I’d never had pork belly tacos before…it makes sense when you think about it, but the meat was way fattier than I was expecting, which is probably why they were so spicy. That fat holds all the flavor, way better than lean meat. I was alright with eating two tacos that contained such fatty meat, until a piece fell out of my taco, and I picked that little chubster off the plate with my hands, and felt it squish and slime between my fingers. I got kind of grossed out then, but I was pretty hazy from the bite of the Cobra Verde, and ate it anyway.

A note about the TACO DE LENGUA- although I ate it first, I wanted to save talking about it until last. That taco was brilliant. That taco was hella tasty. It was so good, I took off my engagement ring to eat it, so it wouldn’t know I was taken.

I wasn’t expecting it to be so good. I was expecting to feel about it the way I felt about the pork belly, but no, it was awesome. It was tender, and gamey. It tasted like those huge turkey legs at the fair. I was really surprised, and totally delighted. It might be my new standard wherever I go (if they carry it). What I liked, too, was that they kept it simple. They let the tongue….do the talking.

I am definitely interested in going back and eating more of the delicious-looking items on their menu, and drinking more of their drunk-inducing margaritas.

Verdict: Get there! The tacos run between $3.50 and $4.50 per taco, the appetizers are all $7.50 and the sandwiches $10, and the dinner dishes will set you back $20.00 at most. The boozey drinks are kind of pricey, but hey, don’t underestimate Little Ricky.

Barrio: 925 Nicollet Mall.