Reviews of Barrio Chino (Restaurant)

Khan a.k.a

Excellent food and service

Alozmighty

Barrio Chino! That’s the name a bit confusing at first because it is a Mexican restaurant but I’m assuming that because of the location it does make sense. It is a very small restaurant but they really utilize the space well. I would this restaurant isn’t the best Mexican restaurant in lower east side but the food wasn’t the worst. I actually enjoyed my enchiladas verdes the seasoning was great and the portion was perfect. However the presentation was very messy almost to the point it does not look like something you would want to eat. Nevertheless I ate my food and felt pretty satisfied. I personally did not like the margaritas but my friends did. They ordered the grapefruit margarita which we were told by the bartender is their most popular one. Service was alright nothing special. The bartender was pretty friendly but restrained himself from making small talk. The menu is a bit pricey and there was no brunch menu on a Saturday. Parking wasn’t bad there was actually a lot of meter parking around the block. Overall I would recommend this restaurant because it has a lot of potential and I didn’t have a bad time.

Stephen Carter

Great food, awesome vibe—if you can snag a seat definitely check this place out.

Lu Craziii

Great place, great environment, & great food!!

Alfredo Quizhpi

Flavored margarita tasted like a regular margarita (berry paloma margarita) but purple in color. Food was good service was good.

Kapri Soler

Food was great

Denise Conn

Great tacos and a cool vibe.

Vionna Kwan

This review is just for the hosting, as we never got seated. We went at 745p on Saturday, they told us it was an hour wait for 5 people, cool. We left our numbers, went for a drink. No call an hour later, went back to go check. "Sorry, but your table isn't available because we took a reservation at 8p that we weren't supposed to." Well, why couldn't you call us at 8 to have told us that instead of wasting our time?!

Alex Fish

Great place! Good food, good drinks, good music,good stuff. The enchiladas are great.

Nina Heck

I love any place with a jalapeno margarita. Guac was fresh, service was good. We arrived for an early dinner, so we didn't have to wait, but the place is pretty small so I would expect a long wait at peak hours.

Devon Smith

Very overpriced. $12 for two very tiny tacos which only have 2-3 ingredients in them. Staff was not pleased when we only got drinks and chips and did not hide it. Oh and they charge $3 for a chip refill. Something they did for us without telling us... the chip bowl is tiny so get ready for that tiny $14 gauc to be $17-$20. The place is super small as well so we kept getting bumped into even while sitting. Theres a bunch of better taco joints you can go to. Skip this one.

Ehud Persitz

Only tried a few cocktails but everything we tried was excellent and carefully prepared. Food seemed delicious but we were after a dinner. Service was nice and friendly. The place acoustics is a bit problematic so chatter volume is relatively high.

Roger Omella

Real Mexican food full of flavours! Nice staff and amazing tequila. How looks from outside is the opposite of how good it is!! Really recommend this place and try guacamole with totopos as starter while waiting for food.

Raz Midd

Great fish taco and better spicy margarita.

Marina Resende

Excellent margaritas and food, including veggie tacos. I recommend the Edelflower margarita and the betabel tacos. Prepare to spend some money.

Lyn Girdler

Jalapeno margerita! The best. Food is great too. Sexy but small place.

Wade Lee

Fidel is the best bartender in NYC! Food was amazing!

Thomas R. Archer

A little pricey. The food was good. The drinks were stiff.

Zach Root

Don't get the habanero margarita! It's like drinking straight hot sauce. And don't take this as a challenge! Don't do it! Overall great food.

David Valls

Chinatown! Smells soooo bad! People are not the nicest.

David Dalton

Great food and drinks! Highly recommend the caiphirina! Love the vibe and the atmosphere is awesome. One of my favorite places in LES

Joel Layton

This place was great. It is small but they kill the feel with the vibe and tunes. Food was awesome. Small portions which actually is good and different than other places. Just delicious. Yeah. 5 stars cause you can't give 7

Taylor Stine

Delicious tacos! Also, fish tacos are safe for Celiac's.

Jade Hall

I wanted to love this spot, it was highly recommended and we chose it for my birthday. However I would never suggest a big group goes here. The staff seemed really overwhelmed by our presence and more than one dish had mistakes, food was missing, drinks took ages etc. They were nice but just didn’t keep up the pace for a large table. I don’t think I would need to go back again.

Karly Neveu

Had no procedure for people with allergies. Told me there was nothing with peanuts and I had a full on attack. Not worth the risk.

N H

Tiny, loud, crowded but the besttttttt

Sheila Elliott

Fun atmosphere, great food. Credit cards only fyi

JM ten Holder

Food was great and so was the service. In our situation they didn't keep track of seating. We ended up waiting a long time for food because the server came to take our order after the other tables that arrived after us. And so as kitchens go, especially a small kitchen like this one, first in first out. So waiting until everyone else is eating before we got our food was a bit of an annoyance. Keep track of seating order and that would be avoided. Other than that, everyone was super friendly and attentive.

Omar Kabbani

Its crowded, hyper noisy (patrons] but every elbow on my side and every decibel assaulting my ears is worth it for their margheritas alone..oh wow. In NY, Now you know where to go.

Marcus Bergen

Steady little place with professional smooth service. They do their barbacoa just right.

Amanda Stoneall

If you're in the area, don't miss their drink selection, it's on par. Their food was good, but very trendy-New York (think small portions, decent but not spectacular cuisine). It is called Barrio Chino, but the overall scene is more up-scale Mexican with some Asian influence in the decor.

Jørgen Munk

Highlight of our trip to the Lower East side! Frantically walking around for a place for a bite before our guided tour at the Tenement museum we stumbled across this place without having high hopes. But what a stroke of luck! Great drinks, amazing quesadilla and yummy little mushroom side. Also first high quality coffee we had in our first few days in NYC.

Avis Smith

If it is cold outside, I recommend not sitting near the door. The door doesn't close all the way and you will have a lot of fun closing the door every few minutes when someone walks into the restaurant.

carlos borges

I love Barrio Chino. It difficult to find good Mexican food in NYC. This place does a great job. Go here on off hours if you really want to enjoy yourself. The food is fantastic. The service is great. The make the best Michelada in town.

Samuel Akinin

Great atmosphere! Recommend the fish tacos. Wasn’t impressed by my caipirinha and the ceviche tasted really fishy

nicole raverta

Nice place Great service

Jess D

So good, friendly and fast. Will definitely be back for more!!

Norah Lewin

Best tacos in nyc. Margaritas are terrific too. Sit at the bar to avoid the crowded dining room flow and prepare for a wait unless you avoid busy times.

Olga Bogomolova

Local gem with pretty on point Mexican food (as was stated by person who lived in Mexico for years). Their cocktails are amazing and great food to go with them: The ambiance is what you’d expect from a NYC restaurant, it’s not very big, a little cramped but when weather is nice they open their large windows. I had: - strawberry caipirinha: now I am picky with my caipirinha and having been to Brazil and having a few Brazilian friends I like to think I know a good caipirinha when I taste it. This was probably the best one I had in NY. Disclaimer: I did asked for 75% of the sugar they usually put. Also, their presentation is very Mexican style, with the rim of the glass covered in brown sugar. - mezcal mule: cool, smoky, refreshing, perfectly balanced. - tacos al pastor: yummm! Two tacos, lots of chunks of pork, flavorful, juicy... what you want your taco to be - guacamole: a decent portion with chunky avocado and a hint of heat from peppers

Suveer B

We were a party of six and EVERYTHING we were served here was exceptional. The coffee, the fresh watermelon juice, huevos rancheros, shrimp torta, and oh my God the French Bread with the exquisite dipping sauce!! I should have taken more pictures of the food. Special thanks to Abby for offering us great service. Oh, and we ended up here because Russ and Daughters was a 90 minute wait, but I'm glad for it!!

Yeison Osorio

Great food, great presentation, but very very small place, can get very loud.

Kyle Sherry

Great little spot for coffee and tacos... or whatever combo you want to make.

Catherine Echavarria

Great atmosphere & mojitos

Esteban Walther

Great Mexican food in LES and some of the best margaritas. Try the one who Jalapeños.

Claudio Cotto

Edit: food was decent. The wait for the food was at least 30 mins. The drinks are amazing. Would've given it a higher rating but the hostess lied about the wait being an hour then called a different party ahead of us. So she had to accommodate the party that she called by accident. Waited another 30-40 minutes for a call that never came! Bad business.

Alexier Soto-Carlo

Drinks are not that great. Packed over the weekend. Had to wait for almost an hour to order one drink. Not my favorite place to go for drinks

Kaitlyn Schnellbacher

Awesome place to sit down for lunch. I've been a few times with co-workers and have always had great service and food.

Ted Apostolacus

Great tacos, great margaritas, great guac! The jalapeño margarita is so so tasty!!

Omar Abdella

Great food, nice ambience, great drinks Mexican inspired

Brittany Chadi

I got the sangria it was delicious but on the sweeter side. I came on a night it was dead but the service was awesome. The drink menu was really hard to read but waiter helped us. The shrimp soup with cod with warm your heart n its a bit spicy.

Ziad Iskandar

I did not eat here however we came over for late drinks. The waitress was very nice and comped a drink that someone did not enjoy. Honestly the cocktails are ok however they have a good selection of tequila and mezcal. The music was really good so we ended up dancing and had a blast.

Marco Baldeon

Love the taquitos. U should try the "sincronizado" but be careful u get adicted... good jobs cookers.

charles richards

Intimate, cozy and personable restaurant with fantastic tequilas! The food is great and Elvis is a great bartender!

Keith Baumwald

I've tried Mole in 4 or 5 different places and this is the first time it's actually been good. This is a great dinner or brunch spot with a happening LES vibe. Plenty of people watching inside and out the front window - all of the food here is great and the margaritas come in a bunch of different flavors. You'll get out of here for about $30 a head with one main dish + drink + tip.

Sheila Sanchez

I grew up in this neighborhood. Pass this restaurant and it's always packed. Finally visited when a childhood friend was back in town and we loved it! Next time, I won't wait for someone from out of town to visit....it's in my backyard! TASTY FOOD and GOOD DRINKS!

Mary Toy

Just had a Mezcal and beer, but both were good, and an excellent bartender.

D A貅脸

This place is fantastic! We've been here thrice and each time the food and service have been wonderful. The Basil Martini is delightful and the pear&cheese ravioli are out of this world. Also be sure to get the Torta Della Nona for dessert.

Evan S.

Really good food and even better cocktails with great service.

Brett Larson

Great skirt steak and it's open late.

Richard Yan

A classic Mexican food shop in LES that's been here for years. Not a casual mom and pop, but more of a low-key restaurant with great food and drinks.

Frank Fiorenza

Best margherita in the city

Krakle Pops

Good amount of drinks to choose from and the portions are good, the price is a bit high but it's in the city so it's expected. Overall it's a nice place to go.

Alyssa Worthington

Great hole in the wall, excellent food and great service

Rejane F

Probably one of the best restaurants in the lower East side. Great tacos and amazing margaritas. Seating is limited so be prepared for a wait during popular hours

Eleanor Watts

Mexican food and the atmosphere here is better than most. Great location to meet with friends. Definitely worth a return visit. It has a great atmosphere.

Lillian Martin

Food was very tasty but service was slow. Cold air engulfed whole seating area. Dark lighting and loud music.

Johnny King

This tiny place serves delicious enchilada mole.

Florian Koenigsberger

Very solid option, though the space can feel cramped. Excellent tunes, was here on a first date and the music was so good it became a fixture of our conversation throughout the night. Menus handwritten on beer boxes are a nice touch. Recommend the ceviche!

Bernard Frey

My fav place for mexican food. This place does it for me. The staff was friendly and sociable.

Kevin Ward

Fantastic service, food, and margaritas. The three salsas are amazing, and the chili relleno was amazing.

Anita Angelica Moore

The habanero grapefruit margarita comes with a warning. But if you are a sado masochist like me, youll order it every time

T David

Top notch margaritas. Chill bartenders. Will definitely be back.

Eduardo Avalos

First off, I do want to say the drinks were good and the server was really hospitable and professional. Our negative experience mainly stems from these two very rude waitresses. Throughout our night, they were very insistent on kicking us out of our table. They really hit the final straw when one of the waitresses comes to our table and asks us to get out of our table to make space for people who were going to eat dinner. Normally, I would not be annoyed by that request, albeit a rude one, but the context of the situation was absolutely absurd. Other people in the restaurants were sitting down, without food on their tables and without drinks. She comes to our table, once we had all ordered a round of drinks for our table---drinks, which in all honesty are probably more expensive than any of the food those people were going to order. She asks us to take our drinks and sit on a window ledge near the corner of the restaurant. In other words, she was asking us to take out drinks outside. This was rude beyond comprehension. Again, the server was great and so were the food and drinks, but the service from these waitresses definitely needs some correcting from management.

Alisande

Yum ! The Watermelon margarita with spicy rim is insanely luscious. Lower East Side is my old neighborhood but is perpetually spawning new grub spots for the trying. This Mexican venue has a healthy margarita variety and the tacos were fresh and savory. We ordered the octopus torta? and the el Pastor tacos. That cilantro and pineapple twist was divine. So good. We did not want sit at the bar but understood reservations were made for the table we were eyeing near the window. So we just ordered tapas and drink. I rarely will order an entree when seated at bar because I like space and more comfort when truly chowing down. We will return with friends. Make reservations!

Joseph Saavedra

Great drinks, and usually a good crowd but frequently packed

Normalex

Great food and nice selection of classy drinks!

xue han

Real Mexican food full of flavours! Nice staff and amazing tequila. How looks from outside is the opposite of how good it is!! Really recommend this place and try guacamole with totopos as starter while waiting for food.

Neil Clark

Great food, and friendly service.

Ryan Flynn

Love this little spot. The HOTTEST margaritas I've ever had. Food and staff are awesome. Especially Fidel!

Ben Göllnitz

Nice place including some awesome quesadillas and super friendl staff

Julian Miller

Super accommodating of a last-minute addition to our party. Lovely staff, excellent food. Some of the best Mexican I've ever had.

David Gantt

Ordered entrees, no drinks, plus several things to share (guacamole, ceviche, etc.) and got one basket of chips. Tore through those and asked for more. Didn't get them until we asked for the check and she charged us for the basket. Food is good but they don't want you if you're not drinking.

Amanda Parker

I’m hard on Mexican-ish having lived in Texas for many years but the happy hour Margs hit the spot and the fish taco isn’t half bad.

Jaron Roering

Good food at reasonable prices. Not as crowded as others nearby.

Lucas Friedman

Cozy eatery with beautiful, clean decor. Incredible Latin American-inspired cuisine. The chorizo is the best I've ever had. Highly recommend. Nice and peaceful in the morning/early afternoon.

Crystal Gale

Good mole and guac but over priced and small portions. Not much space- don’t bring large group here.

Prachi Dalal

This place has a pretty relaxed atmosphere and Asian decor! Came here for an early dinner at 6.30pm on a Saturday. Was pretty empty but started filling up after 7.15 or so. I'm happy that it was a vegetarian friendly restaurant. The guacamole was good. The salsa was great and tortilla chips were different from what you get at most places - in a good way! They made the enchilada verde vegetarian for us. The verde sauce was really good. Liked their drinks too.

Dilicus

Amazing Mexican food with cozy atmo and delicious cocktails

David Keszei

Absolutely love this place. Sarah is fabtastic!!!!

Ellen J. Snyder

Tacos were mediocre, but the drinks were great. Service was good and the restaurant welcomes walk ins very quickly and easily. The venue is small so don’t expect to sit with a large party.

Sinista I.Z.

Way to small, seatting is very tight especially if your a big guy like me I'm 6ft 210 pounds and I wasn't very comfortable here. The food was ok but very small portions.

Sam Metsfan

Wouldn’t seat me until my friend arrived even tho they had tons of empty tables...So ridiculous. If is said table for 1 they woulda sat me at the same table as if two people had showed up. Makes zero sense. Greedy and snotty but doesn’t actually help them. Just went somewhere else

hang x

Very expensive for a small bowl of guacamole and 6 tiny tacos ($60). Better places all around. Drinks were decent though.

Joshua Mason

Great happy hour

Traci Cappiello

I know others rave about Barrio Chino, but at midnight on a Thursday, I just wasn't impressed, especially since this was a last resort given its hours. The chips and guacamole was just OK but the chicken enchiladas were delicious. Even if you're 1 of 4 tables in the tiny space, the tables are so close together and overcrowded, it's hard to enjoy your meal with your dining partner's elbow in your margarita.

Allen Olson

Happy hour is outrageous. Very small venue. Excellent guacamole and tacos.

Benjamin Prosnitz

Really fantastic food.

Anthonnette green

I was in the city from the Hamptons, with my family. My son Google and found this restaurant, our waitress was great the food was awesome however my daughter had a take out order since we ran out of time and she had to catch a bus to DC. After we received our take out I notice that there was no utensils in the bag; I asked the hostess for utensil she said we don't have any and we should go to the deli and get one. I was disgusted by the response after spending $180 on dinner. For that reason I would not recommend this restaurant to any of my many friends and family living or visiting lower east side.

Julie Dugas

Always great!

Daniela Giusti

I went there for dinner on Friday 05/17/19 with my fiancé and two friends. My friends were with their service dog. The owner or manager (not sure) of Barrio Chino, didn’t allow us to stay because of the service dog, even though is against the law. He also lie to us saying that the health department threat him to close if he allows dogs, Big lie!!! We insist and told him that by law he had to accept the service dog. He was really disrespectful making us go. The Refusing service and/or being rude to a service Dog and handler is not only unprofessional behavior, but it is illegal at both state and federal levels.

Alessandro Catter-Martinez

Great food and drinks. It gets very loud for such a small place. Be prepared to wait as it's a very popular.

adam sah

Spiciest cocktail! Habanero grapefruit margarita. Good vibes, food, indoor-outdoor. Great service.

Kerri Des Jardins

Wonderful spot! LOVED the Sangritas with the tequila, excellent!! Service could have been a little speedier. Guac was really wonderful and fresh. Halibut ceviche had such a great flavor, just a bit too much liquid for our taste, but fish was so fresh and tasty.

Ulrike Richter

Try the enchilada verde without chicken - just cheese!! Beautiful place. Staff is always super nice and comforts you.. Truly deserves 5 stars!

Stacey Louise Grant

One of the best Mexican spots in ny

Jonathan Sury

Stalwart of the neighborhood. Best spicy margaritas in town.

maruthi ayyappan

Okay place. Not much seating. Good bar scene

Bitun Banerjee

Fantastic food! Recommend!!

Niall MacKenzie

Food good and great location. Let down by service from waitress which was ghastly; rude & rushed.

Vanessa Powell

Best spicy margs ever! The food is good too, small space on LES

Austin Melton

Good food and even better drinks. Not unreasonably priced at all. Nice atmosphere and a real cool place to chill and have a drink.

Kathy Ray

Don't waste your time. Way better Mexican food elsewhere. Super tiny and tight space inside and extremely loud. Waitresses can't hear anything you say so be prepared to yell your order. They still won't hear you and will bring out everything wrong.

jasmin vinson

Barrio Chino is the spot to come for a really, I mean really excellent Magarita. If you can get it made by Carlos, even better. Ask for him. Their food is to die for. Having knowledge is Mexican cuisine I love how they incorporated new flavor techniques. Every place I go, I always order my favorite staple which is Green Chicken enchiladas. And by far this place has exceeded my expectations. It is my favorite meal to treat myself after a long week of work. My husband loves their steak tacos. Order four. Two won't be enough.

Cliff Resnick

Friendly, buzzy vibe, cramped unless you get a window seat. Food was delicious but portions were too small for the price.

Simon Mc Nally

Food was average, service was one of the worst I've ever had. Server was extremely rude from our first interaction and throughout the entire evening. Overall very disappointed. There are so many great Mexican restaurants in New York, never go here!

DAVID LEONG

I would not go back. I ordered a shrimp dish which was a vinegar based sauce? I wish I knew that's what they put in it before I ordered it

Samantha S.

Came here to meet up with some friends because Casa Mezcal was closed. Drink was great, staff is great, space is limited. I'm leaving 3 stars because we did not try the food (other people in our party did, was told it was good food) and had literally only one drink. They were still super accommodating to our large party size. Will go back for a meal when I have the time and update this review.

Kim DelMonico

THIS PLACE IS SO GOOD. We came all the way from Hell's Kitchen because I was craving tacos and my friend recommended this spot. It was 100% worth the trip. The tacos were incredible. And so was the service. I forgot to take pictures because I was so hungry and the food was gone so fast. Let's see...we had guacamole with chips and the optional veggies/jicama, one order of breakfast tacos (off the desayunos portion of the menu), two different types of regular tacos, and a few different drinks. We sat at the bar and had the nicest bartender. Definitely go check it out!