El Barrio Restaurante Latino

After living a 10min stumble away from El Barrio’s doors for almost 4yrs I finally wandered in tonight. Which wasn’t until after reading other reviews here that informed me that this was now Xcite, our usual post-​hike Burnaby pit stop. I think the change from El Barrio to Xcite partially escaped us because we tried to go in once with our son when we first moved here and were refused to be seated for having a child with us. It became a non-​existent black hole to us and we have unfortunately walked by as if it was never there ever since.
Important to note that there was a toddler seated at the table next to us when we arrived this evening so they must not be under the same licensing as before.
Anyhow, now that I know it is Xcite and after I stop kicking myself for not noticing the change on their sign, I will be back, again and again!
Not a classy place but definitely a satisfying and delicious place, especially, if you stick to the added in mexican menu that must be a left over from El Barrio. Xcite, Burnaby does not have this mexican addition to there menu. The regular menu here is a perfect match to the Burnaby location. This menu includes some good salad options, burgers, sandwiches, plus steak or chicken dinners and even souvlaki. All with roast potato, salad and rice, the signature Xcite side dishes.
I had the Pastel Azteca from the mexican menu which is basically like an amazing mexican lasagna. It will be hard for me to ever order anything else on future visits. My dinner partner had the enchilada’s to which he quickly exclaimed they were the best he has ever had.
Double martini’s were on special tonight, Wed. (different drink specials/​day). Between us we had four double martini’s plus two entre’s, our bill came to just slightly over $ 40 before tip. We have paid more for breakfast without the alcohol so great deal!
Not a place to take to impress but definitely a place to find comfort food that suits many, with polite entertaining and quick service that leaves enough money to still have a drink or three to wind down the day.

Discovered place on Monday, when they have steak special. And beer special the same day. Could not ask for better combination ;)
The place is normal — not the place where you would bring a date or spend chatty afternoon with friend, but for good meal for even better price (steak for $ 6 and not bad steak at all) and drinks are also great — like Wednesdays with 2oz Martinis) or sports game — place could be perfect fit — although somebody else would have to give review on that, as I havent been lucky to catch Canucks game there, so i dont know how busy it usually gets.

El Barrio = Bang for your buck. This little place features mexican food on the cheap: Guacamole & chips for $ 4.95, and beef burger w/​potato & salad on side for $ 5.95. I ordered the cajun chicken burger for $ 6.95, and the portion is plenty.
They also feature daily drink and meal specials including $ 3.95 long island ice tea Fridays. Monday, they feature a 6oz steak for $ 6. $ 6! You could double up for 12oz and and drink and still have a meal for under $ 20.
The flavour is not the most authentic or my favourite, but I have not found a dinner for $ 6 in a long time.
The only funny thing is their identity confusion: they are referred to as El Barrio at X-​site (they used to be X-​Site, and then changed their name). This may be why their menu has Mexican items, and then a few odd items tossed in (alfredo w/​curry sauce anyone?).
PS: Live music starts up normally around 8ish.

I had the Cajun chicken burger with a side salad and a potato which was just $ 6.95. The waiter was very attentive, and I commented to him that it was the best service that I have had in a long time.
The food was excellent, flavourful and juicy. My friend had the nachos which was a huge portion, but, I think it needs more cheese because in my opinion, every chip needs to have some cheese melted on it. However, he liked the pork burrito with the spicy sauce.

El Barrio/​X-​Site — What ever your name is… Why you gotta be so confusing?!
The main sign says X-​Site.
The specials are posted on a sandwich board out front with the El Barrio name and they still have the DELICIOUS tacos that drew us in from the start. Chef Luis is back in the kitchen and man… oh man… can this guy cook and bake.
I just had the juiciest, most flavourful pulled-​pork taco evvvaar– and what a deal 3 tacos for 8.99 !
Then Kelly, host and bar tender asked us about dessert. I happened to have read earlier about the Mango cheesecake-​brule. I know my sweetie’s gonna die when he sees this so we order it. I can’t eat it, so I’m the one dying. (See the picture) That was a five star hotel style dessert — no exaggeration!
Place description: This is still a cute bar and grill with regulars that know one another, free wireless and nightly entertainment, great specials and friendly staff.

Yup, just another little spot in the ‘hood I chose to grab a glass o wine after a day at the office. I definitely want to try the food, the menu looked glorious! The wine was tasty and the service was perfect. I’ll update once they fill my belly!

Seriously disappointed.
El Barrio had been on my radar for a while, and I finally got the opportunity to drop in recently. It had been a long day at work, and so I was talked into ordering a pitcher of Sangria, and it was unpalatable at best. It tasted extremely tinny, and when I stirred it around a bit to investigate, the scant, minuscule pieces of fruit were deeply stained as if they had been sitting around for a while. It was the kind of drink you take a sip of, cringe, then follow with a sip of water. When we probed a bit with the server, he said that they pre-​soak their fruit, but couldn’t really explain the tinny flavour.
Margaritas were a slight improvement. The food, however, was equally as bad. I wasn’t really eating, but tried bites here and there and was extremely unimpressed. The salsa that accompanied the quesadilla had a strange flavour that I couldn’t identify, and basically just consisted of a bunch of mealy, diced tomato pieces. The burrito was on special with the purchase of a drink, and was advertised as coming with rice and beans on the side. The rice and beans that accompanied the burrito amounted to like, two tablespoons of each side, but perhaps that was best, as the rice tasted like some kind of Uncle Ben’s instant bistro mix, and the beans were way too salty. I did not try the burrito itself.
It was obvious that we were unsatisfied with our experience, but no reparations were offered — not as though they were expected, but it might have helped to take the bad taste (literally, bad taste) out of my mouth. Prices seem on the high side, and though the menu is interesting, I fear that the execution fails, though your mileage may vary. On the bright side, the room is kind of fun.

I have eaten here a few times as a sit down as well as takeout. This place is warm and inviting and the staff are awesome.
They make your guacamole to order so it is tasty and fresh and give you a mound of hot, fresh corn chips. The portions are great (there is almost always some leftovers) and the ingredients delicious and fresh. I have tried something different each time and they are so good I cant really pick a favourite.
They have a stage and do live shows some nights. Sadly they are closed mondays.

Not a memorable experience.
I came here a while back with a few friends to try this place out (thank you Groupons!). At the end of our meal, we all felt the same about the food and came to an unanimous decision… yeah, either we don’t like Mexican/​Latin American food or we just didn’t like the food here.
We ordered a couple of things to share, Guacamole, Chorizo Tacos, and Chicken Enchiladas.
The Guacamole: Gotta try this! Best I’ve ever had!
Chorizo Tacos: The taco was alright, but the homemade sausage seemed to lack a bit of flavour and impact. You could barely notice it there. Probably should have ordered beef instead?
Chicken Enchiladas: This dish was not impressive to us. Every component seemed to lack seasoning and just fell flat. Also, the dish was baked with cheese of course, but they layered a huge pile of cheese on top which cooled down when it got to the table. It was like eat enchiladas with chucks of cheese (.5−1 cm layer).
The service was great however. Not many places with servers that are so knowledgeable about the menu.
I believe they have live music on certain nights which is pretty cool (at least they did when I was in, Tuesday night).
It’s a pretty cool restaurant, but too bad the food wasn’t as promising.

I love El Barrio. I keep going back and back. The people are really what make the joint such a great place. The servers and owners are outstandingly friendly. The food I’ve had has always been super tasty. The mole sauce for the beef burrito is extremely delicious. I love the weekday pitcher specials. $ 12 for a pitcher of pale ale is fine by me! everything foodwise is beautifully presented. overall, always a happy experience.

I have no complaints about El Barrio, because I have yet to have an experience at this place that is negative in any way. The food is authentic (as near as I can tell) and delicious, prepared with care and sass. Staff is friendly and really wants you to enjoy yourself. They are willing to bend over backwards to make sure you have something to eat, even if you have dietary restrictions.
Also, the margaritas are killer.

One of my favorite neighbourhoods in Vancouver, the east side. gritty and at it’s prime back in the 60’s-70’s. El Barrio’s Mexican fare was fantastic, the live music was an added bonus. It’s more of a pub feeling than restaurant feeling. Happy to have stumbled across this place, appears to have a lotta locals frequent the place. Would go back for sure.

Love the food at this great little Mexican restaurant which I can best sum up with three little adjectives: authentic, contemporary, and to-​die-​for!
This is where I learned of the existence of Mexican corn truffles, which El Barrio prepares in scrumptious rolled up flautas. Everthing is served with a side of mole, and you get to choose from four varieties of freshly prepared salsa.
The plates are always beautifully prepared and served — this is not your sloppy burrtio and side of rice kind of place. The service, without exception, has always been excellent, every time I’ve visited.
There’s always some kind of live entertainment booked, either a lcoal band, a drag show or amateur night at the mike, which can be fun but can also be intrusive if you just want to have a quiet meal with friends. I recommend going early in the evening if you want to skip the entertainment.
I love the food so much I chose to have my birthday meal there this year, and it was both satisfying and memorable.

The boyfriend and i are doing a vegan month, and we were more than satisfied tonight at El Barrio. We were with a large birthday party, and everyone seemed extremely happy with their food, helped along by the outrageously tasty pitchers of lime margaritas — yum!
We split the Patatas with chipotle (spicy, smokey and crispy) and the flautas filled with corn and spinach and enjoyed every bite — the only fail was the ‘Tiras” — the menu intuited that this was a salad, and it turned out to be veggie and fruit sticks served with salt and hot sauce. I actually enjoyed the result, but was expecting a salad, and was a bit let down.
The service was great, and the staff went out of their way to ensure that the birthday boy was well taken care of (shots of tequila, complimentary dessert) — A+ for the staff.
We will return when this vegan month is over to sample the cheese-​laden delights on the rest of the menu!

I found El Barrio on Unilocal!after searching for good Mexican food in East Vancouver. When I went to highschool in the neighborhood of El Barrio in the 90’s the population of Latin Americans was quite large so I knew that I’d find some good Latin American food in this neighborhood.
The guacamole, albeit expensive (at $ 7.50 with 4 toritillas) was delicious. Often when you order guacamole or salsa and chips at Mexican restaurants it’s not very good but here the taste was very flavorful.
We had enchiladas which were pretty good and chorizo tacos which were amazing. It’s not very often that I don’t have to add salt to food at restaurants but this was one of those times.
The service was extremely friendly.
The only complaints I have were that for the quality of food, I would expect excellent sangria but I would say it was decent but not something I would order every time. The guacamole was too expensive.
All in all, it was a great experience and I look forward to going back and trying other dishes at El Barrio.

I ended up coming here the first time when the boyfriend and I were having a hankering for some Mexican food and wanted to try someplace we’d never been before. Good choice! It happened to be a Friday night, so we got to enjoy some open mic entertainment while being treated like old friends by staff and checking out all the art on the walls by local Vancouver artists.
The food is incredible and not your typical heavy North American style Mexican/​Latin food. Definitely more authentic than the usual fare found around here. My personal recommendations? The Sopa Azteca (awesome tomato based soup) and the garlic/​lime/​butter/​tequila prawns, both off the appetizer menu. And I want to try basically everything else at some point.
My only complaint is that it was a bit hard to see the first time we went there, especially since we weren’t sure exactly what we were looking for. The outdoor signage is all all red and black and not illuminated, so we nearly drove right past it trying to find the restaurant at night.
Definitely going back.

Late night good times!
My friends convinced me to join them for a late night snack, and we ended up at El Barrio for the first time. It was open mic night, which was very cool if a little loud. The food, however, was fantastic — I hadn’t planned on ordering more than drinks, but I was swayed by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. We’ll definitely be back — any place with good salsa is tops in my book, and EB’s pico de gallo was *incredible*.

* Right idea — but not firing on all cylinders *
I was happy to see a variety of a la plancha offered on the menu. I was even happier when the very friendly server asked how I would like my carne a la plancha cooked. +1
The steak arrived on a sizzling skillet on top of peppers and onions. It came with a side of diced tomato salsa, guacamole, and corn tortillas wrapped in a towel. This all seemed really promising. +1
The corn tortillas were nicely grilled so that the «bubbles» had broken and browned. I think they may still be store bought tortillas but the extra grilling really helped them along nicely. +1
The guacamole had nice big fresh chunks of avocado and was nice. +1
The tomato salsa lacked spice entirely unfortunately. So it was more like a tomato salad almost. –1
The peppers and onions were unfortunately swimming in oil and not caramelized like I like them in an a la plancha. They took on an almost steamed quality as they had that much oil. Too bad. –1
The steak, which I had ordered rare, was definitely not rare at all getting much closer to medium well. Even though the menu promised it would be marinated in achiote and pineapple juice, it had almost no taste of seasoning sadly. Disappointing. –1
I asked if they had anything to spice things up a bit and the server was worried that I thought it was too spicy!!! Um, no… When we clarified that he brought over a bottled green habañero sauce. It was disappointing that the only way to spice things up was a bottled sauce. –1
Pricing was high for what they offered with the a la plancha running $ 17.95 at lunchtime. –1
Overall there were some signs of hope. Considering all of their other positive reviews, perhaps they are not their strongest at lunchtime and I should return to try them at dinner when they are firing on all cylinders?

I came here with a friend on his recommendation. He’s usually on and he wasn’t off on this one. The restaurant is a bit out of the way on East Hastings but any place worthy of the food is worth the journey.
The staff were friendly and attentive. The also had some great recommendations. We started with the spicy potatoes as an appetizer. They were fantastic! We polished off the generous plate in minutes.
I ordered a burrito that came with rice, pico de gallo, salsa verde and some black beans on the side. Inside, the burrito included some greens and as a pleasant surprise, cactus — which I love!
The servings was huge but not excessive — my friends didn’t think I would finish it all (but I did)!
There’s only a few items for vegetarians, but everything that was ordered looked delicious — even to me the vegetarian!
The only thing that I was disappointed by was the lack of (free) chips and salsa at the start of the meal, but the ample portion sizes made up for that.
If you’re hungry and looking for some great Mexican/​Latin food, give El Barrio a try!

El Barrio is such a wonderful gem. A friend who lives in the neighborhood, er the barrio, suggested this place when we were getting a group of about 20 together. (The space works well for groups.) That first time I was there I enjoyed a margarita and queso fundido. The queso was awesome– a skillet of Oaxacan cheese with peppers and onions, served with hot corn tortillas. Amazing. The mojitos that others ordered were a big size. I had the chance to sample some potato dish that was excellent.
Last night I went again to El Barrio. I was proud to show off this place to other friends. They had live music– a great duo of Spanish guitar and some awesome vocals. (Two thumbs up for the atmosphere– also love the colourful paintings!)
This time I got the vegetarian enchiladas. They were good. However, they were not what I expected. I expected cheese– but really it was ONION, lots and lots of onion, perhaps sprinkled with some cheese? It was a great flavor– but I don’t love onions that much, so next time I’ll try beef or chicken. I tried the Sangria… it’s good, but nothing I would rave about. Before our meal, we had a variation on the classic chips and salsa. It was a very small bowl of red salsa with thin strips of corn chips sticking out. Unusual– but nice presentation. The sauce I liked, the chips tasted a little bit like Fritos.
Despite not being thrilled with my onion enchiladas, I like this place a lot, and will keep returning to sample new things on the menu.