If you build it, they will come—Barrio Fiesta and how a seemingly lack of marketing effort makes me still try a restaurant out

Passing by Steeles Ave one time, I saw that the awning of Barrio Fiesta was put up. Really?  THE Barrio Fiesta?  Here?  Really? Hmmnn… same font and logo, it does say “Original,” so maybe it is the one! I haven’t heard folks talk about this much in forums or even in Facebook so I assumed their strategy was—we will build it and they will come. And those who come will spread the word. Well, we did come and here I am spreading the word! So I guess it works, somehow. When we passed by the area again, and I saw the sign “Now Open,” Hubby had to detour so that we can go check it out!

Hubby was quite unsure. This might be a soft opening, the line ups must be long, service will be slow! But I had to be the optimist that day so I said, no, not a lot of people know about it yet and slow service can be tolerated as we were not too hungry.

There was no line up when we got there but we did have to wait a bit for a couple of tables to be cleared before we were seated. The menu was the usual Barrio Fiesta fare minus anything with pork. Apparently, the Franchise owners cannot have pork in the menu for religious reasons. So much for Crispy pata! Oh well.

Service was not bad at all! It wasn’t lightning fast but the food came promptly. Not at all like the 1 hour wait times right across at Max’s these days!  Overall, the food was good, but the servings were small (not for the usual portions for Filipino-style family sharing). Most of what we ordered was good for only two; thus, making it a bit on the pricey side (each dish costs about $13-18). We started with Bouillabaisse soup, my mom’s fave and authentic to the Barrio Fiesta specialty that I remember. Hubby has never tried their version, much less DD#1 and they both loved it! But at $13.99 for a small pot, it was like fine dining. The creamy soup was good and there was a decent amount of shrimp. However, the mussels were not plump nor were they appetizing.

The crispy adobo (a specialty Filipino chicken dish) flakes were indeed crispy but lacked flavor. It does not taste of adobo at all. I would not recommend anyone to order this. But if you still end up ordering this dish, let me know if it is good. Am hoping they'll improve on this because Hubby and I love adobo flakes!

The palabok (rice noodles with sauce) was really good, though, and packed with seafood. The sauce was rich and it had tinapa (salty fish) flakes.

The crispy tadyang ng baka (beef ribs) was also good, especially with vinegar and soy sauce.



We no longer went for dessert but they had pandan and halo halo, among others. We would come back to try the other dishes, but I can see that eating there can be a treat. It is no Toonie Tuesday or Value meal. But we are just too happy that these dishes are becoming more and more accessible. And there is so much more to try! Happy Fiesta!