Maybe it’s because the Red Sox are out of town, but the place is pretty quiet. It takes a beat for someone to help us at the hostess stand and they seem to be having a shortage on menus. We get seated near the bar/service station and out waitress seems to be a bit off – whether she’s having a bad day or what, the service was lacking. There was just this really weird vibe. Our water glasses were filled when we sat and weren’t filled again until we had paid the check and were ready to leave, and it was by another server who was awkwardly loitering around the bar.

Love the space – the decor, and the long bar. The weather is pretty iffy, and on the cool side, but there are people eating outside on the patio.

We order guacamole but it never comes. Our waitress seems to have just forgotten about it and we don’t see the sense in reminding her as out entrees come out pretty quickly. We get the shredded chicken tacos with poblano peppers. They are tasty and have a little bit of a kick to them.

We also ordered the spicy shrimp tacos with avocado and bacon, which don’t look as appealing as the chicken tacos, but they are in face good. There was a lot of spicy mayo on these, so they packed a little punch.

We also ordered the complete burrito with chicken, beef, pulled pork, chorizo, salsa, avocado, hot peppers, rice and beans. The sheer size of this thing is amazing – we ate this baby with a knife and fork it was too big to lift up and eat! Overall the food was ok, the price was right at three plates for around $36. I’m sure this place is hopping on game days, but we walked out with a weird feeling – having not been thrilled when this place was Happy’s and now not thrilled with this place being Barrio Cantina. The service in general needs to be upped, which we thought was odd, seeing as service is pretty high at Schlow’s other restaurants we have been to.

Barrio Cantina

1363 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02115
857 753 4100

http://www.barrioboston.com/

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I have been to Tico a couple of times before, but this time was exceptionally delicious. Tico is a Michael Schlow restaurant….you may know his other restaurants in town…Radius, Alta Strada, and Via Matta. A great after work spot, this place offers tapas, or small plates. We were ravenous, and ordered enough food to be embarrassed about eating (afterwards). Above are the beef tacos ($11).

The mac and cheese ($9) was tasty-classic elbow noodles with serrano ham and bread crumb topping did not disappoint.

The gambas al ajillo ($14) came out sizzling…shrimp cooked in LOTS of butter and garlic.

The risotto ($12) came with chorizo and was smokey and rich in flavor.

And the corn ($9) came with bacon and chiles. A really nice light dish with lots of flavors, but sweet and smokey.

The service was ok, nothing to write home about. They cleared your plates as soon as you were finished, to make room for the next course, and your water glass was always filled. The restaurant is dim and a bit noisy with the after work crowd at the bar area, but certainly worth checking out.

Tico
222 Berkeley St.
Boston, MA 02116

http://www.ticoboston.com/

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