Barrio Cantina and Grill goes green
The new Barrio Cantina and Grill has a name and a concept that sounds so familiar, so expected, that at first it seems particularly un-buzz worthy.
But while co-owner Todd Rosenbaum names one of Sam Fox's newest restaurants—Blanco Tacos + Tequila at the Borgata of Scottsdale—as a comparable Mexican dining destination, this new north Phoenix restaurant and bar hopes to set itself apart with an innovative menu and a focus on environmental responsibility.
Rosenbaum and Tom Zummo open the Valley's newest place to get upscale, but moderately priced Mexican at 11 a.m. Thursday at the corner of Cactus Road and Tatum Boulevard in Phoenix.
The place has four distinct menus: lunch and dinner, weekend brunch, late night and happy hour, with organic vegetables and wines and quirky dishes such as build-your-own-nachos and habanero-blueberry-lime jelly with peanut butter on a toasted tortilla.
Barrio Cantina and Grill also will recycle everything it can, rare for a restaurant, and use predominantly environmentally friendly cleaning products, soaps and other supplies.
"It's just how we live our lives; it's an expression of our personalities," Rosenbaum said.
Barrio is moving into an area dominated by chain restaurants "with 20-minute waits most nights," Rosenbaum said. It aims to attract those neighborhood diners with pedigreed executive chefs and management, including Ken Giordano, formerly of Durant's in Phoenix, and Thomas Heinicke, formerly of Tommy Bahama's Tropical Café and Emporium at Kierland Commons.
They'll serve updated Mexican dishes such as baked chili relleno, tacos and enchiladas for $10 to $12, as well as entrees such as mahi mahi with cilantro cream from $10 to $17.
While the men have been in the hospitality industry for years, with involvement in the popular nightclubs Axis/Radius, Myst and Sandbar Mexican Grill, Rosenbaum said they're foodies at heart.
That explains the experimentation on the cheapie happy-hour and late-night menus, including lobster taquitos with wasabi aioli, cerveza-marinated chicken sliders, and hot dog chunks wrapped in jalapeño bacon, covered with pepper Jack cheese and jalapeño bits served on three slider-size rolls.
The new restaurant also will have a full bar and 15 flat-screen TVs.
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