The Mexican Barrel House

Reviews

• JM

  Jeffrey Mullen

  5 days ago
  1.0
  After waiting sooooo long for this place to open we wanted so much for this new restaurant to be great. Perhaps a one star is a little harsh because our waitress was very friendly and the decor is beautiful but that doesn’t mean much if the food only deserves one star! We were there on Thursday night 2/26/2026 for dinner. My husband had the Mar Y Tierra with asparagus instead of Brussel sprouts. The steak was tough and he could only eat about a third of it. The rest we took home for the dog. The asparagus and the mashed potatoes were ok but barely warm. The shrimp was the only saving grace. Paying $32 for this entree had our expectations high but it clearly missed the mark. I had the EL Burrito with grilled chicken. I was surprised at how small it was for the $17.75 price point. It comes with a little bit of rice and what they call spring mix and pico de gallo and a tablespoon of sour cream. The chicken was dry with very little flavor. The good part about it was the small amount of melted cheese sauce on top, but needed more of it. The margarita was average at best as well. (If you want a great fresh margarita try Uncle Julio’s in Frontenac) We decided to skip dessert since we had already been disappointed enough. I doubt we will return any time soon but I do hope for the Flores family and their patrons that they make some adjustments! Not having Fajitas on the menu and explaining that they are “trying something different” may come to bite them in the behind as fajitas are extremely popular and why many folks choose a Mexican restaurant. Also, making customers pay for chips and salsa with the prices they are expecting people to pay, doesn’t make you upscale it just makes you cheap! The prices warrant complimentary chips and salsa! This place is casual and the only upscale part are the prices and small portions! (Our bill was around $80 with tip.) We hope it gets better but we will choose Uncle Julio’s over this place again and again. Good luck Flores Family, we know it’s been an uphill battle getting this place open!
• PE

  Pamela Edson

  6 days ago
  3.0
  Ugh I really wanted to give this a great review, but, I just can't. We went obviously while the restaurant was still in their opening stages, but it was clear the place was not staffed appropriately for a Friday night dinner service + happy hour. It took both my husband and I going up to the bar at separate times to try and get a drink. Initially my husband was waiting for 20+ minutes and the bartenders didn't even acknowledge him. Then I went up and it took another customer to get the bartenders attention before I could order. I said thank you to the bartender 3 times (tall guy with the handle bar mustache) and not once was it acknowledged. That whole experience immediately turned me off to the restaurant. After waiting an hour, we were finally seated. Got our drinks and food and once ordering a second round of drinks, it took forever to get one of the two margaritas - no joke at least 30 minutes. The waiter was apparently able to reduce the margarita price by 50%, but not remove it completely, which I found odd. Customer service is huge and it just didn't show at all. It's clear the delays all stem from the bar area and that is why tables can't be turned over quickly. I highly suggest getting additional bar tenders and maybe even one or two bar backs AND train them in customer service Aside from that, the food was good and the place was decorated beautifully but not sure I would go back until the customer service is figured out.
• TH

  Tracy Horvath

  Feb 22, 2026
  1.0
  Knowing that this restaurant has just opened within the last couple of weeks I went in with a very low expectation and unfortunately left with an even lower feeling about this place. We typically wait a few months before trying someplace new but we were taking a chance. We should have waited. The hostess was so sweet and apologized that it would be an hour wait. No biggie, we told her. So we went to sit at the bar for a drink. There were three bartenders and, what appeared to be a manager, behind the bar and not one person acknowledged us for at least 10 minutes. We sat in front of a dirty spot as people had just vacated the bar stools. Even when making eye contact with each employee working back there we were not said hello to, or we’ll be right with you, or let me clean that up. We finally ended up getting drinks and she cleaned up in front of us at that time but the lack of personality behind the bar was unwelcoming. The one bartender seemed to slam every shaker, glass, condiment tray on the rail. He was clearly having some feelings lol. Our table took less time than we thought so that was a plus but when the hostess walked us to our table it wasn’t cleaned off yet so we walked back to the host stand to wait. We waited for 5 minutes so I asked the main hostess what was going on she said “she hasn’t come back for you yet?” Looking clearly annoyed. We sat at the table and again took about 10 minutes for the waitress to acknowledge us and when she did seemed like she would be attentive. She walked by several times after that and didn’t even look our way. After sitting another 5 minutes after she walked by we decided to cut our losses and leave. My husband was approached by a manager as we were walking out asking why we were leaving and he just told them “we understand you’re new but you need to be better and have the staff trained up properly before opening a restaurant of this size”. The one star rating is for the young hostess (she has long hair and glasses) that was really trying her best to seat people and work with the other girls who really didn’t know much of what was going on. At least she looked like she cared about customer experience. Working in the service industry I totally understand glitches and hiccups. But when the entire experience was glitchy it more falls on the overall staff and management.
• SS

  Sandra Smith

  Feb 16, 2026
  2.0
  Our small group arrived at 1:30ish and we were seated immediately. The place is really nice looking, great ambiance. We were given our menus and started looking at them. Most everything was breakfast items. We called the hosted over and stated they gave us the wrong menus we want lunch. She said this is their brunch menu. I asked where the lunch items were. She pointed to the bottom of one page with 8 items, ie.. 1 chicken enchilada with rice and beans. We really contemplated leaving because we didn't want breakfast but decided to give it a try. Went to order drinks and they were out of the ones we wanted, so iced tea it is. Went to order food and some of those things were not available. So we ordered and while we were ordering the waiter asked if that was an ala carte item??? There are no ala carte items on this menu. So no. Yet 1 of us got an ala carte item instead of the meal. I was very confused about the menu because when I looked up the restaurant this wasn't the menu. We were told it's our waiters 1st day and he seemed confused. Asked about one of the items and were told he'd find out. Never did. Maybe we'll try this restaurant in the evening maybe not. We definitely won't go back for brunch at lunch. Really good mexi restaurant right down the road for lunch. Food taste, was okay. Not wonderful. Nothing that's wow! Or says I'll need to come back again soon. Such a shame. ****In response to your reply: we went to this restaurant during the week and not on the weekend. If it was a weekend i could see brunch. There's not really a brunch if there's only a few lunch options, it's really just breakfast.
• KL

  Ken Levine

  Feb 10, 2026
  3.0
  This a real mixed review. When the service is not good and the bill is botched, something needs to be done about it, but it did not happen. We have waited to see the opening of this old Houlihan's site for almost 2 years and were excited to try the "Mexican Barrell Restaurant" located in Creve Coeur off Olive. The decor is amazing and I can see why it might have taken so long to open, but I know otherwise. The menu is a good selection of fine quality Mexican delicacies including tacos, burritos, enchilada's and much more including a special BBQ selection of the menu. They have 2 large commercial smokers standing out back of the restaurant as proof. We ordered and the order came out wrong for me. My wife's order was right, but the temp was not very warm. I addressed the issue with our waitress, and she apologized and offered to replace my order with one that I actually ordered. I told her I needed it on a flour tortilla and she said, "NO Problem". When the replacement order came out it was on a corn tortilla. I told her as she put it down in front of me and she again apologized and just stood there. I told I was hungry and would eat the filling out of it. I will say the food flavor of the 3 tacos were delicious. They just were not what I ordered. Now comes the bill. I have been in the restaurant business for many years and when your staff makes an error like this, the manager should take of it. I was charged for all three tacos. You might say, well you eat all three, didn't you? I did, but it's not what I ordered and that's when we called over the Manager Tyler. He seemed very nice and listened to my explanation of the events and he also apologized, saying they are all new there and still learning the ways of the restaurant. He said he would take care of this. He came back after a minute and took 1/2 off one of the tacos and not the most expensive one either. In both my wife's mind and mine, I expected to be charged for 1 taco. I ordered 2 taco's and both the 2nd and third were not right. You can call this nit picking, however when you are teaching staff about how to do this right, and you fail, the customer is always right and should feel like they received a value. It's how you get clientele to come back and give them another try. Not sure that will happen.