BEST FILIPINO RESTAURANT - BARRIO FIESTA NOW OPEN IN EAGLE ROCK!!!!!!!!

[lukin4gudfood]

Finally!!!!! It is now open! I passed by it last night and they are now open for business. My family and I went there for dinner and their food is still to die for. The crispy calamari is still the best and the Kare-Kare is great. If you missed Barrio Fiesta I suggest that you should go there they are now open on Eagle Rock Blvd. See you there!

[Normal Garciaparra]

Hmm, I wonder if their fried calamari is up to par with Asian Noodles, which IMO has the best fried squid, Filipino style or not.

[EKIMS]

anyone know what their hours are like? would like to go next monday.

[chocolatefudge]

Barrio Fiesta
4420 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-259-5826

Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11a.m.-10 p.m.
Closed Monday

[EKIMS]

Thanks

[sonoria]

Does anyone have a phone # for Barrio Fiesta? Everywhere I look comes up with the closed down 6th Street location.

[kinipela]

yay!!!! thanks for the info!! i'm gonna share this with my friends =) i hope u don't mind =) YAY!!!!!! =)

[EricW]

I know it's all new, but does anybody understand why there is a Barrio Fiesta at 4420 Eagle Rock, but also a Fiesta Sa Barrio across the street more or less at 4411 Eagle Rock, which also has the two dishes mentioned by the O.P.?

[Xericx]

Barrio Fiesta. I went the other night....FANTASTIC.

Kare Kare was excellent...just like I remembered from their lakewood branch...didn't seem like it was made with either a mix or peanut butter.....it was fairly gelatenous in texture...got a nice piece of oxtail...wish there was more eggplants...flavor and texture on the liquid was spot on as was the flavor....love this here.

Fried Calamari was awesome...dip it in the vinegar.....as was the Lumpia shanghai..very meaty.....fried perfectly...more meat than I'm used to in those things...

.could have done w/o the chicken adobo (oddly a bit thick, which I'm not used to and not as strong with the vinegar flavor as i liked) and the grilled pork though (just not a fan of this in general).

Parking lot is tiny, its CASH ONLY for right now and the decor is still getting together....it used to be a buffett restaurant....

also I think they might be closed mondays? not sure....we tried going on monday but it was closed.

[yogadkan]

yeah right....i was enjoying my meal with the kare - kare....really it was good but until i got to the oxtails!!! big chunks of artery cloggers, can't even find any meaty part ..it spoiled my dinner with the thought that the sauce is also filled with those fats. if you value your health do no think of going to this restaurant.

[SauceSupreme]

I love kare-kare which is why I asked my mother to make it with braised short ribs instead. I told her, "You make a good living, Mom, you don't need to buy the peasant cuts anymore." Haven't looked back since.

When I open my high-end Filipino restaurant, that'll be braised short rib kare-kare will be on the menu.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Ano bayon? May oxtail sa ang tunay ng kare kare!!! What? There is oxtail in any real kare kare. It is oxtail--not short-ribs nor "peasant cuts"--that define kare kare.

[Jase]

I have to agree. kare-kare just isn't the same without oxtail. I've done it with short ribs and although tasty, its not the same dish. Besides, I don't eat filipino food thinking its healthy. Just reminds me of growing up there.

[SauceSupreme]

I agree that kare-kare isn't the same, but then again, that's why I'm calling it my high end Filipino restaurant. I commented in another thread that paradoxically, no Filipino would ever visit, and these comments bear that truth.

It amazes me that while we're the 2nd largest Asian group (behind the Chinese), we have still yet to see many restaurants grow beyond that of point-point-joints. I'm not saying that it's necessarily bad, as it keeps the cuisine firmly entrenched in home cooking, but I'd love to see where creativity fits into a cuisine where tradition is so staunchly defended.

[Jase]

My family has an interesting theory, which I don't have enough experience to judge. Anyway, the feeling is that Filipino's unlike most other asian ethnic groups are unwilling to pour too much money into a high volume, low margin business. The thought is if you have the money to invest, why bother with a restuarant, go into something that'll return higher.

A cousin started a nicer Filipino restaurant along the lines of the late Manga Grill. It was profitable but his partner wanted to cash out after a couple of years because it wasn't returning enough. He ended up closing and returned to his other non food businesses.

I heard the same rumor about Manga Grill closing. Owners wanted to stick with their Filipino food products company. Easier money, restaurant was too much work for the the return.

[SauceSupreme]

Chef Andre Guerrero seems to have struck the right balance, where Oinkster gives him a high-margin business, allowing to focus his creativity on Max. Boule and Jin Patisserie are both doing well, also.

[kinipela]

plus also oxtail is now in a lot of those "high end" restaurants... if i recall correctly, some places charge sooo much for oxtail....i consider ourselves lucky that we could have kare-kare! yum =)

[Eat_Nopal]

Where do you get the idea that oxtails are artery cloggers? They aren't particularly fatty... the geleatinous ring around the flesh is made from proteins. In fact, these types of gelatinous tissues are the perfect way to the lushness of fat without the worry.

[jocey]

I have no idea why there is a Barrio Fiesta and then a Fiesta Sa Barrio. My question is this...Isn't there a Barrio's Fiesta on York Blvd in Highland Park? Are they the same owners or is it just another restaurant with an almost identicle name?

[Xericx]

probably why there's a "Famous Tomy's" and "Tommy's" burger within a mile in Santa Monica/Venice on Lincoln Blvd....just try to feed off the hype?

[Normal Garciaparra]

"Fiesta Sa Barrio" was started by disgruntled ex-Barrio Fiesta employees who decided to forge their own venture, according to the tsismis I heard over the past year.

[katkoupai]

A friend and I met at Fiesta Sa Barrio today. We were supposed to meet at Barrio Fiesta, but I went to the wrong place. The restaurants are within walking distance of one another.

We tried the pancit noodles and the beef tagalog with white rice at Barrio Sa Fiesta. Both of these were fine, but the highlight for me was dessert. I tried halo halo for the first time, and I really liked it! My friend expalined that halo halo means "mix mix," so she mixed the shaved ice, ube ice cream, leche flan, puffed rice and fruit cocktail for me. She gave me a big portion of the purple ube ice cream. It was really good and perfect for a hot day like today.

We then went to a market across the street and she bought Filipino snacks, dried mangos and other goodies and gave some to me to try.

Nanay's Seafood Market
[phone]
4032 Eagle Rock Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA

I had a little tour of Filipino Highland Park, and it was great. :)

-----
Fiesta Sa Barrio
4411 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041

[Griller141]

Are they open for lunch?

[SauceSupreme]

Do the make the kare-kare out of peanut butter or out of a Mama Sita mix or out of real ground peanuts and rice flour?

[sonoria]

Thanks for the heads up! If I can't get mom's homecooking then at least there's Barrio Fiesta closeby once again.

RIP 6th Street location :(

[PurpleTeeth]

Where on Eagle Rock Blvd? Do they have beer & wine?

[snooze button]

YAY. This, and a decadent dessert, may be my next splurge. Thanks for passing this on.