Barrio Fiesta

Omg everything is SO delicious! Don’t know how I didn’t eat here sooner. The garlic rice is my FAVORITE thing, get the fried chicken, the lumpias and the beef sig… something? Whatever you get you will love. Such good, hearty food that makes you feel like family. i seriously dream of the garlic rice…

website lists Barrio Fiesta as an «Express» and i had the impression it was. it isn’t, not now. it’s a typical sitdown eatery. no steam table. just order from menu. then they «cook it».
eats: pork adobo (9.49, listed on take out menu as 8.99)
–slice of tomato, cucumber
–fried egg, sunny side up
–pork adobo, 6ish pieces, chewy, only fat tender, in broth
–rice, mushy, not whole pieces, mostly broken pieces, slightly garlicky.
–heavy sodium after taste, salt yes, msg maybe
–small portion.
take outs:
–menu pricey, not a good value
–eatery nice décor with big pics on both walls of phillipine scenes.
–friendly service
–fast food menu prices out of date.
–not a good menu, 2ish stars. food not prepped well.

So I came here for my first time and I ordered the garlic rice, Bicol express and the lechon kawali and a couldn’t be more satisfied with everything that i ordered. I also loved that fact that it’s was busy and the waitress that was there was on top of things making sure everyone there was doing ok making sure everyone water was filled up
definitely I’ll be back again.

this place sucks… they tell you 20 minutes it will be ready but when you get there you end up waiting for another 30 minutes…

A friend and I were looking for something different after hitting the gym and stumbled upon this Filipino restaurant tucked away in a plaza off Monterey road. Both my friend and I were very familiar with Filipino food– my friend being half Filipino and eating that cuisine growing up; and me having a very culturally Filipino ex-​gf as well as eating at my friends house plenty of times growing up.
We ordered:
Lumpia
Crispy Pata
Sisig
Garlic rice
Pancit bihon
Beefsteak tagalog
All of the food was really tasty! Try this place out

I’m not a Filipina but even I could tell the food was mediocre. We got the garlic rice, and just like all the other Unilocalers commenting here, our garlic rice didn’t taste like garlic either.
The fish we had was way too salty, there was supposed to be garlic and ginger mixed in with it (I DID taste a bit of ginger), but the overall taste was «salt» rather than spice.
The prices are way too exorbitant. For the food flavor I would definitely go back if they offered cheaper prices (it’s close to my home okay). But now that I know what to expect, I would never go back there and pay full price.
To have the word «fiesta» in its name — this place is NOT a fiesta when you walk in. The décor is updated, but it’s very dreary and dark. And there was slow old people music playing. Not my idea of a party.
Our waitress stared at us the entire time we ate. I don’t like my own friends looking at me while I eat, so this made me highly uncomfortable.

I was craving for some Filipino Food for lunch today and this restaurant wasn’t far from Gilroy. I was a lil disappointed with my food. I ordered the milkfish meal and the fish was greasy and lacking some flavor. Thank goodness for the dipping vinegar coz it did help. The garlic rice was super dry and didn’t taste like garlic. As I was driving home, I had the nasty after taste. I hated that feeling as water wouldn’t even wash away that oily taste. I’ve had better Filipino Food and I can cook better than them.
The place was super clean though…

Though they have good deals for individual meals (comes with garlic rice, egg, and meat), the food was blah.
Garlic rice: did not taste like garlic rice and was definitely not fresh, they probably reheated the leftovers from the day before
Egg: how can you mess up on the egg? It was not fresh, old oil was used
Meat: I had tocino and hubby had the pork ribs, both were okay
We wanted to give this place a try since we live nearby but won’t be coming back.
Also, only one waitress working the whole front so don’t expect speedy service.

Gave this place a 2^nd try for Kare Kare dish. Kare Kare doesn’t taste like Kare Kare made from peanut sauce instead it tastes like it was made from a packet sauce. Tried several different restaurants from San Jose to Los Angeles for Kare Kare and so far this is the worst. Steamed rice alone can’t prove that this is an authentic Filipino restaurant. If they can’t perfect the rice cooking, what more with other dishes. With so many bad reviews, why don’t they improve their dishes. Giving Barrio Fiesta a bad reputation. I want to see improvement pls

First off, as others have stated, the Milpitas location has earned a good reputation. That said, we wanted to give this place a try. I will try not to go into too much detail, but the outcome was very disappointing.
We ordered 4 breakfast dishes (after 5pm, with only 3 other customers present) tocino, fried chicken, longanisa, and chicken adobo. As many of you know, these are pretty common filipino dishes that are fairly simple to make.
Complaints:
* My son found a piece of plastic in his chicken adobo
* They did not understand what «sunny side up» is for egg prep
* Garlic rice tasted like steam rice with a touch of soy sauce
* Garlic rice was heated up in microwave, but not long enough to fool anyone
* They are probably re-​using their oil, as their eggs had an after taste
Our waitress tried to handle our situation as best as she could, but I think it was beyond the damage control phase. By the time my son got his meal remade, most of us were already done with our meals. So much for eating together as a family.
Side note:
Drive to the Milpitas location. They haven’t added plastic to their chicken adobo!
Conclusion:
We will NOT be going back to this place.

Took my mother here to try it out. We frequent the Milpitas location and this place has most (but not all) of the items from the Milpitas location. All in all this is a good place — the service was friendly and attentive and the environment was kind of cool but it is a smaller place. The food is good and I found that it was seasoned quite well. Serving portions are large and I did feel the quality was pretty good. We had fried squid, beef kalderata, adobo rice and ube halaya. We also had the fried bangus plate which is a good deal since it is a combo plate. I would definitely come here again especially since it is so close to us.

My family really enjoyed our dining experience at their MIlpitas location, so when my friend was craving kare-​kare I recommended the new Barrio Fiesta since it’s closer to us!
I like what they’ve done to the place (simple décor compared to their other location). The staff were friendly and attentive, food was served hot, but the wait was long! However, I must say we did order four dishes for two (lol):
FOODS
— — — — — — –
Kare-​Kare — *sometimes kare-​kare tastes better when it’s not piping hot*. They skimped out on the oxtail/​meat! I was a little disappointed cause I was bragging about how good it was at the other location and how they had a good amount of oxtail and veggies in their kare-​kare.
Beef BBQ skewer — I really liked barrio Fiesta’s BBQ marinade, but what we had that day was a little dry than usual.
Laing — This Malay inspired dish is really good when done right! I like when laing is more dry not soupy. Barrio Fiesta served it hot and soupy.
Bicol Express — I’ve only had this dish once. It’s actually a regional dish so it’s not common in most Filipino menus. Not bad, but I was overwhelmed with all the coconut milk soupy flavors since we also had laing.
*Don’t forget the garlic rice*
Overall, this place is perfect for family style dining! We were stuffed after sharing all four dishes between the two of us. Upside? We had some food to go!

I’ve been robbed! Oh, wait. No. I only had lunch at this restaurant again and got RIPPED OFF.
Came here a few months ago and tried the rice plates and thought MEH. Not that good. Then my mom wanted to come here so I took her out to lunch. The bill came out to $ 80 and the food was AWFUL. I literally ate two bites of everything we ordered, except for the fried fish, and left the rest. We ordered kare kare, pinakbet, crispy spare ribs, lumpia and the fried fish. The kare kare and pinakbet were BLAND and thickened with cornstarch. The vegetables were limp. My mom said it was the worst lumpia she’s ever tasted. The fried fish was the only thing I could eat besides the rice. I could have fried a fish at home.
DOES ANYBODY HERE KNOW HOW TO COOK???
I don’t get these high Unilocal reviews. If you think this is good food, you don’t know what good Filipino tastes like. I’ll admit I’m spoiled growing up around amazing cooks, but even if I’d never eaten Filipino food before, I would have thought it was bland.
I guess I’ll stick to Goldilock’s. The one in Berryessa makes pretty decent food.

FINALLY. A Filipino food joint on the south side of San Jose. Not only that, it’s a good place to go! My brother decided to try out ALL of our favorite dishes in one go and didn’t think about reading reviews in regards to portions or flavour, we were that excited.
$ 85 dollars worth. We got :
Crispy Chicken — It comes as an order of drumsticks and fried bananas served with banana ketchup.
Crispy Pata — I was aiming for a small order but was told they only had large and extra large servings that day so large it was! I’ve only bought crispy pata once before. for myself so as far as I’m aware, the serving was huge! As far as I know, most places serve it as a huge 1 piece dish.
Sinigang Baboy — A little saltier than I had anticipated. and I know what sinigang is supposed to taste like but still good overall. My brother liked it so much he ate my portion!
Adobong Baboy — Now I wish i could have adobo everyday but it would be anything but healthy right? Interestingly enough, this adobo is full of flavor but not so incredibly salty.
Pork Sisig — It was sliced and minced and so soft i thought it was scrambled eggs. That might have something to do with it being a togo order and sitting around a bit too long and getting too moist.
Longanisa — soooo sweet. so good.
Siningag — I just wish this had more garlic to it. I couldn’t taste any garlic at all. I felt as though it was just rice fried by itself, haha. Perhaps it was an off day for garlic rice, but I’ll still order it again. It’s a plate you can’t exactly mess up on so…
Overall, a definite return from us (my brother & i). We probably won’t be ordering quite so much the next time around seeing that it took us 3 days to finish all that we ordered.

My sister and I had lunch here. I recall this place being Ang Sarap a long time ago. Apparently there is a new Filipino restaurant in place.
It is located in a strip mall, however when you enter it feels anything but that. The decoration was nicely appointed. Very modern, very clean. I was very surprised.
I love, love their garlic chicken. It is so delicious that it’s worth a trip to South San Jose just to have it again. I like their nilaga, but it isn’t the best I have had. Their food is delicious.
Also, be aware that they are in their soft-​opening phase. The service is slow, but it’s understandable. Try this place, you won’t regret it.

My bf and I came in around 4 and it was completely empty. I’ve never been to the location in Milpitas so I didn’t know what to expect. We walked in and it was really nice. It was fancier than most Filipino restaurants that I’ve ever been to.
We were greeted and told us we can sit at any 2 people table which was really small. I would have preferred a bigger table but I guess they were thinking other people were going to come in with bigger parties? Anyway, I ordered a calamansi juice which was really good, not too sweet but not too sour. The downside was just the small glass it was in. We ordered Tapas and Kare Kare. The kare kare was pretty damn good. Tasted almost like my Mom’s. It had a good amount of oxtail and vegetables. Most of the time Filipino restaurants like to skimp out on the meat but this had plenty. The tapas was good too it was very flavorful but tasted even better in the vinegar.
Service was decent. I’m assuming the manager was the one who served us because that’s what it said on the receipt. He never checked up on us but it was fine we didn’t really need much anyway. I would definitely come back again to try the other authentic Filipino dishes.

I was super excited when I found out a Barrio Fiesta had opened close to home. My son is a sinigang fanatic so we were on the search for sinigang today and I remembered a BF had opened recently.
Upon entering, the establishment looks fresh, clean, and modern. A lot smaller than I had pictured in my mind but definitely comfortable. The guy that took my order was nice and pleasant. I ordered three entrees and went to the dollar store to browse as I waited for my food to cook. 20 minutes later it was all packed and ready.
Once I arrived home we opened the dishes and got ready to eat. I was sadly disappointed with the flavoring and quality of the food. Flavor of sinigang was mediocre and it hardly had vegetables. Beef steak had way too much pepper and the sauce was too thick. The shrimp and pork Pinakbet was pretty good. All in all just mediocre. I had high hopes for this establishment so I would have a neighborhood restaurant to rely on when I’m not in the mood to cook. Looks like my dreams of not having to cook dinner will not be as close as I had hoped.
Regardless of this not so great experience, I think I’ll give this place another try. Maybe for breakfast. I really want to love it.

Barrio Fiesta is located right next to Dollar Store in the Walmart plaza. Its a fairly new place and definitely very clean. I love the décor inside.
I came here for lunch with a group of friends. We all ordered our own individual meals. I decided to go with the Chicken Adobo with fried egg and garlic rice.
I noticed there was only 2 chefs in the kitchen, since you can kinda peek into the kitchen from the dining area. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for our meals to come out.
My chicken adobo was really good! The chicken drumsticks was super tender and very flavorful. It tasted great with the garlic rice. The fried egg had a super runny yolk.
Overall, the food is great and the service was pretty good, too. For parties of 6 or more, we got charged an 18% gratuity. I’d definitely come back to try other dishes.

Turns out I showed up on ran out of okra day.
They were nice enough to send me a note, I guess I’ll be back for more :)

Noelle’s Unilocal Notebook 2014
Lunched with my mom, grandma and son at Barrio Fiesta on a weekday recently. It’s located in an older shopping center but do not let the outside deceive you. Inside you will find beautiful dark hardwood floors, freshly painted walls and beautiful photos of the Philippines that adorn the walls. This is a sit-​down restaurant and it’s dimly lit inside. We arrived around 11:30 a.m. on a weekday and there were a few people dining in but many people were taking food to go.
There is a sign you see upon entering saying it’s their «Soft Opening» period– so they are asking for some consideration and understanding as the staff and chefs go through the being new phase. This isn’t fast food service so don’t expect to be in and out (no pun intended!).
The entire staff was friendly and accommodating from start to finish. Barrio Fiesta has an excellent menu and a good variety of Filipino dishes to try.
Upon sitting, we were given menus and our glasses were filled with cold ice water. We ordered calamansi juice– and it was so refreshing (I LOVED this!).
For appetizers we started with fried chicken. The fried chicken was perfectly fried and seasoned well, this was served with banana ketchup and slivers of fried bananas. I was surprised that the fried chicken appetizer was only chicken drumsticks but it was tasty nonetheless. I’m allergic to bananas so I didn’t partake of the fried bananas or the banana ketchup. My mother ordered the kare-​kare dish which is a savory dish with oxtail meat, veggies and served in a peanut sauce (I didn’t try this as I’m allergic to peanuts). The kare-​kare dish was sizable and looked delicious. My grandmother and I both ordered silog dishes. Silog dishes in the Philippines are comprised of a protein (meat), fried egg and garlic fried rice. Grandmother had the milk-​fish silog and I had the tapa silog. We both requested our eggs to be fried firm but they came out runny (this was corrected upon letting our server know). The silogs were generous portions of meat, egg and fried rice. Unfortunately, the garlic fried rice was lacking in the garlic flavor but it was cooked perfectly. The tapa (fried beef) was good tasting but a tad on the sweet side for me. We also ordered the bistek tagalog (beef, potatoes and onions) — I just wanted a bite of this dish to taste.
As a new mom, I’m sometimes looking for shortcuts in cooking. If I find a place that cooks great bistek tagalog– I’ll just buy it from there versus cooking it from scratch :) The bistek tagalog was good– this is something I’d definitely order again.
For dessert we shared a halo-​halo and halayang ube.
Service was attentive during the start of the meal but it definitely started to become lagging towards the end of our meal service– for instance we had to flag a server down so we could get to-​go boxes, we also had to flag someone to get our dessert order, we also had to flag them down several times to clear the table before the dessert service.
I liked the halo-​halo but my mom thought it should have been sweeter (I wished it had a bit of leche flan on top!). The halayang ube was the perfect consistency but it could have used more condensed milk in my humble opinion.
4 Unilocal stars for the food
3 Unilocal stars for the service
Overall, Barrio Fiesta is good Filipino eats. Looking forward to coming back with my family and friends.
LOVE in 2014,
Noelle