Barrio Queen in Scottsdale: Happy Hour Report Card

The Spot: Barrio Queen, Scottsdale and Gilbert 
7114 East Stetson Drive Suite 105, Scottsdale
388 N. Gilbert Road, Gilbert
www.barrioqueen.com

The Hours: The restaurant's new happy hour is every day from 2 to 6 p.m., with a reverse happy hour from 9 p.m. to close 

Perfect For: A strong margarita and a healthy heaping of pork on a sunny day. 

The Interior: We went to the Barrio Queen in Old Town Scottsdale, which has a decent space with a bar and dining area, plus a patio that looks onto the Scottsdale waterfront. We were excited to find out the restaurant offers free wifi, which makes the restaurant's patio an ideal place for getting some work done with a margarita at your side. 

The Food: Barrio Queen classifies its food as "Mexico City Soul Food," serving a buttoned-up Mexican fare on the regular menu. The happy hour menu isn't much different; we were pleased with the selection, ranging from sopes to mini tortas, all priced at $6. The puerco verde cup, which came with a nice helping of corn totopos,  was a cheesy dip for pork lovers. The pork was well-seasoned, marinated with orange and Coca-Cola.

We also couldn't help but go for the taquitos, which came rolled up with a slightly spicy slow-roasted pork called cochinita pibil. There was also a light, creamy sauce topping the taquitos, but it didn't really do much to add to the dish. In all, the dish was pretty ordinary. 
The Drink: Barrio Queen offers a nice variety of drinks on its happy hour menu, from $5 glasses of house wine to $4 Mexican draft beer to half off select, in-house tequila. Of course, we went for the $4 casa margarita, which came on the rocks with a salted rim. The tequila in this drink was pretty strong, but not overpowering. 

Conclusion: Barrio Queen really stepped it up for its newest happy hour. For around $17, we got a margarita and two filling dishes, plus some entertaining Old Town Scottsdale people-watching. This spot also does a good job of keeping customers happy with super attentive service.

Don't Miss: A sunny day on the patio. Barrio Queen's happy hour was made for spring.
Skip This: The taquitos, which were a little bland. There are other, more intriguing options offered for happy hour.

Grade: A