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Is Barrio in Portsmouth, NH Still Worth the Hype? [2025 Review]

March 27, 2025March 28, 2025Destinations BigBody Leave a Comment

After roughly five years away from my home state of New Hampshire, I not-so-triumphantly rode into town on my faltering, aging miniature horse steed for a self-imposed two-month moratorium from Hong Kong.

The purpose? Reclaim my mojo, spend as much quality time as possible with those nearest and dearest to me, and eat everything under the sun that I’ve been unable to get in the alleged ‘Asia’s World City’.

Note: I think it’s a bit presumptuous to refer to oneself as ‘Asia’s World City’ when you can’t find a goddamn Reese’s peanut butter cup anywhere.

In addition to my frivolous daily consumption of Ruffles cheddar and sour cream potato chips, Reese’s peanut butter cups (King Size), and enough locally brewed beer to KO a wooly mammoth (shoutout to Liar’s Bench and Schilling Beer Co.), there was one place in particular that I needed to check up on – Barrio, aka Portsmouth’s build-your-own taco and margarita haven.

But was it the same Barrio I remember from those hazy, “I forgot to put on pants today,” pandemic days? Was the guac still smooth and creamy enough to use as a styling mousse for my thinning hairline? Would the Build-A-Bear taco creations and El Jefe’s curated selecciones still bring the gastronomic ruckus? Were the margs still so delicious and spicy that I’d want to throw back 8 of them before 2 PM on a Tuesday?

Read on to find out if Barrio still lives up to the hype.

Pale Ale Travel Note: Writing about Barrio is nostalgic as it was the first review/write-up I ever published on Pale Ale Travel in 2019. It’s unpardonable that it took me so many years to return and publish a more up-to-date review. Well, here it is. This time, I remembered to take photos.

Birria Y Birria: Casa to the Best Tacos in Hong Kong

Say “Hello” to my little friend…and my new favorite restaurant in Hong Kong – Birria Y Birria. Before I dig into why this (relatively) new Sai Ying Pun shop should be on your Hong Kong dining bucket list, there’s a chance that if you’re reading this, you don’t even know what birria is. The “WHATTTT?” comes before the “why,” or the “OKAYYYYY” if you’re Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz. So, we should clear some things up first. Come closer and choose between the red pill and the blue pill.

Birria refers to a Mexican meat stew or consomme made from almost every meat you can imagine (except pork) that is marinated in vinegar, garlic, dried chiles, and other colorful, herbaceous spices (oregano, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, and cloves). After bathing in that witches’ brew of caliente Mexican spices for hours, the tender meat is then flavor-fied even further and is cooked in that deep red broth.

The result? A savory, smoky, somewhat gamey, sweet, and warm, mahogany concoction of everything right in the world.

If that wasn’t already getting you more torqued up than 12-year-old me when I’d “accidentally stumble” into Blockbuster’s ‘adult section’ (R.I.P. Blockbuster), which was just sectioned off by a tiny curtain, then you’re about to be. In the late 2000s, Birria, unlike the ivory-billed woodpecker, evolved from its humble roots as an accompaniment to bean, rice, bread, and tortillas, expanding its gustatorial repertoire and entering into a not-so-surreptitious affair with tacos, cheese, and even ramen.