Barrio

Anyone been to Barrio? Saturdays are pretty cool with a lot of Salsa and Latin dancing? Is this the best Latin club in Taipei? What do u think? I love the goat cheese sushi!

I hate to complain but these guys didn’t pay my brother in law for designing their club…so i would rather not even enter the building let alone advertise.

Barrio very good, but salsa night on Sundays at Brown Sugar much better.

I can confirm that management there did not fulfill their end of the contract, and the designer was unpaid. Bad Barrio! :raspberry:

Don’t really want to get involved in this one, but I feel I should clarify a few points. First, I was working at Barrio when it had dealings with “the designer”. BTW I am not affiliated with Barrio in any way at present

Here are the facts as I see them:
There was never any agreement between the designer and Barrio.
None of the designer’s designs were used in any way in Barrio.
The designer was treated pretty shabbily but was in no way cheated.

Basically, the designer was asked to propose ideas about redoing a portion of Barrio’s interior (definitely some unclear communications (I was not involved)), but no intent to cheat the designer. The designer put in a ton of work to make some kick-ass designs and made a proposal. The decision maker didn’t like the designs (the price) and tried to get the designer to do it his way (this is where the shabbly part comes in). I assume the designer is pissed because he feels like the club sought him out to do work and he did a design assuming that it was a done deal. In my opinion, the problems arose from disorganization in Barrio at the time (too many cooks in the kitchen) and lack of professionalism in both parties combined with a bit of cultural miscommunication. Certainly there was no agreement and no one was intentionally mistreated or cheated.

Just wanted to set the record straight. If you like Barrio, go there, if you don’t, don’t.

I wouldn’t have said anything, but these two quotes are clearly misleading.

 [quote]I hate to complain but these guys didn't pay my brother in law for designing their club...[/quote]

I’ve been there with some of the guys and gals. Had a wonderful time. Tapas were excellent, service was good, atmosphere was open and friendly.

TaipeiTimes review: 20 Feb 2004 review (click here)
Address: B1, 277 Dunhua S Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (台北市敦化南路二段277號B1)
Telephone: (02) 2378 9955

When I first saw the above article in the Taipei Times I was very excited. I traveled for two hours to the Barrio only to find it closed (even though it was supposed to be open, 8pm on a Thursday night). So far I have gone back twice and it has not been open. I am really really desperate for good food, so I will probably try again this weekend. I will post an elaborate review, if possible.

A friend (who knows the owners) said to me that it is now more of a bar than a restaurant. Just want to adjust your expectations a little, since you are making such an effort to get over there.

Perhaps you can call in advance to make a reservation. Then if they are STILL closed when you arrive, you’ll know that it simply isn’t meant to be

I know Barrio well. I dance Salsa there all the time. Management needs some works for sure but things are getting better fast! They open At 7 now for dinner; the best dancing times for salsa are Saturdays, Wednesdays and Fridays (in that order). If you get there before 9pm the entrance is free and there is a Free Salsa Lesson around that time as well.
Barrio has the best Burrito in Taipei and the only place to get real Latin music and dancing in Taiwan. Brown Sugar on Sundays has lots of people and a live band but the band sucks- they have played the same 20 songs every week for the last year. I am an avid salsa dancer and have been all over Asia visiting the Salsa clubs. Barrio is hands down the best Latin club I have been to in Asia for sure. In fact it is better than most of the clubs in the states as well. Only in NY, LA and Miami have I seen better.
Hats off to you Barrio for trying what no one else is willing to try and bringing something now to Taipei.