Comments on: Barrio Grand Opening Night: Wow!

By: bryson

bryson — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:41:50 +0000

I wish I would have known about the free pizza on the 5th! I’m still conflicted about my feelings for Pizza Fusion, I will (at your behest) try them again however…

By: stone

stone — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:36:17 +0000

Sigh, okay staying on the positive with a quick question:
what are city/nhood that folks still think are genuine and limit it to US and Portland, OR cannot be an answer either. And also, think a genuine place where you yourself would not be considered a poser by going there.
(sorry Matt, although I know folks would have interesting things to say about both Vancouver and Montreal.)

By: nitsuj

nitsuj — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:07:26 +0000

Blah, to me sounds like another one of those ‘new Seattle’ places. The feeling I get more and more these days is that Seattle wants the cliche NY/SF looking/feeling places at the cost of any real character.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:41:24 +0000

Yes, I’ll try to help out pizza fusion my opinion of them went up a tad when I read the list of how their chairs, church pews, counter tops, etc were recycled from demolished places in the Seattle area. That’s kind of cool….

My first instinct about them, though, admittedly was “Florida-based chain? Yuppie pizza? Wow. Someone is really missing the mark on Capitol Hill & its schtick….”

If Ted or anyone else who knows the Fusion folks is reading this I honestly think dimming their lights a bit would go a long way in making the place seem less like it belongs in Bell Square.

Loved Barrio. Love Cha Cha.

By: stone

stone — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 07:21:31 +0000

thanks for the quick review. The place looked beautiful when I walked by and I was intrigued ’cause I had no idea what it was. I will definitely check it out. Can’t say much about Purple ( the old univ bookstore space right), except that as a prior work traveler to seattle back in the day who stayed at hotels in the area, there was really nowhere to go chill and have some wine or drinks, so good on them.
Ted, thanks for the info on pizza fusion; will try to check it out. It is okay to admit I’ve already had the zaw pizza and they opened later. And matt if you ever had a tamale, you’ve had some masa and thus a wee bit o lard, as well.
bummed to miss the meet up; however is it okay to cynicism won’t bring any vibe back to Capitol Hill? And Ted, thanks for contributing and supporting a local business; its more than a lot of folks typically do, stake or no stake.
cheers all

By: EP

EP — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:50:18 +0000

Just went to Barrio tonight and it was great. Good food and reasonable prices = welcome to the neighborhood.

By: jo

jo — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:05:04 +0000

Comment removed

By: CG

CG — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:20:31 +0000

Matt, maybe those retro yuppie cocktails you imbibed at Barrio caused you to morph into a cheerleading real estate agent of yore.

Re the previous disses of Kurofsky’s mini-chain of restaurants, “Purple,” I stand by them. They’re formulaic and faux hip. From your description of Barrio, sounds like more of the same. But if they win over the Taco Bell crowd, more power to ‘em.

Re your sneering at the so-called NIMBY antagonists of the Murray Franklyn dreck proposed for Belmont and Pine, sounds like you’ve thrown in the towel at trying to influence community and architectural development in this town. You recently quoted approvingly the NYT’s analysis that our local “[c]ondo developers have carved many of Seattle’s quirky neighborhoods into bland real estate listings.” But goodness forbid anyone from actually trying to change the status quo. Suddenly they’re NIMBYS! I’d rather be called a NIMBY and stand for true urban vibrancy, then succumb to the superficial allure of getting buzzed by some alcoholic Shirley Temples.

And, wowee, we’ll all get to munch on free franchise pizza with your developer buddy Ted this Tuesday at the Urbnlivn Meetup. That sure’ll help bring the vibe back to Capitol Hill.

By: Marco

Marco — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:19:07 +0000

Haven’t been to Barrio yet but the space looks cool. I can’t believe you mention cha cha. I was so incredibly disgusted by that place. They actually used powdered chilly in thier burrito. If you want mexican food near the neighborhood try the saint, or la puerta. Whatever you do dear reader, don’t go to cha cha unless you’re there for the music.

- just a guy from san francisco who misses real mexican food and thinks “northwest fussion” means that there is no such thing as spices.

By: newbuyer

newbuyer — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:44:07 +0000

great picture! I know we will have to check this place out soon.