Barragan's Mexican Restaurant

Barragan's Restaurant is just a short jog from my boyfriend's house. I pass it nearly every day, and yet, have never ventured inside. The restaurant is a little intimidating with no front door and a gated parking lot in the back down a small alley off of Victory. It reminds me of an old factory turned restaurant. Tonight, we decided to give it a shot anyway when none of our usual Mexican restaurants struck a cord.

We entered the restaurant in a small room with the dining area to our forward-left and a mini bar with lots of tables to the right. The bar was crowded with first come first serve patrons. The hostess answered a couple of to-go calls before seating us in a small back room with two booths and a large table. The seating arrangement on a whole was a little weird. There was one large room with a variety of tables and then the small side room we sat in crammed with tables, and booths along the entry hallway. I felt like they really crammed in too many tables making the restaurant--and the bar feel a little cramped and the restaurant, a little tacky.

Even though we were tucked in a corner room, we didn't lose on service. Immediately after we were seated two busboys came in with silverware and napkins, chips, salsa and water. A couple minutes later the waitress came in and took our drink orders. The menu was rather large with typical Mexican dishes sold both a la carte and in combos.

I ordered a combo with a tamale, cheese enchilada, and beef taco with rice and beans. The combo came with choice of soup or salad. My boyfriend ordered Red Chili Beef which also came with rice and beans and choice of soup or salad. Our other friend ordered the combination of the week which was chicken flautas with rice and beans. The combo of the week did not come with salad or soup.

We were surprised to learn that there was no choice of soup even though there were several soups on the menu. The combos came with either the soup of the day or salad. The soup of the day was surprisingly not Mexican and was pea soup. My boyfriend isn't a fan of pea soup or salad so I ended up eating both. The salad was normal but forgettable. The pea soup was surprisingly delicious but reminded me of something from a diner.

Our food came just as we were finishing up our "appetizers." The first thing I noticed was that my whole plate was covered in cheese. The main reason I got the combo I did was to taste a lot of different things but I also thought the cheese enchilada would be a nice touch of moisture. The cheese on my plate was overpowering. The person that got the flautas commented on the tastiness of the beans--I couldn't taste the beans because they were swimming in cheese. I didn't really find my food to be a stand out. The best part of the dish was the corn part of the tamale. I ended up moving a lot of food around on my plate and not eating much because I filled up on soup and salad and chips.

I would probably go to Barragan's again but not as my first choice. It seemed a little more like an American 65+ early bird special restaurant than classic Mexican. I can't speak for the drinks but the prices were a little steep even with the large portions.





Barragan's Mexican Restaurant
730 N. Victory Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91502
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