Camera in the Kitchen: El Barco Mariscos

By Rachelle Bowden in Food on Aug 7, 2006 11:32AM

Chicagoist has shit luck when it comes to discovering things just as we're moving. Like years ago when we did a short stint in California and discovered the best burrito house on the beach just a week before we were to move across the country. So it was no surprise, given that we'll be moving out of the East Village in a couple weeks, that we just now discovered how fabulous El Barco Mariscos is.

The name of the restaurant translates to "the seafood boat" so you can guess that this place specializes in Mexican and seafood. There's outside seating at El Barco, but since we wanted to really experience the bright, festive atmosphere, we sat inside. Also, it was like 100 degrees the day we went.

El Barco's menu is physically the biggest menu we've ever seen. Our 2 menus were bigger than our table. THE thing to get is the red snapper, which is prepared about 10 different ways and is served whole and standing up, not laid flat on your plate. Our date got that, and it was moist and tender and delicious (our mouth just watered a little thinking about it!). We opted for the mahi tacos, which were also very good. When we were at El Barco it was lunch time, and the atmosphere was peppy, but low-key at the same time. Also, we'd be remiss not to mention that in the corners of the dining room there were TVs that played popular Spanish videos. Our date enjoyed Shakira just a little too much. There were many people, but not all of the tables were taken, and it wasn't too crowded. We heard this is not the case if you go on a popular night.

All in all we loved El Barco. It was lively and tasty, the service was good, and best of all, it was affordable. We're glad that after this discovery we're only moving across town and not across the country!

El Barco Mariscos is at 1035 N. Ashland Ave, just south of the Ashland/Milwaukee/Division intersection.