First of all, I AM FROM ST JOE. I don't live here anymore, but if you notice all the other reviews, they're all from people who are not from St. Joe. So listen to me, not them. Barbosa's is a St. Joe tradition, and a major part of my cravings, even though I live far away. I feel very defensive of Barbosa's. It's not gourmet food, by any many means, but it's flippin' delicious. This is NOT like typical Mexican food, ok? Don't go expecting what you get from other Mexican restaurants. Chips, tacos, etc., are made from flour tortillas, not corn. Everything is fried in lard -- or at least that's the rumor. Is the cheese in the enchiladas and on the nachos "real" cheese? NO, OKAY? NOT REAL CHEESE, STILL DELICIOUS, STOP BEING RIDICULOUS. I don't think I've ever had the salsa, but I can't imagine that's their strength -- several reviews have referenced this, and, yeah, that's probably true. I almost always get a cheese enchilada and fideo. Sometimes I get super nachos, sometimes I get a burrito. I always leave happy. So, please, out-of-towners, don't come and disparage a home town institution you don't really understand. THANKS. read more

I unfortunately found myself in St. Joseph, MO for the day on business. I know exactly two people from "JoeTown" and they both, independently, suggested Barbosa's when I asked for a local restaurant suggestion. I was really thinking I couldn't go wrong, but boy did I. FAIL. We ordered chips and salsa and cheese dip to start. To begin with, the chips and salsa are $3.99. The cheese dip is $4.99. I am not a cheap person, but for some reason I'm always suspicious of places that charge for their chips and salsa because there are so many great places where it's on the house. And if they do charge it better be damn good. Unfortunately, Barbosa's is terrible. First of all, their chips are not tortilla chips. They are puffed, twisted, flour (I think) fried in lard probably. Ok, I may be way off on that. Point being I don't know what they served me but it wasn't good. And frankly due to the shape of the chip it was really hard to actually get salsa on the damn thing. They don't really serve salsa anyway. It's hot sauce. It's ok. But really not very tasty. The cheese was melted, processed cheese with absolutely NO flavor. ZERO. The waitress said that the pork burrito was her favorite thing on the menu so I went with that. I guess the best thing I can say is that it was large. VERY large. It will fill you up. Pork was not flavorful. The beans and rice in the burrito were average. More of the bland cheese sauce over the top. Blah. The place was clean. Fast. Efficient. So its got that going for it and all. I guess this place has been in business forever. Maybe what passed as good Mexican food in St. Joe years ago doesn't hold up well with today's standards. I've got to think it must be just something you had to grow up on to enjoy it. Anyway, I wish I would have gone to Taco John's :-( read more

AVOID. Uninspired and singularly awful. More than once, I've had poorly reheated food served practically cold at this location, which I'm told serves dishes that are cooked at the downtown restaurant. I'd rather eat an MRE. Barbosa's is a long St. Joseph tradition that people seem to either love or hate. The locals tend to rave about it. Accordingly, expect to see either one-star or five-star ratings for this place. read more

I am giving this restaurant one star because zero stars is not an option. We were in St. Joseph for one night only for a funeral and the whole family wanted to go to Barbosas. I had high expectations from what I had heard from them but boy was I misled! Where it all went wrong: 1. They sat our family by the bathroom doors where all we smelled the entire meal was the air freshener from the bathroom. Not appetizing! 2. Drinks - We ordered 2 pitchers of margaritas and my husband ordered a well drink. It took forever to get our water, and they never did bring my husbands. I shared mine. He also had to ask for his drink at least 4 times before they finally brought it to him. I tried the margaritas and YUCK! I've never tasted such strong margaritas with such awful cheap tequila. Wow, bad! 3. Chips - I was looking forward to trying these famous chips but again, so disappointed! I'm sure they would have been good if I could taste anything other than salt! I couldn't eat them they were so salty, and I salt everything! So for it to be too salty for me is extreme! The salsa was good and the guacamole was pretty decent. 4. Food - Menu is small, no chimichangas which are our favorite. I had the pick three with a chicken taco, a cheese enchilada, and been/rice combo. Beans were bland, rice was crispy, chicken taco was a greasy dripping mess, and the enchilada was ok, but dry! No sauce or sour cream or salsa on top. That's strange to me... 5. Service - As I said, it took forever to get our drinks and our food, but the server was polite and realized we were frustrated. He gave us a free order of chips on the house. He was nice, but that hardly made up for the rest of the dinner. Having never been to St. Joseph before I can't really recommend a better place to go, but I wouldn't go back here. read more

Friendly staff and you get your food quickly. But the food was ok. Ive never had an enchilada that didn't have sauce and that tasted like it was filled with Velveeta cheese. The tacos also just fall apart and have ground beef. Again ive never had a beef taco filled with ground beef unless I made it at home. read more

Let me just say I was visiting from Texas and was told Tex-mex has nothing on Barbosas. We went for lunch and my expectations were high. Interesting menu, the platers didn't come with rice and beans? Ok fine, I ordered the tamale platter with the red pork stew on it. It was very interest. Tamales where big and stuffed well. Meat was a little mushy. The stew had big chunks or pork, but was rather bland other wise. My dad ordered a plate with an enchilada and tamale. What the heck was that flat rolled up tortilla with nothing in it? That was the most sorry excuse for an enchilada I've ever seen. My mom ordered ale cart and got a tostada. It looked good. It was piled with fresh lettuce and cheese. She said the corn tortilla was hard and the meat rather tasteless too. Service was fine, atmosphere was cool. It was an old mansion built in the early 1900's. All in all, I wouldn't recommend. Not sure what other options for Mexican food there are in this town. read more

Barbosa's - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

My absolute favorite!! Now that I have moved away from st joe, it is a must stop location every time I return!

The Best food in town !!!! Every time we come to staff is super friendly the food was absolutely delicious the red pork chili is our favorite we put that on top of the enchiladas and wow they're amazing I've been coming here for years and it's always been consistently great can't wait to come back !! read more

I moved here last year from Southern California and this restaurant was was highly recommended by some locals I have met here. I had dinner there last night and chose the large combo consisting of a beef taco, small bean tostada, a tamale and 2 cheese enchiladas. The tamale was the best item on the plate but certainly was not homemade as is evidenced by the non corn husk wrapper. I am guessing based on the authenticity and quality of the rest of the items on the plate that it is a pre-fab store bought tamale. The enchiladas were filled with some sort of cheese that had a strange fake-like texture and tasted sort of like bland jack cheese. The tortilla wrapper was flour as was all of the wraps on the plate with the exception of the tamale. The enchiladas were served with absolutely no enchilada sauce and were very bland. The Taco was served in a fried flour tortilla and basically consisted of bland ground beef with a little lettuce. The tostada about the size of a saucer plate was nondescript with bland beans (probably canned) and a little lettuce (may have also had a little tomato, can't remember). Nothing was close to what I would call Mexican food.. More like some kind of Gringo interpretation. The story is that the parents of the owners made the menu from recipes they brought from their hometown of Guadalajara , Mexico. My in-laws are from Guadalajara and they have NEVER made food like this! I was very hungry and had no time to get more food elsewhere so i did manage to eat most of the food on my plate, In that respect it was edible but VERY disappointing. I gave it 2 stars because the wait staff were fast and accommodating by bringing me some pickled jalapenos to help spice up the dish after I discovered there was no hot sauce available. There was what they called hot sauce on the table but it actually was a mild (probably canned) salsa. They also charged something like 5 bucks for chips which i passed on so cannot comment on other than to say chips and salsa are normally complementary in most Mexican restaurants. I would not recommend eating here. Just go to taco bell and it will be better! read more

Stopped in for a quick bite and wasn't let down at all. Really unique enchiladas (flavor and texture). Would definitely recommend with red sauce on top. Would recommend stopping in if you're traveling through St. Joe. read more

The service was....horrible. Got there at 1055, no hours posted, so used Yelp to call and was told they open "around 11". Other cars were driving up and folks going to the door to check it. Normally no big deal, but there were no less than 5 people I could see from my car, inside and no one came to respond to the customers trying to get in. Must be good to be the king.. Once inside, the hostess was both annoyed and apathetic (wow) and flung her arm to the side and said...sit wherever. Nice, real nice. You could hear chastisement coming from the owner to kitchen staff while seated in the dining room.The server was better, even happy and efficient, but it was too far gone to get pulled out. The tacos are great, but not worth the rest of it. read more

Homemade chips are great but the rest of the food is just ok.

Best cheese enchiladas in the USA! There is nothing more to say. I am from St. Joe. I always come here because it's tradition. This is not your typical crap Tex mex that you find in Texas, Denver, or California. It is unique. You must get the cheese and/or beef enchiladas. read more

Barbosas is an institution. Absolutely delicious, unique food. Affordable and very friendly staff. One of only a few family owned restaurants left in St Joe. Definitely give it a try! Get the chips and beefy cheese, taco, and red pork chili. read more

Don't even think your getting mexican here. This is take out Taco Bell with a napkin. Yuck- I want my money back. And this is not a one time visit. I always feel that with food it could be an off night. Not here. I have spoken to those who like and dislike nthis place. Those who like it have never been to Mexico or SoCal etc... Not being mean, but this is not Mexican food. That being said, it is St Joseph, MO and I am not sure of how authentic you can make it without driving away the Taco Bell crowd read more

I can't believe anyone would consider this Mexican food. Not only does it taste awful, like every other place I've been to in St Joseph the food is not served hot, maybe pee warm if your lucky. Also served in a fast food basket lined with paper to keep your food from falling through. If I worked as a health inspector I would have to shut it down just because of presentation and low quality. read more

The Street Tacos were a treat today with a lightly sauced serving of pork carnitas, sprinkled with cilantro and lime, in each deep fried crispy taco shell accompanied by real beans (not just a soupy brown paste) and typical rice. My spouse and I come here once or twice a year when we are in town for a meeting or a visit. We have never been disappointed. Tony, our server today, was engaging and courteous, making helpful suggestions and anticipating our needs. Give Barbosa's a try. Like us, you may make it a "home away from home." read more

Barbosa's - Street Tacos (carnitas pork with special sauce, cilantro and lime) accompanied by rice and beans! - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

If I could give less than one star I would. That is by far the worst food I have had in St. Joe. They should be ashamed to call themselves Mexican. Really I have no idea what category they belong in. They obviously do not understand that everything should be fried in flour tortillas. I had chicken fajitas wrap I guess. It was mostly rice and the chicken tasted like lunch meat not real meat. I'm not sure it was actually chicken I was eating. Safe your money and go to Taco Bell. They are more like Mexican than this place. read more

Food was nasty as hell. Got a large burrito that was my first soup burrito. A taco that had more grease then it did meat. The server was at the table twice on his own. Once to take the order and once to bring the food. Had to track him down to get the check. Omg. Won't happen again!!!!!!!! read more

We came here one night with our family. Our server was nice but this place could not make a margarita to save their lives. The food was bland, over sauced (tasted like marinara to us) and they charge for chips and salsa. I've never seen this in any Mexican style restaurant I've eaten at. I would not recommend this location so we will try the other. read more

Margaritas were strong as fuuuuuuuuuck. Probably cheap tequila, but if you're trying to catch a buzz, they'll do just fine. Food is unique - unlike other Mexican restaurants I've been to. Chips and salsa/dip are definitely house made and a Barbosa's only experience. Food was decent - nothing incredible, but also enjoyable. Service was good. My main complaint would be cost - the prices on good seem to far exceed what you get. Food is pretty basic and doesn't really include sides, so you end up looking at $12-15 for what should actually be $8-10. read more

Yeah by far the worst Mexican food I have ever had. Service was a joke. Chips?? More like cardboard!!! Not recommending this place. read more

Avoid. They use a nuclear orange cheese sauce in all their dishes. Our nachos were extremely soggy. And they charge for chips and salsa. The excuse? Homemade, they tell me. So what? I can name several others that are too. $3.99 for a cup of lousy salsa and about two dozen tortilla chips. Prices are cheap, but it's still a ripoff! read more

A must stop whenever I'm in the area! Best tacos ever! Choice of three is never a wrong combination!

My first one star review. Had to pay extra for chips and weak salsa, and the tacos were bland. Never again.

This is a local staple. Yes, their chips are FLOURED chips not corn...deal with it folks they are awesome (not a tex mex place). The "choice of three" gives you good selection for the price. The 2 enchiladas with red chili is awesome! If you order a red chili burrito its very good but dont plan on being able to finish it. I do suggest to go downtown to the Castillo if you want a better atmosphere. Now do a little bit of your history and find, this family uses recipies from their region, thus the non texmex food and floured chips. read more

If there was less than 1 Star Barbosas would get it. Worst Mexican food I have ever had. Cheese enchiladas were made with some disgusting Processed cheese. Please heed my advise and do not go here. read more

Hmmm. Just don't get this restaurant being packed with people. That usually means great food. This is not good Mexican at all. This is easily one of the worst meals ever had. The tamale was awful. The enchilada was not one. It tasted like a nacho cheese wrap. The tacos are fried and dripping grease. We ate 2 bites of 2 dinners and left the rest. Their salsa tastes like tomato sauce with vinegar. Where is the cumin? Chili powder? Any mexican spices at all? Don't recommend. read more

i don't know why people are knocking Barbosa's so hard. Maybe i love it so much because I've been eating it since I was really young, but it is one of the biggest things I miss about Saint Joe. More often than not, whenever I visit my hometown, I have to order something as carry-out from Barbosa's. Their service is usually more than adequate; I've never had an issue with that. In fact, when I used to go there with my ex-girlfriend, she was a vegetarian and would order all sorts of modified items on the menu to suit her eating habits. We never had an issue with anything being made incorrectly. I've never had a bad dining experience. A lot of people may not like the food because they don't consider it to be "authentic," but neither is Taco Bell, and no one bitches about that. Yes, their chips are fried in lard, but you don't have to eat them if that doesn't suit your taste. I always order the Barbosa's burrito (beef) with extra cheese sauce. Yes, the cheese sauce is artificial, but there is just something so addictive about it. I consider it to be their signature item, at least. If you don't like chips or shells fried in lard, don't eat here. Otherwise, I really appreciate their food. My only complaint is that their chips and dip aren't complimentary, but they never were. It's been like that since I was a little kid. read more

Almost left upon being seated because there was a staff member talking casually (seems she knew those seated at the table) to a group of females - one with an obnoxiously loud voice who kept laughing like a hyena. Other patrons at nearby tables were looking and making faces too. Went to the bathroom (it smelled like an uncleaned cat-box) and considered asking the server for a different table away from the irritating woman - but could *still* hear her from in there - so it wouldn't make a difference where we were seated. We were just going to leave, but discovered her getting up with her friends and decided to stay. That was too bad... The chips and salsa (which are NOT free with meals as they are at many Mexican eateries) were absolutely tasteless. Truly. Clump fried unsalted flour tortilla pieces to be dipped in very unsavory thin tomato juice-like liquid smattered with some chunks, all with no taste. Oh well, that's wasted money... but let's see the entrees. They looked OK. Tacos in fried flour tortillas... interesting... would rather have corn, but we'll try this... well, the taco was tasteless too. The meats have no seasoning. The food was the most insipid and tasteless I've had in a long, long time. Worst of all? I've had far better dinners with other guests present at a far better price too. Sorry, but even Taco Bell would have tasted better with twice the food at one third the cost. Lesson learned... now I just want to warn others. read more

Great food. Not the usual food you find in your local Mexican Restaurant. You do need to know Mexican food pretty well to know what to order. They have the most amazing Guacamole dip and chips I have ever had. I always get Chicken Tacos with cheese or Cheese Enchiladas. read more

This is the single worst dining experience I've had in 20 years. I was warned not to go there because I would not be happy but my curiosity got the best of me. Seriously, this is not Mexican food. The names of the food are correct but they have everything else completely wrong. I've traveled to 5 Mexican states and can tell you I have never had anything like this. The service was friendly and the place was clean. If the taste and the quality of the food is not important to you then you should go here. read more

There are 2 locations. One downtown St. Joseph - it is an old historic home. The 2nd is East of town. Both are amazing! This is a family owned & operated place since the 60s. Rich in history. Beware you will be charged for chips...but please realize these are AMAZING!!!! And I would so pay for these instead of having store bought corn ones. The reason they charge is because they have someone who works all day long. - 5 days a week making these. As I mentioned all food is homemade at the restaurant. When you go, you will be sure that one of the family members is working there. It's a must stop. And you MUST have their famous tacos & something with their red pork chili. This isn't a corporate restaurant, it's a local family ran place. There will be delays sometime, just be patient and enjoy your night. They tend to be pretty busy at their East location on the weekends. read more

I have been informed by the manager that everything on Barbosa's menu is made with lard, including the tortilla chips. Thus, this is not a vegan-friendly place. read more

AWESOME SERVICE!!! Food was less than par and definitely didn't hit the spot.

This families restaurant was at one time my favorite place to eat in this town other than my Moms home. When my wife and I started having a meal there, it was in a small private home of Espridian ( spelling) & his wife. When the few tables were filled, we sat in their homes TV room and watched TV with the Barbosa children. Great food - great flavors - great people. Here comes the bad part, when Pelan ( spelling) left,the food started going PC. The raw onions in various dishes got discontinued The Red Chili lost its sweat popping heat, many other items flavors were down played. Just today a friend and I went in to have a deep fried flour taco and I wanted lettuce, tomato and diced onion on my taco & 2 tostado s. When my onions were brought they were cooked. They finally brought me some thawed onions from the nuker. This is the only Mexican restaurant that I could not get fresh diced onions. We will probably eat there again sometime, but not until we have made a tour of the many others. It is such a disappointment eating their now, when we loved the food so much, the way it started many years ago. I will keep searching for the "old Barbosas" , needless to say haven't found one yet in K. C. or St. Joe. read more

Barbosa's is the best! If you are not from Saint Joe, you probably won't get it, but they have been a family favorite of ours since I was a small child. If you are looking for authentic Mexican food, this is the place to go. No place has the chips, and the taco shells like they do at Barbosa's. They are truly unique, I happen to love their nachos personally. Don't listen to the negative reviews! read more

only mexican restaurant I've ever been to that you have to pay for chips and salsa. Food is good but prices seem high.

My family has been eating at Barbosa's since it operated in their house 55 years ago. It is my all time favorite place to eat. I love their enchiladas, tacos, chips with beefy cheese dip and soft ice cream and cinnamon sugar chips dessert. I'm also partial to their pina colada made with soft ice cream instead of ice. We have always lived in Kansas City and at least once a month for those 55 years have made the drive to St. Joseph for their food. We go there for all our special occasions. I agree that their food is unlike any other Mexican restaurant I have ever eaten at, but theirs is the best. If you expect to have your enchilada swimming in rice or refried beans then go someplace else. Barbosa's has served the most consistently prepared food at affordable prices of anyplace I go. The ownership changed a few years ago, but the food didn't. Keep up the good work and friendly servers and atmosphere Barbosa's. read more

This is probably the worst simulation of Mexican food I have ever experienced. We ate here as to try the local flair. You have to pay for your chips and salsa. The chips and salsa or so bad and the selection of food on the menu so poor we paid for our chips and salsa and left to find a restaurant we could eat at. I would not recommend this at all. read more