We found ourselves eating at bartaco Raleigh, one of the popular restaurants in North Hills after randomly meeting general manager, Brian Gibson, while celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary at the Willard Rooftop Bar on Glenwood South.
I love how chance encounters can lead you to meet not just cool people, but exceptional dining experiences you WANT to write an entire story on. So here where are!
We’ve walked past bartaco several times when in North Hills, commenting it as a place “That looks cool and I’d love to visit one day.”
Which turned to a “let’s make it happen” once we learned more about this upscale street-food restaurant that embraces culture and diversity.
We knew we wanted to include it in our visit North Hills guide and even more so because it’s almost 100% gluten free – their desserts are not.
Even though it may be a chain, with locations mostly over the East Coast (including Raleigh and Chapel Hill), it’s a worthy restaurant to visit again and again.
Like the personality of a return traveler, it blends together much-loved global cultural experiences to create an entirely new vibe. It spoke to my traveler’s soul.
(Note: we dined as guests of bartaco, but under no obligation to write this review. It was too cool not to share with others.)
Arriving at bartaco Raleigh
It’s Cinco De Mayo, and we arrive for an early dinner at 5pm and already it’s nearly a packed house. The party at bartaco goes into the late night hours – it’s one of the few North Hills restaurants that caters to nighttime foodies (and drinkers) with a midnight close (Fri/Sat).
Immediately as we enter I’m swept up into the fun tempo of the restaurant. Hosts are upbeat and friendly, their faces painted with dainty and subdued Mexican-style tattoos.
It has a fresh vibrant spirit in a style I can’t quite put my finger on. The tropical flowered shirts lead me to island vibes, but the muted tones of the colors take me to Latin America.
Servers with tattooed sleeves bring an edge you’d see on the streets of Seattle in the 90s.
A breeze blows on the patio to Whitesnake’s “here I go again on my own” and I feel like I’ve hit a beach bar in the Carolinas.
The music runs from rock to cafe zen and everything in between. Harry Styles reminds us of “as it was” the Red Hot Chili Peppers funk rap it out, and Michael Franti encourages a tropical slow hip sway.
Each new song perfectly matches the atmosphere and style of bartaco Raleigh. The dial of the music’s volume tips slightly over to Party Vibe, but not too loud to kill the conversation that buzzes all around.
The mood has been set and I’m ready for a laid-back, culinary adventure and explosion of flavors.
The Bar Sets the Tone
A sprawling bar sits at the center of this restaurant in Midtown Raleigh. It’s a hive as patrons sit and laugh with bartenders shaking their cocktails from juice they’ve freshly squeezed from one of the several juicers sitting on top of the bar beside bowls of lemons, limes and oranges.
As we move back into post-pandemic normal, Brian says he’s put a lot of work into bringing the bar back into bar taco.
For this Mexican restaurant, it’s all about gathering, not just to laugh and chat with your fellow diners, but the bartenders who go about shaking your colorful cocktails.
When Craig and I explore without our kids, sitting at the bar is a favorite treat of ours. We love how much easier it is to talk to people, and learn more about the world around us and learn about cool places like…bartaco!
Note to self: On our next visit sit at the bar. It’s setting the tone!
The high tops that ring the bar help spread out that energy till it reaches the tables lining the walls and those out on the beach-shack style patio enjoying a cool Bahama breeze.
Warm Sustainable Coastal Design
Bartaco’s mission is rooted in sustainability, which you feel in the warm design of the restaurant.
Reclaimed wood is the focal design element from the whitewashed walls and photo frames that share inspiring travel landscapes, all taken by the owner on his global adventures.
Furniture and bookcases are sourced from antiques where possible, or made from reclaimed wood. Woven basket light fixtures drip from the ceiling are lit up with LED lighting.
The design ambiance is light, warm, uplifting, and purposeful.
The fun design elements continue into the bathrooms with its sauna type wooden slats running horizontally on the top half of the walls and “wash your hands” etched into the tiles beside the sink.
There’s always something to capture the attention of my senses at bartaco.
(Note: bartaco is also carbon neutral and they use bamboo products for their takeout.)
A Place for all Kinds
Look around bartaco and you won’t find any one particular type of person dining here.
We’re here on a date night. Other kids sit happily content drawing at tables, groups of thirty somethings hug each other at the bar, college kids take and retake selfies beside us, and dogs sit in their baby prams wearing colorful neckerchiefs and tiny sombreros.
A face painter sits out on the patio welcoming kids young and old to give them a bartaco style Cinco De Mayo tattoo.
There is so much life happening here – the only style it doesn’t suit is the stilted one.
The relaxed bar atmosphere of the restaurant continues all the way out to the patio where we’re sitting. It’s not full service here. You order through the app at your table, and there are cards on the table you stand up to signal you help from a server.
I want my card to say, “Just keep bringing the margaritas!”
(Note: they pool tips here and believe in equitable wages for all)
Oh, and there’s Tasty food too!
It’s taken me this long to get to the food, showcasing that bartaco is more than just a place to eat, but an experience to savor, therefore one of the best Mexican restaurants in Raleigh.
My senses are already hyped up and they’re about to get zinged out with the intensity and freshness of the flavors that make up each dish we try.
I didn’t even need Brian to tell me attention is on the details of the ingredients, all sourced from local farms when possible, and used to create each new dish from scratch each day.
As you can imagine, tacos are their specialties on the bartaco menu and they range from your traditional baja fish to the more innovative falafel, seared chorizo, or crispy oyster. The tacos combine flavors from a variety of cultures such as Asian, Spanish, Mediterranean, and Mexican.
There are 13 proteins present throughout the taco dishes in their menu – and in keeping with being a place for all – cauliflower, mushrooms, and chickpea will march on in for our vegans. So if you’re looking for unique and tasty tacos in Raleigh, look no further!
But first. Priorities.
Cinco de Mayo spells Margarita.
Let’s not waste time. I go straight for the best – a spicy Mezcal Margarita. Craig takes the more sedate traditional margarita. Anyway you like it, they have it.
Mine is pure goodness with a hint of natural sweetness and fresh sour (how it should be) and dusted with a smoky haze.
I immediately taste the absence of crap – and not long order another. This has to be the freshest margarita I’ve ever had. (What time does this close again?)
It’s paired perfectly with a creamy guacamole, bursting with the fresh zest of a lime just squeezed and a hint of spice and salt. The salsa roja and verde accompaning it also vie for top dipping spot.
There’s a party happening in my mouth with each bite of each new dish that arrives made from cups of flavor and dashes of spice – all popping with color and beautifully presented on baking trays.
The Asian flavors of the sesame ribeye take me back to nights on Khao San Road in Bangkok as does the side spicy cucumber salad.
Bartaco’s most popular glazed pork belly has a spicy arbol sauce that you now want to put on all the things.
Even the Esquites side is rocking – sweet corn off the cob tossed with cotija cheese in a creamy and tangy mayo and topped with cayenne.
Not a corn lover, I went in for just a little taste, and then back, and then back again. Like a magnet to a pile of nails my fork kept digging in.
A battle ensued as I tried to yank it back to the spicy sweet deliciousness of the plantains, tossed with salt and a cayenne pinch. What, am I in the Caribbean now?
The only thing I didn’t like about the tacos was that some came garnished with raw onion, which I avoid like the plague. That’s a personal thing though as my body reacts to raw onion and garlic. I could easily brush it off!
My favorite has to be the plantains from the ‘not-taco” taco menu and a quesadilla dish I am now calling Absolutely Sensational (you could add an AF there for extra emphasis).
The duck birria is cooked birria-style, which isa traditional Mexican ancestral soup or stew made from a combination of chili pepper-based goat meat adobo, garlic, cumin, bay leaves, and thyme, and cooked at a low heat.
Then the duck is shredded in a crispy corn tortilla and cooked with (melted) oaxaca and cotija cheese and is served with extra birria-style duck broth for dipping.
And so I add onto my help card, “Just keep bringing the margaritas and duck birria”.
And all of this is gluten free. The comfort and luxury I felt in not even having to ask and knowing I could eat almost anything I wanted was sublime.
Any person managing dietary considerations understands that feeling. Bartaco has your back! Luckily the desserts aren’t gluten free because I am pushed to the limits beyond full.
When you eat at a shining star restaurant there is no need to feel guilt around your gluttony. Besides, it was the fork’s fault. And it’s not ready to stop.
Craig puts his finger up for “one dessert” and Florida comes storming in to wrap up this eclectic dining experience with a Key Lime pie in a jar.
And my fork races in for just a scoop off the gluten-free key lime custard. I’m so glad it did.
Helping to make Raleigh vibrant
Bartaco felt like an unrecognizable Raleigh restaurant and that’s a good thing. It’s an example of how this city is waking up from a slumber to evolve with edge.
Sometimes I worry about the growth we’re having, especially when it comes to the changing of our landscape and treeline, and that warm southern spirit we love so much.
But places like bartaco North Hills remind me that the true nature of vibrancy is to the state of being full of energy and life in ALL its shapes, forms, colors and flavors, new and old.
To truly embrace our City of Oaks’ catchphrase “y’all are welcome”
At bartaco, y’all sure are welcome. And I’ll be seeing y’all again real soon.
(Note. To mimic bartaco’s hip edge, you’ll see an absence of capital letters in this review. They favor dropping them!)
bartaco Details:
- Ambiance: Latin America + East Coast beach vibes
- Don’t Miss: Mezcal Spicy Margarita + Duck Barria + esquites
- Price: For this current over-inflated world we live in, I found the prices here very reasonable.
- Opening Times: 11am -10pm, Sun – Thurs | 11am – 12am Sat – Sun
- Address: 4121 Main at North Hills St Suite 105, Raleigh
- Website: Bartaco.com/location/raleigh/
bartaco: Reel
More Places To Eat in Raleigh
We are working on a list of North Raleigh restaurants, but in the meantime check out these posts:
