La Barca

They are now closed. A SF icon that I was fortunate to visit again in its final week! Otherwise, just another nice location in the Marina that I shouldn’t be frequenting so much since it’s a hassle to get to and the atmosphere is well better if that’s any consolation … the lovely Marina! Haha.
Good, strong drinks from what I remember and good, messy food. The complimentary chips were honestly some of the BEST I’ve had at any location. Silly I know … Anyways, I think it was about time this place closed. It WAS a small recluse in the Marina from your typical Marina scene of people, but how would I know since I’ve been to the Marina too many times to remember? Oooo … hopefully another similar, more modern place arrives soon.
Adiós La Barca!

I don’t care what anyone says, I love this place and it has a soft spot in my heart, and I don’t have too many of those.
Saddle up in the bar, have some peanuts to get you thirsty, get those margaritas or whatever you desire, some chips/​salsa once your a little hungry.
Socialize, I dont know just enjoy it for what it is. I wouldn’t say its the best Mexican every but I stick to the appetizer type food or get one taco. Come on guys don’t be so critical. This is like a landmark!

Reasonable prices, sizable plates, and a partylike atmosphere on a Friday night — all good. Unfortunately, most of the food on my plate was too «kicky» for my tastes. The flan was tasty, though I generally like mine to be more firm than what they served. Though I would return for the opportunity to try other menu items, a big marquee outside thanks people for thier patronage, as they will be closing thier doors on March 31, 2012.

Wow. Super bland food, had to dump salsa on everything. Ordered the enchilada and the bf ordered supreme nachos. Not difficult dishes people.
One star for the fun décor and mariachi band, The other for the salsa which saved my meal.

Great Chips, great Salsa. Fast and kind service. Reasonably Priced
Combination Chicken, Steak, Camerones Fajitas are the go to buy here. Perfect to share for two.
If they had Queso, I would come here everyday.

This place has horrible service and mediocre food. The only plus is that it’s good for groups.
We had a reservation and they sat us about half hour late. From there it took about 40 minutes for the waiter to come, and then another 40 minutes for him to bring our food. It tasted about as good as Taco Bell. By 11 PM we were done and the only table in the restaurant, yet our waiter and check were nowhere to be seen. I had to go find him and ask for the check, and then bring our cards to him to pay. After all of this, he had the audacity to write in a 20% tip on all of our credit card statements.
I would only come back if every other «good for groups» restaurant I knew of was full.

I grew up three blocks from this place and my family has been coming here since the sixties– have seen the working class immigrants convert to rich frat boys in the marina. I also get a kick out of the guys talking smack about this place/​area when most of them are midwest slackie/​fixters. Whatever. it’s all good. It’s still fun– too bad they took out the aquarium-​too many drunk guys trying to pull out some fish I guess:
Still fun — even though it’s loud as hell…

Drinks were made STRONG! So strong that my sister said her (blended) margarita was mostly alcohol and her boyfriend’s jack and coke tasted solely of jack.
I, myself, as the self-​assigned designated driver, got a (don’t laugh), cranberry juice. To be completely honest, it was the WORST cranberry juice I have EVER had. It tasted like a watered down, too-​embarrassed to even be generic, red coloured liquid that left one reminiscent of true juice.
Yuck. Obviously (hopefully?), it was meant to be mixed with. Anyhow, one Blended Margarita, One Jack and Coke, and One *Cranberry* set me back a cool $ 18.
We saw another table get chips & salsa which we wanted but when we said we wanted to order they brought those salty amenities on the house. We felt bad (because we had planned to *order* that) so we go guac also. It was a HUGE order. Three (not-​so hungry) people could not finish it. Also there wasn’t much flavour… it honestly tasted like three, good sized avocados mashed up without any seasoning. SO WE POURED M*F*KING SALSA ALL OVER IT.
In the end, the drinks were good because they were STRONG and worth it. Also the guac was worth it but we just weren’t hungry so we left feeling sad that we wasted so much good guac.
Two drinks + 1 cranberry + 1 GIANT order of guac = $ 26 something.
Damn.

For many years I’ve passed La Barca, shaking my head at the douchebags in striped shirts and drunk Marina girls gathered out front. I caved and joined them last night because I wanted a margarita with my sister and didn’t want to bus across town.
La Barca is vaguely reminiscent of LA sit-​downy Mexican restaurants, with the exception of suited door guys perched at the entrances, a loco bar scene, and the proliferation of Marina trash.
At 9:30pm on a Saturday it was no problem getting a table for two, and I escaped the bar– mostly to avoid the wholly untalented man singing the entire Time/​Life Freedom Rock double album. The dining area was surprisingly vast and decorated with an entire wall of lava rock, fake plants and obscure brass objects. It looks to date back to the inception of the restaurant in 1963 and recalls the scene where Kirk has to fight Spock to the death. So that’s good.
Margaritas started arriving quickly and they were quite decent, as in strong. I ordered some fajitas and my sis got a salad, which turned out to be NACHO SALAD. It’s definitely «careful, hot plate» cuisine, but it fills a need.
As a testament to the classiness of the crowd and the attentiveness of the house, the men’s room was covered in barf. Photo submitted as evidence. Thank you, and good night.

As a bar it’s a good spot with cover bands playing often. For 15 bucks you can get a combination of 2 items. I got a flauta and enchilada. 1 chicken 1 shredded beef.
Pretty tasty, just tore up my insides later on if you catch my drift. We had the pitchers of margaritas and dos equis flowing which were nice.
We sat on wall opposite bar and th service was good.

«Let’s rip some shots and go dance at La Barca!!!» When I went up to visit my buddy in SF, this quote was repeated over and over again every night. No matter where we went, someone said lets get out of here and go rip some shots at la barca and dance!
Needless to say, this review is for the nightclub/​bar that La Barca turns into at after hours. I’ve never eaten here and probably never will… so my review is based on the awesome bands, babes and dancing into the morning that this place offers!
And with that being said, 4 Stars for sure! Definitely a little gem in the Marina.
MY GO-​TO DISH: TEQUILA SHOTS!!!

This place used to be a «go to» for me and my Father so we chose La Barca for our Father’s Day celebration. What a mistake. First off our waiter looked like he did an all nighter. When we inquired on pitchers of Sangria, he rolled his eyes, stated that they might be out and that they would have to make another batch… however, he returned with a perfectly fresh looking pitcher… why put your patrons thru such an exchange? Especially the attitude. Just take the order and then let us know if there is a problem.
Then came the food. My wife and I ordered the shrimp and chicken fajitas. The shrimp was tasteless and the chicken was dry and tough. My sister-​inlaw ordered a chicken burrito which she said was ok. My mom ordered a tostado which she really liked. My dad ordered chicken fajitas but never complained. In summary… we all had stomach pains! My poor dad had to catch a flight to Singapore so who knows how he fared…
Bottom line… go for the margaritas which are excellent and skip the food. It’s TERRIBLE!

I was extremely disappointed in La Barca. I had called in and booked their private room for a friends party weeks ahead of time. I then called and confirmed that they had the room for us about a week before the event. They indicated no problems. Then 8 of us showed up and they had given our room away! I was so disappointed as the room was the main reason I picked La Barca in the first place. They were apologetic, but said no one had made a note that I had requested the room and they had given it to a walk in.
UGH. So annoying.
We ate with the others in the main room, but it just wasn’t the same.

I was actually surprised by how much I liked La Barca. It looks like a small whole in the wall Mexican restaurant, but it’s actually really big and lively. The Mexican food is very traditional: enchiladas, burritos, nachos, etc. and it’s pretty good.
I think it would be a fun place for a Birthday dinner and many margaritas. You can definitely expect a loud atmosphere with a lot of drunk people walking around — so I wouldn’t bring your kids here.
The biggest downside of this place is they have ONE women’s restroom for a restaurant that probably fits 90+ people.

Went to La Barca for a friend’s going away party this past weekend and had a sort of mixed experience. I had never been here before so when I walked in through the bar, I was expecting the restaurant portion to be small, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was more of a banquet hall. This place is really great for groups and it seemed like it was the go-​to spot for birthdays.
When we were seated we immediately got chips & salsa and then the waiter seemed to disappear for awhile. When he finally came back he took our orders — I decided on the beef flautas. The flautas came with rice, refried beans, and a salad. Overall, they were average at best. I mean, they were good but definitely not the best I’ve ever had and not really worth the price.
The service was hit or miss all night. At first he was completely on top of it with drinks and chips & salsa, then suddenly he would disappear. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe he was covering too many tables, but I don’t know if I want to go back and try this place out again that bad.

Fun place. Great atmosphere, especially for groups. Unlimited chips and salsa always a plus. Good service.
BUT, food is only okay (especially coming from Texas).
— Quesadillas with ground beef: pretty standard but after adding some hot sauce, they were pretty good.
— Taquitos with chicken: too dry and a little burned. Very familiar to the kind I buy in the frozen section, though these were much bigger.

Go here for the atmosphere. It’s always a party, with great service, great drinks and tasty food.
(but it’s mexican so how can you lose?)
Tuesday night pub quiz — 8 to 10 p.m. Fun questions, great music.

Nicely sized dining room that will easily accommodate large parties.
6.5÷10 chips and salsa. Chips were well-​baked but some seemed to be stale.
⁵⁄₁₀ service. The gentleman waiter was very professional but not so prompt.
⁷⁄₁₀ entrees. Entrees are massive. even if you are manly man forged from the gates of hell, and placed on this planet to be as masculine as possible, you will still not finish all of your food.
Quality is above the chains, but below the quality offered in the Mission.
Whatever, its close and fun, i’m sure i’ll return!

Rude waiter.
So-​so margaritas. I could barely taste any alcohol. Sangria was overly sweet.
Food was bland and showering it with hot sauce did not help.
The only decent thing was the free chips and salsa. The chips were thick and crispy, but they were on the greasy side.
8 Entrees, 2 pitchers of margaritas, and 2 pitchers of sangria. Total for 9 people (note 2 people shared) was $ 253ish, which included a 20% gratuity added on by the server.

La Barca reminds me of El Cholo and Don Antonio’s in LA — not authentic, overpriced, over-​hyped Mexican food. The wait is insane on Fridays and Saturday nights for mediocre food. I’ve been twice — with groups and we’ve had to wait for about an hour each time. Since I had to wait in the bar area, I took advantage of other people’s kindness and drank way too many margaritas in a one hour period.
By the time I made it to the table, I remember not being able to read the menu. So maybe I hated it so much because whoever ordered for me didn’t order what I truly wanted to eat. Anyway, everyone’s food looked mildly appetizing but not really Mexican. I’ve had better — a lot better and for a lot less.