Barbosa's
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Barbosa's
If you're looking for traditional Mexican food made from unique recipes, turn to Barbosa's. We have been serving an extensive variety of delectable Mexican items in Saint Joseph, MO for over 60 years. A gluten-free menu is also available! Visit us today to savor authentic Mexican cuisine! Dine-in and carryout options are available!

You'll get everything from traditional chili beans, beef enchilada, cheese enchilada, and much more! Visit us with your family today! If you want to have great beef or chicken enchiladas, stop by Barbosa's and try the a la carte dishes we offer! Are you sensitive to gluten? We serve gluten-free food so don't have to worry about your food allergies or sensitivities.
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We're known for our homemade flour chips, red pork chili (all meat), and tacos that are made fresh daily. We've been awarded the best Mexican restaurant in the area. Barbosa's has won the St. Joseph News-Press Readers' Choice Award every year as the best taco place in the area since the time we have opened.
Choose from a wide selection of incredible appetizers, soups, and salads at Barbosa's. You'll love our delicious homemade tortilla chips, chicken fajita quesadilla, and many more! Our amazing options will surely please your tastebuds. Visit us today for a wholesome meal! Choice of corn or our homemade flour chips.
A flour tortilla filled with rice, beans, and your choice of seasoned ground beef, spiced chicken, or red pork chili. Smothered in our delicious cheese dip. A large flour tortilla filled with Spanish rice and refried beans then topped with our cheese dip. Flour tortillia filled with spanish rice and refried beans then topped wth grated cheese dip.
You can enjoy your food without worrying about your food allergies or sensitivities. Our gluten-free menu includes street tacos, beef tacos, corn chicken, corn nachos, chicken salad, and corn chips with your favorite dips. So what are your waiting for? Drop by Barbosa's today to enjoy some delicious Mexican food.
You don't have to spend a fortune to experience a delicious, authentic Mexican meal. Stop by our family owned restaurant today and enjoy our daily specials. You'll find everything from traditional chili beans, beef enchilada, cheese enchilada, and many more! Take a look at our distinct specials menu!
Reviews (26)
Sue Burton
Sue Burton
Dec 30, 2021
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Barbosa’s is a St Joe tradition. Best authentic Mexican around. Love their “dry” enchiladas, made the OG way, not slathered in sauce. Tacos? Nothing compares. THE best. I stick with the items on the original menu, enchiladas, tacos and tamales. And the avocado dip and homemade chips are the perfect beginning.
Kirsten Muller
Kirsten Muller
Nov 26, 2021
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Terrific food, as well as fast & friendly service! Yesterday we made our first visit, and we’ll definitely be back. Thanks for a great meal!
Jesse Meier
Jesse Meier
Nov 19, 2021
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Great food, excellent service. I'm not kidding. My server got a 50% tip. I was impressed.
Michael D.
Michael D.
Oct 30, 2021
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Barbosa's is a St Joseph institution, now only operating one location on Frederick Avenue. Each time Ive dined there, the food has been delicious and ample. Something unique about this restaurant is their homemade chips. They appear to be fried in lard, as they are large and incredibly flaky. Unlike most Mexican restaurants, these chips are understandably not complementary. However, i cannot go here without ordering them along with the meaty-cheese sauce. I always feel like I run out of cheese before I run out of chips :/ I will often stop to order the chips and cheesy dip for carryout.
Vicki Anderson
Vicki Anderson
Sep 23, 2021
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The service was great!! I didn't care for the food unfortunately. I ordered the enchilada plate and the chips are really different also. My group didn't like them much.
Korey Dennis
Korey Dennis
Aug 13, 2021
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I had it for the first time today.
I got the street taco lunch, with rice.
Everything was delicious!
Our waitress was very pleasant too.
This is definitely somewhere I would come back to.
Jimmy Randolph
Jimmy Randolph
Aug 12, 2021
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Terrible food! Found out after questioning quality that most items come pre-made. Basically paying for microwave services. These were supposed to be enchiladas. Look like they dropped em, ran it over and forgot the sauce
Cara Fienhold
Cara Fienhold
Jul 13, 2021
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We were traveling through St. Joseph and wanted Mexican food. So glad we found this place on Google! Great tacos!!! (even though they don't come with cheese). Great service! The beans and rice were very delicious! My son had the regular Mac and cheese be he ate it all! He was totally thrilled to get cherries and a sword with his drink!! Wonderful place to take a break from traveling! The decor was neat because we looked at all the pictures while waiting for our meal!
KnuckleDraggerzRatRodz Ratattude
KnuckleDraggerzRatRodz Ratattude
Aug 14, 2020
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There was half cup of water in my nachos. And wilted lettuce. The Spanish rice was spongy with no flavor.sent it back and didnt even eat my nachos. Paid bill and left dont think I'll try it again. Guy when we got there we both had to wait 5min for some one to come to front counter tables weren't even clean. I could understand if lunch rush but 3pm. And only 6 ppl. Hope others have better exsperiance. I do my best to enjoy places and give acurate reviews.
Tality J.
Tality J.
Dec 15, 2019
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This is NOT Mexican food. The salsa is made from diced tomatoes straight from the can. The "flour chips" that everyone raved about is only those big taco salad shells crushed. I've been wanting to go here for years to see the inside of this cool looking building, and this place made a "top 20" list in our town, so we thought we'd finally give it a try. The interior of the restaruant was such a disapointment. There is absolutely NO atmosphere here. The server was apathetic, not friendly at all, she practically slapped our food down on the table and was more interested
Venus Auxier
Venus Auxier
Jul 19, 2019
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Really good mexican food. Barbosa was recommended to us by the locals. We're so glad they did. Enchiladas smothered in red pork chile**** Barbosa's Burrito*** Small order of Nachos **** I want to go to the Barbosa's Castillo reopens. Im coming back!
Cara W.
Cara W.
May 03, 2019
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Come and see the building, it's beautiful but that's it. First, they charge $5.99 for chips and salsa. I have never experienced this anywhere except the other Barbosa location. I ordered the Chicken Enchiladas. I tasted just cheese, called the server over after cutting the enchilada open and explained that I ordered chicken ... she said it was chicken. I looked closer, very tiny minced chicken?? not to mention the enchiladas were flat and bland in spice and flavor. Margaritas were a little better than the other location but not good. I took 2 sips and quit. Just awful. Our server was
Meri M.
Meri M.
Jan 19, 2019
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This was my favorite restaurant as a kid and I still visit when I am in the area. Like a lot of things from childhood, it is always a little smaller and more run down than I remembered. Age hasn't helped the Castle and it is seems to have seen better days. It feels sad and dusty now.

The food is still the same as I remember as a kid. I always loved the enchiladas and that hasn't changed. I wish they had added some updates to their plates, such as a small green salad on the side and maybe some sour cream or guacamole. Everything on the plate always seems so dry. The chips and guacamole
Ashley R.
Ashley R.
Dec 18, 2018
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I've never had a taco that tasted so terrible in all my life. The meat tasted as it had been reheated numerous times and even had a funky odor. Needless to say, we left hungry after a $30 lunch for 2. So disappointing.
Chris Gilmore
Chris Gilmore
Sep 18, 2018
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Been going here for years. It's a St. Joseph staple. I love that they use flour tortillas for virtually everything. Their red pork chili is awesome.
Klayton B.
Klayton B.
Jul 03, 2018
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Their A/C was broken, but that was clearly posted at the front door and it was still relatively cool inside. There wee a variety of crumbs, chips, and paper on the floor. I ordered the Barbosa's Burrito with ground beef. The burrito was large and tasted very similar to the 5 Layer Burrito at Taco Bell, only with no sour cream. The beef was a poor quality, Taco Bell tasting Type and the cheese was a simple melted Velveeta. The burrito was served with some iceberg lettuce on the side. The waitress was not very professional, and was yelling about how she was going to hit a guy who who left without
James C.
James C.
Apr 10, 2018
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Worse food I have ever had. Poor service. Gross presentation I have never had such a poor meal in my entire life if they want to call that Spanish Mexican Aztec whatever type of food they think they're serving it is nothing but trash
Beth B.
Beth B.
Mar 01, 2018
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I love Barbosa's Castillo! Like many people from St. Joe, it is very nostalgic of my childhood! My favorites are the pork chile as well as the chicken mole. I usually order the cheese enchiladas with red pork chile and I also order their homemade chips and cheese. The red pork chile and the chicken mole are both very authentic and flavorful. I highly recommend Barbosa's to anyone looking for amazing Mexican food that is made with love!
Chelsey B.
Chelsey B.
Aug 01, 2017
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The atmosphere here has always made Barbosa's a childhood favorite of mine. I usually order the enchiladas (the mini enchiladas are adorable), and the enchilada sauce is fantastic.

The restaurant could be a little cleaner (the floor is all old carpet), but overall the food is surprisingly authentic for a place in the Midwest.
Andrea D.
Andrea D.
May 07, 2017
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The one star is for the street tacos. If you are by any chance FORCED to eat here, eat the street tacos. Do NOT order the flour chips. I.can't.even. Reminiscent of the crispies that float on top of your soup at a Chinese restaurant, they hit your mouth with a flour/oil taste. How they have achieved both at the same time is beyond me. Never again.
Claire C.
Claire C.
May 07, 2017
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Do not listen to anyone who gives Barbosa's a bad review, they're out of their minds. There's a reason they don't provide free chips and salsa, because the chips are homemade flour chips and are absolutely fantastic. They're not your standards restaurant style chips, they're thick and crispy.

My family and I drive an hour to come here every few months ever since I was born. I have to admit, some of the servers could be more attentive but the food is worth it. This is not Tex-Mex, nor do they claim to be. It's traditional Mexican cuisine. My favorite is the Barbosas
Juli W.
Juli W.
Feb 19, 2017
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This place is amazing. We were visiting from out of town so when we heard there was a haunted Mexican Restaurant in a castle, it sounded so unreal we had to check it out. The staff was so nice, we had a waitress who was in the family and worked there for many years- she told us some ghost stories which were thoroughly entertaining! Food was decent, classic American/Mexican but it's all about the atmosphere there! Highly recommend if you want to hear some interesting stories.
Penny R.
Penny R.
Feb 02, 2017
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When you don't provide free chips and salsa like every other Mexican restaurant I've have been to, you start off bad.
The chicken enchilada I ordered was nasty. Tasted like chicken fat. Gross! The service wasn't the best either. I will not be back ever just because they don't serve chips and salsa.
Zachary A.
Zachary A.
May 01, 2016
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Very cool castle exterior that can be seen for blocks and really draws your attention. We came in and ordered the usual Mexican dishes including a burrito, chips and salsa, variety plate, and tacos among the three of us. Nothing really stands out about the food in my opinion, tasting very average (not in a bad way, simply not extraordinary). The drinks were actually quite strong and not too expensive as well.
Natalie N.
Natalie N.
Jul 15, 2015
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This is a very specific style of food that locals love. It's authentic to St. Joseph and has a long history here. Don't come looking for fancy or something cookie cutter like you find at most Mexican restaurants. The fried flour tortilla chips, plain ground beef tacos and fideo are fantastic. I write about food for a living and love this place. I'm visiting from LA and really wanted to go here. Was bummed that it is not wheelchair accessible because I wanted to bring my kids to the Castillo where I loved eating as a kid. But the Frederick location has good food too but not the atmosphere
Sarah L.
Sarah L.
Jun 30, 2014
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My BF and I ate here on Saturday evening. We definitely wanted to try the food at the Mexican Castle, we thought it had to be a great landmark restaurant. Wrong. The interior has been poorly maintained, it's like you're dining in you great aunt's home. The staff was nice enough.

I am originally from Texas, so I have high expectations for Mexican/Tex-Mex food. This food to me was bland and Americanized.

The chips and salsa do not come on the house, it was $2.99 - nothing too special, I would have rather saved my carbs for something else. They had 3 specials for the night, we each