High ratings for Oak Ridge Mexican restaurant, ice cream shop

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22-07-2025

After doing this for well over 20 years, I'm at the point, where I manage my expectations when it comes to Mexican-food restaurants. The vast majority of the ones I have tried do a decent job. No major complaints. But it's not often that one lands on the right-hand side of the bell curve. Barrios Mexican Cantina in Oak Ridge, however, did just that.
While researching it online, I appreciated the aesthetics and functionality of the website, and the menu definitely piqued my interest. Then upon our arrival, I noticed that the modestly sized bar and dining areas didn't beat me over the head with cliché Mexican-restaurant décor like piñatas, streamers and gaudily colored booths. I don't need an explosion of visual stimuli in my face when I dine out, which is why Barrios' understated mom-and-pop vibes felt refreshing and welcoming.
And as I mentioned, I was hopeful about the menu too. You'll find a number of dips and a couple of ceviche dishes among the appetizers. I also spotted unique salads like berry and goat cheese as well as avocado and kale. And yes, they have familiar south-of-the-border dinners like burritos, enchiladas, nachos, fajitas and quesadillas. There were also sections focused more on chicken and vegetarian options.
I ordered one of the seafood entrees, the seafood chimichanga ($17). The tortilla is filled with mahi, shrimp and sauteed onions, then deep-fried and topped with chipotle queso. It's served with rice, beans, pico and crema cilantro. The Grub Spouse tried one of the Casa Specialties, the carnitas dinner ($16). The confit pork is prepared with sauteed onions and served with similar sides as mine and accompanied by tortillas.
Barrios also offers more than two dozen street taco varieties. Prices vary, but I got the molida taco (ground beef) for $3.75. There were so many other dishes I would have loved to try but passed on, including the chori-chicken chimichanga, the enchiladas supremas, the seafood and spinach quesadilla and the quesabirria — a flour tortilla stuffed with birria (stew), cheese, onion and cilantro. Combo and a la carte options are up for grabs as well.
This was by far my favorite Mexican-food meal in a long while. The carnitas were cooked to perfection, and my deep-fried chimi was bursting with plump shrimp, mildly flavored mahi and mucho onion. I loved all the sides as well, including the rice, which I can usually take or leave. Even the cilantro-enhanced pico was wonderful.
One negative was the service, which started out great, but our personable server went missing once our food was delivered. We received no follow-up, and even after he eventually dropped by, it took a little too long for him to get us a check and to-go boxes. We were the only customers there at the time. It was regrettable, but I'm not letting that have too much impact on my overall score.
We passed on a familiar list of Mexican desserts, mainly so we could be-bop right down the Oak Ridge Turnpike to Lolli & Bobo's Ice Cream Shop, a block off the main drag in that Bus Terminal Road shopping area. My research indicated that they get their ice cream from Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream in Door County, Wisconsin. It's rated as super premium, containing at least 14% butterfat, which makes it creamy and delicious.
And I would agree. We agonized over the nearly 20 flavors available that day, including blueberry cheesecake, cool mint cookie, bourbon trail and caramel corn. I got a scoop of Cake Pop (cake batter ice cream, salted chocolate cake pieces and sprinkles) and a scoop of Michigan Pot Hole (chocolate ice cream with black-tar fudge and chocolate chunks. The Spouse got two scoops of Eskimo Kisses — coconut ice cream with bits of chocolate ice cream and a blanket of fudge. Each two-scoop cup was $6.49.
We didn't see Lolli and Bobo, two grandparents who are Tennessee transplants, but if we had, we would have told them that they have excellent taste in ice cream. My favorite chain lately has been Bruster's, but in this case, Lolli & Bobo's comes about as close to that benchmark as any local shop I've experienced. I'm giving them two little, pink plastic spoons, way up.
Barrios Mexican Cantina
Food: 4.5
Service: 3.5
Atmosphere: 3.75
Overall: 4.25
Address: 154 Talmeda Road, Oak Ridge
Phone: [phone]
Full bar service
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
Lolli & Bobo's Ice Cream Shoppe
Food: 4.5
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Overall: 4.5
Address: 124 Bus Terminal Road, Oak Ridge
Phone: [phone]
No alcohol service
Hours: 1 to 8 p.m. Sundays; noon to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays
Bottom line: These two Oak Ridge eateries — serving Mexican food and ice cream, respectively — are both very good at what they do and worth the drive from Knoxville.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: High ratings for Oak Ridge Mexican restaurant, ice cream shop
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