Local Lunch: Barraco's is Not Your Average Pizza Joint

When you walk into Barraco's, 3701 W. 95th St., for lunch, no matter how bright it is outside, you still get the feeling you're in a high-class sports bar on a Friday night. With candles and low lighting, much of the place is really only lit up by the several TVs showing Comcast Sports Net's most recent poker tournament. It's a good environment to cool down in the middle of the day, blow off some steam and have a slice of Barraco's famous thin crust pizza from the restaurant's immense lunch buffet.

For under $8 (tax included), folks can enjoy selections of pizza, fried foods, salad, fresh fruit, pasta, Italian beef and soup. It's like a college dining hall, only so much better because the food is delicious and costs much less than a meal plan would.

Looking at the rest of the menu, anything besides pizza is kind of expensive for my wallet's taste, so I jump on the lunch buffet deal and fill up my plate with fried foods (mini corn dogs, tater tots, mac and cheese bites and fried apple crisp bites), Barraco's signature thin crust pizza and pasta with meatballs.

The fried foods are much like all fried foods, terrible for me but delicious so I don't mind. The fresh fruit makes me feel better about eating all the fried foods though. A lot of lunch buffets I've seen often have large fruits that they can slice and prepare easily, like melons, but I was so excited to see peaches on the lunch buffet. Barraco's really changed things up from a normal buffet and I liked that. The pasta was not dry, as can sometimes happen on buffets, and the pasta sauce was a bit tangy, an interesting flavor but enjoyable nonetheless. The meatball has a firm outer crust but a soft middle, a great consistency.

But most important of all is the pizza. Barraco's thin crust cheese pizza sits in a glass warming case, and aside from the fact that I'm uncoordinated and can't gracefully serve myself the pizza, my pizza experience was overall positive. The crust is firm and crunchy, not flimsy like on some pizzas. It stands up to the cheese on the pizza that has a strong flavor but not too strong. The sauce is sweetish but not too sweet. That's a really good slice of pizza.

Overall: I'm impressed by the quality of the food at Barraco's, the service is great and the atmosphere is lovely. A great pick for an affordable lunch or a nice night out for dinner.

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