Last time I tried to eat at Barney’s Beanery, the new Priority Restaurant in Terminal 2 at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the cook had gone home early. That should been a sign onto me to stay away…
I returned last week for dinner before a flight, and the cook was there. I had to wait about five minutes for a seat, though there were chairs available at the bar if I wanted to sit down immediately.
Here are the food and drink menus:
Since I love Mexican food so much, I decided to order…Mexican food. Looking over the choices, I selected a chicken quesadilla and cheese enchiladas. Why two items? Why not? I had $28 in credit and the entrees do not come with chips and salsa or beans and rice.
About 20 minutes later, the food arrived. What a disappointment. I know it doesn’t look bad, but the cheese, tortillas, and especially the chicken were of the lowest quality. And the food was just dripping in grease as well. I felt sick to my stomach after eating half of it.
My meal totaled just under $28, so there was no charge for my meal. I could have just walked away, but I wanted to leave a tip…on my credit card. I’ll pause here again to plead with you to tip your waiter or waitress when using Priority Pass. I may hate the U.S. tipping culture, but that is the way we do things here and it is unfair and just rude not to tip them. Put yourself in their shoes.
To accommodate the tip on my credit card, the agent charged me one penny, allowing me to add the tip on my card.
CONCLUSION
I’m generally not very picky when it comes to “Tex-Mex” food. Even so, I’ll skip this restaurant in the future…I think it is too unhealthy. Or maybe I’ll just order something else.
No eatery whose brightly colored menus are encased in cracking plastic lamination should be charging $13.58 for eggs, hash browns, and toast. Is SO MUCH of their business from Priority Pass customers who aren’t paying the check themselves that this place can afford to set such artificially (and ridiculously) high prices? I get it, this is Los Angeles, but still.
I had the burger, wings, and mozzarella sticks and they were all superb. Friend had a shrimp burrito and thought it was good but didn’t care for the enchilada sauce it was covered in.
Glad you enjoyed it!
If those enchiladas are made with flour tortillas, and it looks like they are, that tells you all you need to know. That’s an unpardonable sin!
Its a rookie mistake to try to tip using a credit card after a free meal. Experienced travelers always carry cash, including fives and ones.
I don’t use cash if I can avoid it. Seven points is seven points.
Exactly! He’s not topping a bellman, he’s leaving a server a tip in a restaurant. Get the points and get the record for business expenses later.
It all looks very sloppy and careless, which also says a lot. I would say stick with their chili, but who wants all those beans if you’re flying cross country? Choose your menu carefully! 😉
The actual Barney’s is usually really good, so I’m pretty sad to hear that the airport one is so bad. I’m a bit surprised their classic champagne breakfast isn’t on the menu, because it’s the kind of conspicuous consumption that you’d expect to see at an airport.
Their best burger is the juicy lucy, which also isn’t on there. Looks like they stripped the menu way down.
The $28 policy encourages over-ordering and consequent over-eating. When food such as this is regarded as normal, is it any wonder that Americans are the world’s biggest porkers?
lol $28 at an airport restaurant encourages overeating? I realize in this case he ordered a couple things for the sake of being able to check them out, but a beer/drink and a plate would have used that credit up in a reasonable way.
Yes, point taken. My reference was more at the mechanics of it; eg, someone who really only wants a coffee but decides to order $25 of crap food as well, just to get “value”
I love Mexican food too, but if you’re looking for healthy, Mexican food is far from it.
FYI, my app says they’re leaving Priority Pass on November 30, 2018.