Tarasco Mexican Restaurant

I've been a regular at Tarasco for about three years now, both pre- and post-Pandemic. Marta and Carmen were great bartenders then. Liza and Julia are great bartenders now. Owner Tony is a great guy and has been a member of the Ballard/Crown Hill community for many, many years. This place is a gem of the Seattle restaurant scene.

Looking for break from the Seattle freeze? Here's your place. The bartender Marta is the sweetest and will make you feel at home right away. This is the bar that you'll want to become a regular at. Pictured is Mary's tostada; filling in that way that only loads of beans, fried tortilla, pork, and lettuce will make you,

Unfortunately, disappointed by this local bar. While the location is prime for a late night dive and the karaoke setup should allow for a more eclectic group the management fails to provide adequate service to make this a fun experience. Granted I've only visited once but on that night the gentlemen running karaoke clearly did not enjoy his job and allowed the same group of seven friends to perform multiple songs each while the rest of us got one chance at the mic at best. Most karaoke bars will read the room, so to speak, and shuffle submissions around so everyone gets a semi-equal turn at the mic. Here they didn't even consider this and had the same group of friends perform upwards of 4 songs each while the rest of the bar got one at best. Toward the end of the night when our songs were about to come up they decided to close twenty minutes early, although official closing time was listed as 2am, and skip the rest of the songs in the cue. When I asked management why they weren't staying open until the time posted both on their website and on signs throughout the bar they threatened to throw me out. I had high hopes for this place as a quiet, local dive with good service but left feeling like it's a bar simply going through the motions, open only because they've been there for years. They're unwilling to change in any way and clearly unhappy to service their customers. If you're looking for karaoke in this particular area I'd definitely choose the Water Wheel or really any other place that's open.

I love Tarasco! I go here just about every Sunday night after practice with my water polo team. The food is great and service is always top notch. A couple times we actually got to meet the owner too and they're very sweet and down to earth. Over all it's an excellent place to grab a bite or a drink with a good atmosphere too. Oh and you can play pool or darts too