Damn, That Design

Bartaco, West Hartford, CT

I grew up 10 miles from here, in the hills of northwest Connecticut. My childhood was very whitebread and suburban, but there were always plenty of woods around my house to explore. Whenever I visit, New England surprises me in how different the landscape is from Madison. I don’t expect it because the people are so similar – focus on hard work, pragmatism, and progressive ideology. The hills, woods, and the 400-year history influence the design of neighborhoods and towns in an idiosyncratic way. There are very few highways and lots of residential streets. No ranch houses are to be found but colonials abound. And instead of town squares and city centers, Connecticut seems to have lots of “districts” interspersed with little regard to town boundaries or survey lines. West Hartford has such a district of shops and restaurants, with a weirdly high amount of chains interspersed with unique restaurants. Bartaco doesn’t seem to fit here. The storefront is authentic and welcoming - they clearly pay close attention to design in a way that no other store on the block does. A single and simple color palette unifies the whole restaurant, and the same design motifs are repeated everywhere. Rich cobalt blue and whitewashed wood and bricks make the place feel like Santorini, mixed with the Zihautenejo scene from Shawshank. It puts you in a seaside Mexican town (I imagine, as someone who’s never been to either Greece or the Mexican coast). Or maybe it’s Maine - or maybe I’m just stuck on Shawshank. Smooth wood is everywhere, from the hanging baskets repurposed as lanterns to the wooden barstools and the backs of the booths. If you picture it as driftwood, it completes the seaside feeling.

They take a tapas approach to tacos, and have a strange ordering custom - the kind of custom that either makes you feel like an insider at an exclusive club or like you’re at a chain mongolian grill with millenial-marketing bullshit.

They do manage to make it feel authentic here. The host and both my bartenders introduced themselves by name and asked to know mine. They passed me the menu, which is a quarter-folded piece of cardstock bearing the now-familiar design pattern of the building, and well-executed. It’s probably the first or second-best menu I’ve come across since starting traveling for work (up there with Eventide in Portland, ME, which you should absolutely visit). They have a small and thoughtful beer selection, including this incredible Honeyspot white IPA from Two Roads in CT that I’m drinking. This is a white IPA done in a balanced style. It’s not exploding with hops, it’s crisp and drinkable with a sweet finish (honey?). I digress - to place your order, you fill out the menu card with a pencil (also in the theme color) and clip it to a holder for the staff.

As I said, it’s tapas tacos (tapos?) that come out from the kitchen as they’re ready. They’re small - 2 or 3 bites. I first got a cheese quesadilla and a side of elote. After that came tacos: roasted root veggie with salsa, portobella with queso fresca, and falafel. To be honest, the food is good but not incredible. The presentation is plain and friendly, and made in the image that the design pattern of this place radiates. Even the staff’s uniforms follow the design pattern - blue and white gingham shirts, white pants, and Converse, though each employee can put their own twist on the theme. It’s also great that the tacos are so small and cheap, it lets you pack so many flavors into one meal that you don’t need to overstuff yourself to enjoy. I went back for mushroom mole tamales and a spiced chocolate pudding for dessert. Like I said, the food is good, but it’s an undercurrent to the atmosphere of this room and these people. This would be a great place for a casual date with a longtime partner or dinner 1-on-1 with a friend after work. I also happen to think it is perfect for dining alone, the way I came here, and will do it again the next time I get a chance.