Qué Bárbaro (Los Angeles, CA)

Que Barbaro at Level 8
1254 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
213-789-7854
www.quebarbarodtla.com
Thu 10/02/2025, 07:55p-09:45p



The last time I reported on Ray Garcia was back in May 2022, shortly after he'd opened Asterid at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Chef's next move came at the end of August 2023, when he launched the subject of this post: Qué Bárbaro, a live fire-focused South American eatery. It's all part of Level 8, the Houston Brothers' multi-concept food-and-beverage operation spanning the eighth floor of Downtown's Moxy/AC Hotel complex. Qué Bárbaro was followed a month later by The Brown Sheep, Garcia's nontraditional taco spot that also resides here. Given that I'd never checked out Level 8 before, I figured now would be a good time to visit.


Awash in shades of jade and browns, with plenty of hanging vegetation, the dining room is quite a lovely place to be. It's not a huge space, spanning just under 1,300 square-feet, and can accommodate 60 diners.


Here we see Qué Bárbaro's pan-Latin American menu, which is divvied up into sections for starters, mains, sides, and wood-grilled meats. Also pictured is the list of cocktails from Devon Espinosa, along with options for wine and beer. Note that the restaurant adds on a 3% credit card surcharge, which is part of an unfortunate trend. Click for larger versions.


Gin + Fernet [$23.00] | condesa gin, fernet branca, grand marnier, kin-a-peel banana, la quintinye sweet vermouth
The evening's first cocktail did a nice job combining the unmistakable character of banana with complementary forces of dark fruit, orchard fruit, bitters, and booziness, though I would've liked a touch more zippiness to elevate things even further.


Empanadas [$19.00] | wagyu beef, potato, pimenton
I generally have a hard time resisting an empanada, and tonight was certainly no exception to that rule. I appreciated the spicing of the turnover's meat-n-potatoes stuffing, as well as its flaky pastry crust, while the zestiness of the chimichurri really completed the equation. My only gripe was that I wish the beef filling could've been a bit juicier.


Leche de Tigre [$29.00] | yellowtail, chile, manzano, choclo, sweet potato, plantain
Next up was a pretty textbook Peruvian-style ceviche. Texturally, the amberjack was on point, and the dish's acidity and heat made total sense with the fish. At the same time, the camote's sweetness helped moderate things, and I was a big fan of the textural contribution from the corn, too.


Passionfruit + Banana [$23.00] | ketel one vodka, amaro di angostura, passionfruit, kin-a-peel banana, lemon
Cocktail number two was certainly on the more quaffable side, offering up the trademark tanginess of passion fruit in spades, but tempered by banana as well as some nuttier, spicier, more bitter undertones.


Pulpo [$29.00] | spanish octopus, sweet potato, olive, 'nduja, aji panca
As regular readers should know by now, octo is pretty much a must-order for me. Tonight's pulpo arrived decently tender, with some mouthwatering seasoning and heat that was kept in check by the softer qualities of that sweet potato.


Hongos [$27.00] | grilled maitake mushrooms, lemon garlic sauce, red chimichurri
The hen-of-the-woods turned out to be a surprise favorite. The mushroom had that slick, gratifying mouthfeel I was looking for, while its elements of smoke and umami played perfectly with the spicing from that chimichurri rojo. Meanwhile, the lemon-garlic imparted a tartness to the dish that helped tone things down a notch.


Kiwi + Guanabana [$22.00] | sonrisa platino light rum, guanabana, st. germain elderflower, kiwi, lime
This third cocktail was also pretty easy-going, doing a good job demonstrating the tropical, fruity character of the soursop-kiwi combo, all set over a base of rum to keep things grounded.



9 oz. A5 Wagyu New York [$120.00] | Kagoshima, Japan
Next came some wood-grilled meat in the form of a Japanese wagyu strip steak. The beef was pretty much spot-on, arriving with a healthy sear, straightforward-but-satisfying seasoning, and just the right amount of fattiness. It was delicious by itself, but I certainly didn't mind the application of the provided accoutrements, which I believe included chimichurri verde, sea salt, and farofa. Also appreciated were that tangy tomato and unusually buttery potato on the side.


Esparagos [$17.00] | grilled asparagus, chimichurri, citrus aioli
Asparagus served as an appropriate sidekick for the steak above, and played the classic bitterness you'd expect from the vegetable with an assertive sourness from that allioli.


Sweet Potato + Chocolate [$22.00] | tincup whiskey, sweet potato liqueur, huacatay demerara, aztec chocolate bitters
My penultimate cocktail ended up as the heftiest of the bunch. The drink very clearly showed off those dusty chocolatey notes I was expecting, juxtaposed against lots of booziness and bitters, but with the sweet potato working to soften it all.


Lomo Saltado [$47.00] | beef tenderloin, roma tomatoes, onion, fries, steamed rice, aji verde
This was essentially a by-the-book version of the chifa staple, and displayed all the savory, soy-fueled flavors I was looking for, well-contrasted by the brightness from the tomatoes, onions, and ají verde. However, the meat could've been more tender, more succulent, while the rice needed to be cooked less.


Bruselas [$18.00] | brussels sprouts, vegan cashew crema, pickled radish, chile morita
Brussels were quite nice, proffering all the bitterness and char you could want. This all matched up swimmingly with the dish's creamier, nuttier components, and I appreciated the acidity and crunch from those pickles, too.


Dulce de Leche + Coffee [$23.00] | don julio reposado tequila, mr. black coffee, licor 43, dulce de leche, white cacao, dark chocolate shavings
Given that we were in the midst of the Mr. Black Espresso Martini Fest 2025, the bar was offering this cocktail special, so I obliged. I'd say that this was a more subdued rendition of the classic drink, conveying soft coffee and roasty flavors set over a backdrop of dark fruit and sweet spice, with the tequila peeking through just a tad.


Chocotorta [$12.00] | chocolate cake, coffee syrup, dulce de leche mousse
There was only one dessert available tonight, which was this tiramisu-ish creation that worked out well enough. The cake showcased an effective back-and-forth between chocolate and that caramelized milk mousse, with the coffee presenting itself in a fairly restrained manner.

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with Qué Bárbaro, a few transgressions aside. The cooking doesn't quite reach the levels of what Garcia was putting out during the Broken Spanish era, but is about as good as I could've expected given the restaurant's admittedly "nightlife-y" environs. In fact, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to returning to Level 8 to give Maison Kasai or Lucky Mizu a go for dinner.

As for what else is coming up for the Chef, after Qué Bárbaro opened, he took over the kitchen at The Rose Venice back at the start of 2024, replacing Jason Neroni. However, the restaurant ended up shuttering in December last year, while Asterid closed this June, though Garcia did open a new incarnation of B.S. Taqueria at The Venetian back in July. More interestingly, he's currently working on re-launching Broken Spanish, while a more casual version called Broken Spanish Comedor is slated to debut inside the former Culver City home of Best Bet. Those two will certainly be on my list to check out.