Barrio Fiesta, Calgary

So my Canadian friends and I thought about checking out this Filipino restaurant that allegedly played Latin music. They were all into salsa and I was just craving sisig. As we entered the restaurant I was appalled. They had red lights. The fear that a stripper will go out on stage started to creep in.

“So you feel at home?” one of my friends asked.
“Hell no.” was what I wanted to say. But I just laughed in an ‘are-you-kidding-me’ sort of way.

Seriously, if I was in the Philippines I would never in a million years go to a place like that. It’s putting all restaurants in the Philippines in a bad light – red, in particular. Considering the vast diversity in the Filipino art and culture, I feel sad that this restaurant had to choose ‘modern-day-strip-club-near-the-airport’ as its inspiration.

On the upside, the band was fantastic, the staff was super friendly and the food was great. The best part for me was the fact that they serve Red Horse Beer. After 3 bottles, I didn’t mind the red lights.