Barney was the proprietor of Barney's Beanery, a famous chili restaurant in West Hollywood. The beanery was a favourite haunt of Lieutenant Columbo, a notorious chili hound, and he dined there on a number of occasions. Barney was played by Columbo regular John Finnegan and appeared in three episodes; It's All in the Game in 1993, Strange Bedfellows in 1995 and A Trace of Murder in 1997.
Among Finnegan's many previous appearances on the show was as Fred in Uneasy Lies the Crown, a waiter who serves Columbo his latest chili dish. Maybe he and Barney were brothers.