Tio’s is the New Mex
Occupying the old Dixie Grill space on Ward Avenue is Tio’s Grill, but as the menu is quick to point out, their cooking isn’t quite considered to be Mexican food. Their cuisine is referred to as New-Mex (as in New Mexico), not to be confused with Tex-Mex, Cal-Mex or plain old Mexican. Green chile, with more cilantro and less appearances from cumin and tomatillos, is the defining feature of the cooking and sometimes it’s a good thing, while at other times, it doesn’t quite work.
As with all restaurants Mexican Ö err, New-Mex Ö the joy of free nachos and salsa tantalizes as soon as one is seated, and let it be said, Tio’s has some amazing spicy salsa–the kind of salsa that you shovel in your mouth and ask for a third basket of chips ordering your meal and being completely full by the time the entrees show up.
The appetizers are where Tio’s really shines. The Flash Fried Calamari ($6.75) meat was juicy and tender, and the cornmeal crust breading was flashily fried–but not thickly overwhelming. It comes with two sauces: the Tomato Salsita is a more standard, traditional cocktail sauce, but the spicy Chipotle Ranch sauce is infused with a bit of lime that gives the dressing an appealing, tartar-like zing that complements the squid. The Chile Con Queso ($7) is available with chorizo, chicken or spicy tinga beef–all for an additional dollar. With the chorizo, the Chile Con Queso was a creamy delight. The tortilla chips were thankfully all in unbroken triangles, perfect for fondue-style dipping in the melted cheese with green chile and diced tomotoes. Coupled with the complementary nachos during initial seating, one can survive on chips and dip at this restaurant alone.
For salad choices, one can’t go wrong with the Grilled Avocado ($9.50), a healthy half slice of avocado, char-grilled and piled high with shrimp salad. Mixed with the lettuce, the dish turns into a seafood louie of sorts with the warm avocado perfectly matching the rich goodness of the shrimp.
One wishes the appetizers could last for the entire meal, but entrees must be ordered. It’s here that Tio’s Garage falters a bit. The most impressive thing about the Chile Relleno ($8.50) is the sheer size of the roasted poblano chile. It was roughly the size of an adolescent’s sneaker. The chile was stuffed with jack cheese and cooked in an egg white batter, topped with green chile sauce and more cheese. Unlike most chile relleno dishes though, the batter isn’t too thick. If you’re a vegetarian, this could be your idea of Pepper Heaven, but eventually one realizes that it’s simply a cheesy hunk of gigantic chile. The sauce is a bit too mild to sustain that large a dish of cooked vegetable.
The Plato con Tamale ($8.75) again seems to suffer from an extreme mildness of flavor. Although made with real corn masa, it envelopes and suffocates the meat (picture a small child swaddled with one comforter too many) and you’re basically left with corn meal. The Traditional Stack Enchiladas ($10.50) also seemed a touch bland. Even the traditional red sauce with the melted cheese just wasn’t savory enough, even though it was spicy. It seemed to be missing something. If requested, it also comes topped with a fried egg, but that didn’t seem to help. It simply added more to the plate.
Green or red house rice accompanies all dishes. It’s nice to have the choice, but they both taste extremely similar so it becomes more of an aesthetic decision rather than one of flavor. Beans, of course, are also included as a side and they were Ö beans; again there is a choice, home-style pinto beans or vegetarian black beans.
The desserts though, are worth saving room for. The Chocolate Taquitos Helado ($6.50) is chocolate filled tortillas with a touch of hazelnut, deep fried to crispiness. They are then stuck in a heaping scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with more chocolate. For something a little less sweet, the Coconut Flan ($6) topped with an apple salsita is another tempting option. The flan is thick, but not too sweet, nicely setting off the subtle coconut flavor.
The space of the eatery seems less crowded and jostling than Dixie Grill was. Dominated by reds and yellows, the room is airy, pleasant and fun, especially with the bushels of peppers on the walls and the Latin music pumping through the system. Sheet metal is placed in certain areas for the garage effect but thankfully, the floors aren’t oily and no one tells you that you need to have your brakes replaced. The outside area with yellow and green lights seems to be a nice area to dine in leisure, especially when the weather warms a bit in the spring, making it the perfect locale to watch the evening traffic to the Ward Theatres and the exciting busts at the gentlemen’s club Exotic Nights. The wait staff was friendly and helpful, although even on a lazy Sunday night, the kitchen seemed to produce the dishes at a slightly slower rate than expected.
This relaxing environment seems to be the appeal of this restaurant though. It’s a place to sit, and waste away an afternoon with a few beers and ESPN. It’s also a great place to stop in, order a couple Coronas from the bar and get a light snack before a movie–and this is where those terrific appetizers come in. It’s just that as a meal-destination for this type of cuisine, Tio’s Garage may be more suitable for ‘Not-Mexican’ food-fans whose taste-buds aren’t addicted to fiery zest.
