Tio’s Mexican Restaurant

Their homemade guacamole and salsa are the best around. I get the beef fajitas every time I visit and I’m never disappointed. They also carry a nice beer selection for the IPA lovers out there. My only complaint is that I can’t visit more often!

I ordered a large to go order for 35 people and everything was so great! The manager, Matt, made sure it was all correct and even called me to confirm it all before hand. The portions were HUGE and the meat was so tender and delicious. They even gave me utensils they actually went to walmart to buy, and real ziplocs which I will be returning for them since we are traveling out of town. This place is THE BEST!

I’m sure my opinion is biased because I’m a former employee of Tio’s but you’ve gotta give this place a try. This family owned restaurant is full of tradition. From the salsa recipe to the cooks, Tio’s keeps its «OG». The Thursday Special (mesquite fajitas) and the Wednesday Special (Santa Fe Enchiladas) are my two personal favorites. You won’t find a friendlier or more flavorful place in PV!

This place is horrible. This is not Mexican food! No fajitas on the menu and all that really have that looked appealing was a fried burrito. Will not be going back

Excellent. I had a good experience. The salsa and chips were fresh and tasted great. The waitress even though she already was serving a party of 15, she was able to serve me with all my stupid requests, like a side of Guacamole and napkins. She even brought more salsa without having to ask. Great service. The enchiladas were excellent and had meat sauce on top. I also had a tamale. The refried beans had cheese on top and the Spanish rice was excellent. One thing I would have done different, and I WISH more Mexican restaurant did this, is throw the corn tortillas on the grill first with a little oil to soften them up like I do at home. Just ten or twenty seconds per side is all it takes and makes all the difference between a hard enchilada and a nice easy to cut and chew enchilada. Otherwise I definitely recommend this restaurant.

We ate lunch and thought it was very good.
Very good service and pretty fast but the décor could use an update but overall a nice place to eat
A little pricey tho

When traveling through the area, Tio’s is a frequent lunch spot. I’ve liked everything I’ve had here from quesadillas to enchiladas. They also have a habanero salsa which is great if you love heat! Their prices are reasonable but queso is not included which is always a bummer. The service is always good and the food is ready very quickly!

Okay… all I said before, except:
I got some chunky guacamole that was a fantastic blend!
For the first time in a LONG time my arroz was actually hot!
Overall the plate started too temperature hot (todo mas Caldo.)
But even as the food began to loose it Venusian temperature, my rice remained hot.

Always a great experience at Tios. Ive been going here for years and have always enjoyed the food and service. It has a great history and is a staple for eating out in Paul’s Valley. Can’t wait to go back!

This was such a bland experience! The building is just blah inside. There wasn’t any decorations or anything with any Mexican flare at all. There wasn’t any food smells at all. Not bustling no energy what so ever. We ordered a Margarita which they only have one flavor, which is weird. No drink menu no dessert menu. Main entrée menus had maybe 11 – 14 items. Menu doesn’t entice you at all. Waitress brought Margarita and Chips Salsa and Queso. Umm all 4 were terrible! The Queso was thick yellow velveeta but somehow was almost tasteless! Salsa was so watery and the chips just so cheap and stale. Will never be back will never recommend. It has nothing at all going for it. I hate to give such a bad review but this was my honest and true experience here.

Never had a bad meal here. Everything is fresh, service is friendly and they are usually pretty busy. I order the #1 with 2 tacos every time.

It seems like everyone I know either loves or hates this place. Honestly, I don’t like to dine in here. The décor is straight out of the 70’s and you are kind of hit or miss when it comes to the service. To make matters worse there is usually an uncomfortable wait in their tiny hallway. That being said, I am addicted to their La Patrona Grande. I order it to go anytime I’m in the area. It is one of my top three favorite dishes– along with the Penne Puttanesca from a little Italian place on Mullberry St. in NYC and the amazing cheese pizza from a hole in the wall establishment in New Jersey. Tio’s Mexican food isn’t quite like any other Mexican food I’ve ever had… and I must have eaten at hundreds of Mexican food restaurants. It’s more akin to what you’d find in Old Town Albuquerque than Texas, but still different. I recommend it to anyone but with the caveat… you’re either going to really like it or really hate it.

This is one of the only places to eat in Pauls Valley, so in my opinion, it’s better than the fast food places. They have really great guac and their fajitas are delish. It usually feels as if it’s understaffed though, which is one down side. Our waitress usually has more people to serve than she can handle. I’ve never had a terrible meal there and I will continue to go until I do.

Let me start by saying we’re from Texas, so we have a lot of mexican food around; anything from «Tex-​Mex» to the true mexican «hole-​in-​the-​wall» restaurants.
This last weekend, we spent most of Saturday in OK looking at land, and finally decided to head back home. Well, hunger called as we were on the way, just as we were passing a sign for Tio’s. Ok, sure.
We find the place, go inside, put our name on the list, and sit in what has to be the smallest hallway-​waiting-​area I’ve been in. Whatever, this isn’t a review about square footage of the place, nor does it have any influence on the food. About 10 minutes later, we get sat and the normal chips and salsa fare are served as we look at the menus.
Now, I judge Mexican food restaurants by their chips and salsa. If I dig ‘em, I have a feeling I’ll dig the rest. I wish this were the case here, as the salsa seemed like it was poured fresh from a Pace jar, albeit a somewhat spicier version. Despite the stereotypes of Texans, we do NOT like Pace, or any salsa like it. It was just chunky, void of much flavor other than intense tomato flavor and the slight kick it had. The chips? Yeah, way too thick, almost like the generic «Tostitos» chips available at stores. In fact, if you’ve ever had concession stand nachos, you’ve probably had these chips. They definitely did not have the «homemade» flavor, texture, or slight greasiness to them, which I’ve learned to look for.
Now, the menus. Wow. I felt as though I was looking at the kid’s menu due to the lack of variety. While I’ve been to some places that have way too many options, Tio’s was on the very far opposite side of that spectrum. The normal fajitas, enchiladas, and burritos appeared with little else. Well, there was the «spicy beef» plate that I ordered but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Drinks were served promptly, with the beers also coming with water and a frosted glass, although the second round’s frosted glasses weren’t so frosty at all. Whatever, the beer was cold and who needs a glass anyway?
Ok, the food. As I said, I ordered the spicy beef steak plate, expecting what I’ve had here in Texas at a true mexican restaurant. That dish had a nice spicy, marinated, and ohsotender beef fajita skirt steak sliced up with even more «spicy sauce» poured over it. What the waitress sat in front of me left me wishing I had ordered something else…
As I scanned the plate, I honestly had to mentally question what I had ordered until I figured out what looked to be a breadstick was actually the chili rellano. Seriously. I would expect a chili rellano to look like that maybe if it came out of a package from Sam’s or Costco but wow. As I’m typing this, I’m picturing it in my head and I still can’t get over what it looked like. Definitely did not have any appetizing appearance and nor did it have any decent taste, as I didn’t even finish two bites from it.
As for the beef, I didn’t get the previous glamorous steak, Tio’s gave me some finely shredded beef with a very mild spiciness to it, on a bed of very generic «just tomato» flavored rice. Eh, edible but definitely not their «famous dish», or at least I hope not. I hate even using the terms «famous dish» in this review, as I’m thinking someone may just scan all of this quickly and think «OMG THEY HAVE FAMOUS DISHES. LETS GO» and then hate themselves.
The guacamole was a darker green than I’d like to see but was still edible, although it was literally just avocado on some lettuce. No tomatoes, onions, cilantro, or spices.
The fiancée ordered a burrito I think and didn’t even touch it after two bites. Her meal also had the shredded meat in it which she hated.
I’ve had shredded meat, don’t get me wrong. It has it’s place in Mexican food dishes but they have failed.
Gah, and there’s a waiting list to get in this place???

Just had dinner there… should’ve gone to McDonalds instead! The place looked quite decent, the menu had enough choices, the staff seemed friendly… the food on the other side was very disappointing!
Don’t have the Carne Asada unless you plan on eating a rubber steak! Yuk!

Good food, but the absolute rudest people in the world run this place. They really have the business/​customer relationship backwards and who needs whom. It’s definately worth the drive to Davis or Purcell just to avoid the hassle.