Tula's Kitchen — Restaurant in Albuquerque

One word review: MEH! Two word review: Perfectly adequate. Short summary: We had an OK meal in a pleasant space with attentive service, that left our stomachs full and our appetites oddly unsatisfied, all for over $30 per person. Details to follow. Tula's recently opened in our neighborhood and we had been wanting to try it so we went on a Tuesday night. The restaurant was created by the same people who bring you Dion's. They obviously spent beaucoup bucks renovating the former IHOP building and it shows. The space is open and airy and there's plenty of booth seating. They also tout their patio as a great place to hang out but that wasn't happening for us in January. As others have said, the ordering process is a bit odd. You order at the front desk as you enter, but you don't pay until the end of the meal. This gives you the opportunity to order more drinks, desserts, etc. to increase the bill before you leave. Since we were first timers, it took us of couple of minutes to review the menu and decide what we wanted. We wondered how that might create a line at the entrance on a busy night, which this wasn't. The service is very attentive. Our server asked us if we needed anything every time she passed our booth, maybe half a dozen times during our meal. She was clearly trained to do so. If anything, this interrupted our conversation more than needed. On to the food: The menu is pretty sparse. There just isn't that much to choose from: three appetizers, three entrees, four sandwiches, three "craveable chicken" items...you get the idea. It's definitely not something for everyone. Plus, with a name like Tula's Kitchen, we expected some Greek dishes (my wife is Greek and this was an attraction for us). True, there is hummus and kabobs, but where is the spanakopita, dolma, and pastitsio? I had the chopped BLT salad and a cup of tomato bisque. Both were as advertised, tasted fine, and they filled my stomach, but they were nothing I would return for. There are definitely local restaurants whose salads I crave, and this was not one of those. The soup tasted good, but was not as creamy as a bisque should be. My wife had the grilled cheese with avocado and tomato and it tasted fine. She also had the mac and cheese bowl, which arrived with a dry skin of cheese on top from being under the heat lamp too long. It was OK but should have tasted better for $9.25. We each had a drink from the bar and these were very good...probably the best part of our meal. Our bill came to $62.80 before tip. And we did not have dessert. The reported $10-$20 per person on Google is just unrealistically low. Expect to pay double that. We do not plan to return to Tula's. There is just no "wow factor" here...no dish that I will crave, no item on the menu that I just have to go back and try. I can think of five other local restaurants off the top of my head within about a mile radius that we enjoy more; that have food I DO crave and that cost less. As noted, Tula's is from the people who own Dion's. We love Dion's. There's a Dion's right next to Tula's in the same parking lot. I think Dion's is big competition for Tula's. I just don't understand the thinking behind Tula's. Where was the market research? They spent a lot of money on a very nice interior. They have lots of well trained staff. But then they fell down on the menu and the food, which is the heart of any restaurant. We can only hope that they will adjust and improve as they gain experience. On a final note, I wonder who these people are who have given Tula's five star ratings. I know that a lot of businesses have their friends and relatives leave very positive reviews to drum up customers. That may be the case here, or maybe they are just people who are easily pleased. And the people who are reading this review may be easily pleased as well, in which case, by all means give Tula's a try. But I have warned you. I could have given them three stars instead of two, but I think the two stars sends the...

My wife had visited Tula’s earlier this month for lunch and had enjoyed the food and experience, so we decided to try it for dinner. A particularly nasty review posted that same day piqued my interest even more.

Tula’s is located just northeast of the intersection of Wyoming Blvd and Paseo Del Norte next to Dions. We arrived at 5:46 pm and were promptly seated at one of the booths that line the wall. Tula’s also has outdoor dining in a patio facing the parking lot. The restaurant was crowded, maybe 90% full but appears well staffed.

ENVIRONMENT Tula’s has a Chili’s/Applebees feel. There is not much space between seating and it is noisy but not so much that you have to shout to carry on a conversation. The bench seats were comfortable with plenty of room on the table. There is seating for larger parties and tables located throughout the restaurant. The facility, including the restrooms are clean. Nothing spectacular but pleasant.

SERVICE Brie, our server, greeted us right after we were seated. She was friendly, attentive, and never had to be prompted to refill our drinks. I would characterize the service as very good with a couple minor gaffes. The chronology of our outing follows:

5:46: Arrive and seated 5:47: Drink order taken 5:49: My iced tea arrives 5:54: Food ordered 6:00: My wife’s wine arrived 6:30: Food served

The food did take a little longer than expected and that played into a couple issues we encountered with the food.

FOOD I ordered the beef kabobs and half a bowl of macaroni and cheese. My wife ordered the Salmon over linguine.

My meal consisted of two skewers of beef (approximately 8 ounces) with grilled onions , green and red peppers, and cherry tomatoes, accompanied by roasted potatoes and asparagus. The beef was cooked medium as I had requested and was tender, moist, and with a hint of marinade. The grilled vegetables were fine. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside slightly seasoned. The asparagus were cooked Al dente which I appreciated-can’t stand mushy asparagus. The one issue was that the food was warm but not hot. Brie conceded that the meal had sat under a heat lamp while waiting for my wife’s fish to cook. She offered to take it back but I declined. She also forgot to bring the tzatziki sauce as advertised in the menu.

I encountered a similar problem with the macaroni and cheese; the shells on top were actually dry. In addition, other than some feta sprinkled over the top it was difficult to find any cheese. Finally the dish had chilis added which we did not request. This made it too spicy for my wife to enjoy.

My wife enjoyed her salmon describing it as perfectly cooked (she prefers rare but was not asked), moist, with a little char. It was served over Al dente linguine. She requested and was served the lemon caper sauce be served on the side, which housed the cherry tomatoes.

VALUE We found Tula’s prices reasonable for the amount of food served. Their menu is limited with a selection of foods designed to appeal to the widest palates possible.

OVERALL This is not your average hamburger joint with better service and food variety. A step above Chili’s or Applebees, it is a nice neighborhood hangout. However, we are from Rio Rancho and I would not describe Tula’s as a destination restaurant worth a drive...

Tula’s is a haunted IHOP from the early 2000’s.

Fifteen of my friends came to the restaurant that we all formally knew as an IHOP. It still feels like one to be honest. The restaurant has some major flaws, from the layout, the vibe, and the menu made for illiterate and basic New Mexicans.

First, let’s start with the vibe. There are some real conflicting styles going on. It looks as though they spent $75 to renovate the still present layout of the IHOP. The layout reminds me of a convenient excuse to get as many seats in one place as possible. When eating, you look up, you’ll see 25 people looking right back at you.

Second, the vibe screams IHOP, and it’s embarrassingly brutal. The front counter is so large you’d think you were checking in bags at the Southwest Airlines counter. 2-3 ill prepared employees guard it like a sentry post on the Gaza Strip. The booth seats are stiff and robust and the fake atmosphere screams, “cheap cheap cheap”. It reminds of the fake plants and decor you’d see at an arts and crafts store that was on the verge of closing down. You would think the prices of the food would warrant real plants, but no, that would make the place inviting and comfortable.

Third, that brings me to the price of the food and the menu. The menu reminds me of a kids menu written by Derrick Zoolander in Comic Sams for “children who can’t read good, and want to learn to do other things good too”. The menu is funny because in a satirical font they ask an arm and leg for their simplistic food and treat you like a moron for getting it.

Fourth, I’d be happy if I saw on the news there was a kitchen fire and the property was engulfed in flames and an errant spark found it’s way to it’s older brother eatery next door, Dions.

Finally, as IHOP heads back into town, after leaving and closing down locations about a decade ago, I’m eager to sit down with new owners for a meal at Tula’s to talk about the ghost of their franchise past and how it haunts ignorant and reluctant customers on the east side of town. This place is still the worst place to...