Tío Trompo — Restaurant in Houston

Went to this place recommended by my friend after a 5k race. Let me tell you - my friend put me on a good spot! Honorable mention for their TENDER & SAVORY barbacoa tacos! Will do a review for seven of their tacos and my recommendations. But first, we start with the atmosphere and service:

Very aesthetically pleasing exterior and shows the establishment well. Big logo for everyone to see across the street. They have tables outside to eat if customers decide to enjoy their meals on a nice day. Enough parking during Saturday afternoon, so that's a big plus.

Entering the place, very spacious and can fit about 30ish people. The kitchen is open in the back so you can see your food being cooked. They also have a Trompo (vertical rotisserie) that's in view. The menu is above the register and the restroom is on the right side. They have complimentary water on the side inside a metal jar that is somewhat hard to miss because I had to ask multiple times where the jar was (it was in front of me). Overall, the interior is clean and organized! Pictures provided. 5/5

The service has been great: from the responsiveness, to making sure our group was good on napkins, I could not ask for a better experience. 5/5

Each taco will be rated on their flavor, quality, and a final score (final score is based off how I feel on averaging the score):

NOTE: "?" = Forgot to record flavor and texture, will come for seconds next time I'm there again

Pastor (Red pork) Flavor: 4/5; savory like bacon and lightly smoky from crisping Texture: 5/5; crispy Final Score: 4/5

Oriental (White pork) Flavor: ? Texture: ? Final Score: 4/5

Chicken Flavor: 4/5 Texture: 5/5; moist, not dry. Final Score: 4/5; I get chicken tacos as a test to see if a place makes it dry or moist. This establishment did not disappoint!

Beef Fajita Flavor: 4/5 Texture: 3/5; I prefer to have it less chewy but that's my opinion. Firm bite but not to the point of "well done." Somewhat between medium well to medium. Final Score: 4/5

Barbacoa Flavor: 5/5; rich and complex, majority savory on the palate while coating your mouth with flavor. Lightly smoky Texture: 5/5; tender melt in your mouth softness. Very succulent and juicy that drips from the taco with every bite. Every fiber of the beef you can pull apart with your tongue. Also a taco to test out at establishments Final Score: 5/5; Timelicious Approved

Mixeado Flavor: ? Texture: ? Final Score: 4/5

Samuel Flavor: 5/5; Contains fajita, grilled onions, and grilled jalapeno. Light kick from the grilled jalapeno, nice charred flavor from the onion. Texture: 4/5; From earlier, the fajita is cooked to medium well but the texture combinations are outstanding! Final Score: 4/5

Recommendation(s): Barbacoa tacos Pastor tacos Samuel tacos

Will I come back? I will! Recommending this place to my friends & family! 5/5 atmosphere and service, 4/5 overall on food, but I will give a 5/5 overall rating. Thank you for reading my...

I went here on a Saturday afternoon. At the time of this review, there is massive road construction so access to the place coming from the north on Shepherd may be difficult. You will have to drive into the Walgreens location across the restaurant or make a u turn at Dallas Street once you pass the overhead bridge.

Place was not to busy at the time, but can be because seating is limited. Most of the orders I have seen are takeaway.

Food was handled very quickly with the staff of four handling orders. They usually fulfill the order within five minutes of the first order. For me it took me about 20 min for mine after queueing behind five other customers.

The salsa was decent, having a bit more vinegar than most places but still good. There are some pickled onions served with them. They were crisp and pretty good; not sure what they were for but didn't mind.

I order six tacos: pastor (3.25 ea), 2 fajita (4.00 ea), oriental (3.25 ea), and 2 barbacoa tacos. Overall, my impression of the tacos were mixed. I do like the portions given, especially the fajita tacos. Also the meats were not greasy at all. I did like that the food itself was very fresh.

Now for the negatives. The oriental taco was plain. No flavour at all, just bland pork. The barbacoa tacos were just shredded chuck with egg acting as a extender. That was very irritating. True barbacoa should be one of the few meats that should be greasy and sticky.

In short this is a place worth going but stick to the fajita and pastor tacos. Plates and the tortas look good as well. Will be back when the road...

Disappointed by the Service ⭐☆☆☆☆

My husband and I decided to try Tio Trompo in Houston after seeing its stellar 4.7-star reviews. Sadly, we weren’t able to add to that rating because the customer service was some of the worst we’ve ever experienced.

From the moment we walked in, all three employees in the restaurant clearly saw us. Despite this, not one of them greeted or acknowledged us. It took over a minute for someone to finally say something, and even then, it was dry, emotionless, and short.

After standing at the counter aimlessly, one employee (a Hispanic woman) eventually glanced at us and muttered, “One moment” while refilling horchata. Then, a tall, thin white man approached the register with a visible attitude and no proper greeting. He bluntly asked, “What can I get for you?” My husband said we would like two of the 3-taco meals. As I looked up at the menu to decide which tacos we wanted, the man rudely interrupted me, sarcastically saying, “I CAN’T HEAR YOU.” I hadn’t even spoken yet, so I calmly replied, “You can’t hear me because I haven’t had the opportunity to say anything yet.”

At that point, we had had enough. We decided to leave rather than spend our money somewhere we were being treated so poorly. Being the only Black couple in the establishment, it’s hard not to wonder if race played a role in how we were treated, especially since the other customers in the restaurant were being served with no issue.

Tio Trompo may have great food, but when the service is this bad—rude, dismissive, and unprofessional—it’s not worth it. We won’t...