Tuco And Blondie — Restaurant in Lake View Township

A lot to unpack here.

I understand it was Father’s Day, and therefore was going to be a lot busier. However, the servers and bussers should not be directly walking toward us as customers walking to our table… I get you’re busy, but you’re b-lining it toward me at full speed in a narrow space, and i have a leg literally full of metal that makes moving out of the way incredibly difficult. My mother in law also has MS and walks with a cane and stumbled trying to move out of the way of staff. When I was FOH, I always made sure to ensure customers made their way through first. I can’t move that fast, sorry.

It is absolutely impossible to hear anything, or my server. Nothing whatsoever. He greeted us, ran through some items or suggestions (I think… I really could not hear a thing)

Frozen prickly pear cocktail was good. That was a plus.

I understand this is 1,000% the furthest thing from actual Mexican food, but I think ChiChi’s back in the 90s had more flavor than what we ordered.

The cut on the steak fajitas was SO THICK, it literally made mixing with the other ingredients absolutely pointless.

The elotes were… just buttered corn (maybe a slight amount of Mayo) and cotija. Stick to your street vendors for that because holy crap. Not even cilantro. At least the corn was fresh. That was a plus.

The pico de Gallo had zero citrus and was severely lacking in salt. It tasted as if tomato, onion, and jalapeño were simple thrown together with nothing else.

The most flavor from any food item tonight came from the hot sauce. While it was delicious with a bit of heat and touch of sweet, it in no way shape or form fit the flavor profile for this restaurant or cuisine, which further made the food unflattering.

Our server was literally sweating. Again, get it was very busy, and you’re in the weeds, but he also disappeared before we could ask for another round.

I absolutely do not recommend this place unless you like mediocre bland food, blah service, and enjoy yelling at one another to talk. Maybe if you’re trying to have a public argument with someone it will work, because no one can hear you over the terrible...

Living in Southern California for under a decade comes with a refined sense of what qualifies as great Mexican food. In San Diego, those sorts of venues have abuela making handmade tortillas in front of the place or the name of the restaurant ends in -bertos (I don't make the rules). So imagine my surprise to find a quality Mexican spot so close to my neighborhood in the Southport corridor.

Tucos has both indoor and outdoor seating with a unique bar on the patio made from a converted quadcon. Ambiance is very modern with a colorful splash of Mexican street art inside. The aesthetics of the patio reminded me of Cabo, but the style is clearly perfect for the restaurant's urban setting.

You're started out with chips (which need salt) and salsa (which is very mild) and offered a solid mix fajitas and tacos priced on the higher end for Mexican ($15-22).

I ordered the grande margarita (comes with a can of corona in the drink), and my wife asked for a "entry-level tequila drinker" Marg, which our server definitely nailed with his recommendation (passion fruit and jalapeno in it). We started with the elote and the Chile con queso (comes with guac). The elote was excellent and the portion was enough for 2 people as a side.

My main entrees were the Bandit Burrito, which is served wet with beans and rice. Rather than traditional Spanish rice, the kitchen opted to take a different approach and did not neglect the seasoning, which made for an excellent compliment to the burrito. Most other places I would've neglected those sides. My wife ordered the al pastor tacos which were similarly amazingly and flavorful.

We brought our baby along and although she's usually not a huge fan of beans, she started whining when she finished what I gave her, so that's certainly notable.

They did stop taking reservations at some point so we had to wait about 15 minutes. Apparently the rest of the neighborhood has gotten wind of how good this place is. Unlike other restaurants, I will give Tucos credit for being well staffed - everyone was very friendly, courteous, and attentive.

We'll be back again....

I came here for lunch for the first time. I seated myself and after ten minutes of watching the waiter talking with staff, not once did anyone tell me about the QR code, so I had to ask for a menu. When I asked the server why it was taking so long he said he didn’t want to interrupt me on the phone which is a lame excuse being that people have conversations in restaurants all the time and waiters usually interrupt. When I politely asked for a more attentive server, I received a rude response of yes please from the waiter, despite his lack of attentiveness. The manager did not help to address my concerns which made me feel unwelcome as I had been waiting at least 15 min to even have a conversation with a server. My father is a Vice President for Anheuser-Busch so I guess we can have their liquor removed. Messing with powerful people. The salsa from the chips might as well be marinara . There are better Mexican spots like Uncle Julios, Big Star, Broken English, Blue Agave. Quality service and food. Not worth the rude inattentive staff ( specifically the male server)who drive customers away by chatting behind the bar instead of addressing the customers, regardless if they are on the phone, that was not a viable reason to be ignored. Dropping off mediocre chips without saying hello and walking away isn’t great service. Might as well be McDonald’s based on the service. Do they just hire anyone? Are they that desperate for servers? Don’t you interrupt people on dates, what’s the difference of that and being on the phone. Not once did I say I didn’t want to be served. The people in the neighborhood described it as knock off Mexican. I’m actually Mexican so I know authentic food, this isn’t it. You can’t even make salsa that doesn’t taste like marinara from a can. The manager couldn’t agree to disagree and get me another server, instead defended the rude guy. I guess chatty servers are more important than...