Tacos el Tio — Restaurant in Medford Township

I was told that first impressions are the most important, and that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. With that said, my first and last visit to this place was a very bad one.

I had over sixty minutes of free time before I had to go to work for the night around the block... so, my father and I had walked in to Tacos el Tio in order to place an order for takeout. We were directed promptly over towards the bar to do so by the hostess. It was about 1:00pm on Monday, October 14th, 2019. The inside of the restaurant was fairly empty, with most patrons being served outside. The outside crowd was light to moderate with the atmosphere very casual and relaxed on a sunny fall day.

Waitresses walked by, while the bartender refilled the beer glasses of the only two patrons at the bar. Minutes passed. Some waitresses sat and chatted to each other on the other end of the bar. More minutes passed and not a glance towards my father and I waiting patiently where we had been directed. I snagged one waitress as she was walking by with menus towards the outside dining area, and I had asked her if I had been standing in the correct location to place a takeout order. She had confirmed that I was.

After waiting for fifteen minutes without so much as another glance beyond the hostess who had directed us, or a “we’re very sorry, we are very busy/short handed/etc.,” a waitress finally darted by as she said, “I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” At this moment, my dad and I had decided to walk out and go to Riveria across the street where we were served immediately.

Yes, I know it’s comparing apples to oranges, but what could I do? Time was ticking down before I had to start my shift for the night.

My father and I had figured if the servers were going to take that long to get to us, can you imagine how long it would have taken for us to get our food? I would have been late for work, and don’t tell me over an hour is not long enough to be served at a restaurant - because most people have one hour lunch breaks from their jobs and it was the latter end of the lunch hour. The quieter end, when most have gone back to work.

I was in my work uniform for my job. I didn’t want alcohol, just food. Both my dad and I were clean and well-groomed and maybe we don’t fit in with the crowd that normally flocks to this restaurant, but to be ignored... just nope.

I know this is typically a sit down establishment, but takeout is acceptable as I had researched earlier on the website last month and also noted from a few fliers that had been sent to my place of employment during the summer. To cement the notion that ‘takeout was fine,’ my dad and I even held the door for a woman leaving with an entire arm filled with takeout bags just as we were walking in.

I don’t know what happened, but a customer knows when they are being intentionally ignored. So, let it be a warning - you will be judged on how you appear, even if you are dressed appropriately, are clean, and are well-groomed. At least that’s what my first and final impression was from the attitude of this establishment.

In conclusion, I’ve been a part of the Medford Township community for over 20 years, and I can tell you that I wasn’t happy with the service of Tacos el Tio, even though the business has a lovely design and ambiance in both the dine-in and out areas and are very clean. May I instead recommend and promote the nearby Medford, NJ restaurants of Riveria, Donkeys II, or Delisis instead - where even in their busiest hours, the servers will always make an effort to let you know that you will be helped as soon as they...

We went for the first time this week. Didn’t go in with high expectations and we were still fairly disappointed. Upon entering we were greeted kindly by a host and then ushered immediately to a table. Just before reaching the table, there were three tortilla chips lying on the ground right by the table out in the open where the normal flow of traffic went about.

We were delivered chips to munch on while looking over the menus. The chips were very good (I’d have liked a tad more salt, but the rest of the family enjoyed them as is). The salsas they give you were just ok. Nothing to write home about. The salsa verde much better than the red salsa.

Our waiter was really kind and attentive, stopped by every few minutes until we ordered.

Ordered Guac for an appetizer. It was pretty decent. The runner struggled to put the plate on the table dropping more chips on the floor, some in the table, and a couple on my lap. He just shrugged and walked away.

We all got tacos for our meal. The Al Pastor were quite delicious. The shrimp tacos were just ok. My kid got the kids chicken tacos. They were very bland. She didn’t even take home her leftovers.

As for cost, I think it was a tad more expensive comparatively to other Mexican restaurants.

Our two biggest frustrations:

1. The entire time we were at our table, our server was sitting a couple booths away eating a burrito. It was 5:30pm on a Saturday. I don’t feel any staff should be a) eating a meal while working b) be eating out by the patrons and c) not be constantly walking around and checking on the tables. There was a good 5-8 minute stretch we were waiting for him to come by for refills.

2. Remember those chips I mentioned we noticed when we walked in? They were still there when we left. Some were stepped on and smashed into more pieces. The crazy thing is that these chips (and our booth) were just a few feet away from the host station. Right there at the host station was a broom and a long handled dustpan. During most of our time there, there were anywhere between 2 and 5(!) people behind the host stand just standing there talking or on their phone because the place wasn’t super busy yet. I don’t know how no one took the time to quickly sweep up the few chips that were on the ground (not to mention the few more that were added under my table by the runner).

Most of the staff was younger, so I really put this all on whomever the manager is. They should be doing a better job and requiring more from their staff.

To sum up: Highlights - Al Pastor tacos, chips Lowlights - all other food, lack of...

Update: I went back here for dinner and was pleasantly surprised by a few changes. First, the evening crowd volume had normalized and there was no waiting to be seated. Second, the quality of the food has increased substantially since when they initially opened. Everything was fresh and flavorful this time, and the salsas actually had some substance to them. If you're looking to enjoy a contemporary take on Mexican-inspired victuals I wouldn't hesitate to suggest giving Tacos el Tio a try.

I, like others, waited patiently for months and months for this place to finally open, and now that it has, I kind of wish it hadn't. Yes, it's new and cool and the bar that serves both inside and outside is awesome...but classifying the food they're serving as Mexican is akin to claiming that a Ford Pinto is a luxury vehicle. Mexican cuisine consists of fresh ingredients, exciting spices, vibrant and bold flavors and a hearty dose of passion...all of which were missing from what I ate on what will likely be my only visit to this establishment. Yeah, I might let them settle in and go back in six or ten months to see if they've found their groove but I'm certainly not eager to pay top dollar for mediocrity again any time soon. I give the food two stars (even the guacamole was flavorless, and it seemed that the majority of ingredients listed with each item on the menu were missing from the actual product) and the service four stars (our waitress did her best under the difficult conditions), hence the three star review. Hope you enjoy it more than I did if and...