El Tio — Restaurant in Richmond

I'm an old white guy and while I've done some traveling, I can't say that I know what real Mexican Cuisine tastes like. But I do know what Mexican fast ala' "Taco Bell" and Mexican chain food ala' "Mexico" tastes like. This is neither.

When a meal is home cooked, the nationality doesn't seem to matter much. "Home Cooked" could be its own unique category because no matter where its origin, it has the tastes of freshness, tradition, unhurried preparation and most important is the taste of "I take responsibility for this food and I am proud of what I have made". That's what they got here.

Not much in the way of colorful Velvet paintings or upscale water sculptures. It is a generic retail space with tables, chairs, and a serving counter. You walk in, Look at the 5 or 6 meals available today, walk up to to cash register, place your order and pay. There's a cold case containing beverages, so grab one, cop a squal and your meal is ready in a few minutes. There are no Mahrgaritas or beer. Eat in or take home.

If that sounds stark and unpleasant, my bad, it is anything but that. You're requesting the food from the polite, informative and upbeat children of the smiling, easy going lady you're about to give your money to at the cash register. And in the few minutes it takes until food arrives, you can sit and relax a sec or take a stretch, walk around, chat or whatever. It's just that comfortable.

I don't know how to find places with food and people like this. I wish I did. A small owner operated family food gathering place that is affordable enough for me to frequent as often as I like without having to worry about the rent money. This may be a first in Richmond. Not serving...

Don't get anything that involves a tortilla. They have handmade tortillas that they use a certain type of flower for that's kind of thick and it sucks it gives you the texture of eating rubber with real food on the inside. The atmosphere makes it look like a dingy Market but it's supposed to be a restaurant so the atmosphere takes a huge hit. The service though was very great they're really nice and very informative. I would rather clip my toenails and eat them than to ever eat from this place again. They charge way too much for the size portion that they give and you will be heavily disappointed if you eat anything from there that has to do with the tortilla you should go somewhere else to be completely honest. Also No I am Not CONFUSED on what type of food they had. Its El Salvadorian food. I WAS CONFUSED ABOUT WHY THE PORTIONS WERE SO SMALL THE TASTE IS BLAND THE TORTILLAS WERE RUBBER GARBADGE AND THE PRICE FOR THIS WAS TOO HIGH. SO DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SPEAK FOR ME SAYING I WAS CONFUSED . THAT RESTURANT WONT BE AROUND MUCH LONGER SO YOU GUYS CAN GO TRY IT AND DISAPPOINT YOURSELVES BEFORE THE CLOSE...

I was glad that my white found this place on our recent travels, I liked their pupusas so much that I stopped by again on our way back home, but it was worth the detour and despite that you have to wait at least 15 minutes for the order to be fulfilled it's worth it because the pupusas are made fresh otherwise they wouldn't taste as good.

If you haven't had or don't know what pupusas are, they are a typical food from Central America, mainly from El Salvador and they're delicious, not everyone that sells them know how to make them, or are as tasty as these, they're very good, also their fried yucca (cassava root) is good with chicharrones (fried pork meat chunks).

The only bad thing is that I live four hours away or this'll be my place to go whenever I...