La Tertulia — Restaurant in Tulsa

Atmosphere and service

La Tertulia’s atmosphere features rustic motifs fused with modern flair. The space evokes the essence of adobe architecture, with copper tables, a concrete floor, modern New Mexican art adorning the walls, and a wood-paneled ceiling. The ambiance is relaxed and comfortable, seamlessly blending a contemporary take on classic New Mexican aesthetics. Service was provided by Mekayla. She is passionate and knowledgeable about the menu. She has worked at La Tertulia for several years. Our water glasses were filled, chips and salsa topped off, and plates swapped out between dishes.

Chips with Fire-Roasted Salsa and Tomatillo Sauce

The house-made chips have a traditional corn flavor. The smoky, intense pepper flavor was the standout, leaving a lingering heat on the tongue. It's one of the best salsas Tulsa offers. The tomatillo sauce shines with its tart notes, giving way to salty, garlicky, and lime undertones. Posole

Green Chili Stew & Posole

A duo of excellent classic southwest soups! The Green Chili Stew has rich smoky green chili notes balanced by the deep flavor of pork, with chunks of potato adding harmony. The spice level is perfect, leaving a gentle heat on the tongue and back of the throat.

The posole featured a rich broth with initial pork notes, followed by earthy hominy, and ending with chili and ancho flavors. The soup was perfectly cooked, rich, hearty, and a beautiful presentation.

Shrimp & Octopus Ceviche

It began with avocado notes, followed by onion and cilantro, and ending with faint notes of shrimp. There was not much octopus. The texture was on the creamy side, akin to a dressing than a classic ceviche marinade. Unfortunately, the ceviche was under seasoned, lacking the usual acidity and brightness from vinegar or lemon, and needed more salt to enhance the overall flavor profile.

Chorizo Flautas

The flautas had a beautifully fried exterior, revealing a juicy, cheesy interior. The crispy tortilla gave way to cheese and faint pork notes. However, like the ceviche, it lacked seasoning, and the bold chorizo flavor was overwhelmed by the cheese. The mouthfeel was excellent.

Ribeye Verde

The ribeye, cooked to a perfect medium-rare, was served on a hot plate, maintaining the temperature well. The fusion of Swiss cheese, green chili stew, and tender beef was heavenly, with nutty Swiss cheese followed by smoky, spicy green chili, and finishing with rich ribeye flavors. The Spanish rice had a nice spicy aftertaste, possibly from Tajín, but the pinto beans were bland and underwhelming.

Enchilada Plate

The enchilada plate, with three layers of house-made blue corn tortillas, red or green chile, cheese, Spanish rice, pinto beans, and carne adovada, was a standout. The dish had a rich, layered flavor profile of cheese, pork, spice, and the distinctive taste of blue corn tortillas. The egg on top added richness. It brought back memories of Santa Fe, offering a perfect expression of New Mexican cuisine.

Capirotada (Mexican Bread Pudding)

This dense, thick bread pudding featured initial notes of cinnamon and spice, followed by thick egg and bread flavors and sweet currant undertones. The middle was very dense and monotonal in flavor with the bread-to-sauce ratio being considerably heavy on the bread, creating an imbalance. After a few bites, we decided to pass on finishing it.

Final Thoughts

La Tertulia delivered in many ways that Peacemaker did not. It is clear that Nashan’s talent and influence lie in his roots and the translation of New Mexican cuisine. Standouts include the posole, salsa, green chile stew, ribeye, and those perfect enchiladas. The flavors are simply elegant. There are some critiques—the bread pudding, ceviche, beans, and flautas lacked the flavor profiles, refinement, and vision that the more successful dishes showcased. Regardless, La Tertulia delivers on its promise: a little taste of New Mexico in the heart of Tulsa. Until next time,...

Some seriously next-level Mexican (New Mexican?) food worth every penny.

Service was quick, friendly, attentive, restaurant and bathrooms are clean and classy. But the food is the star.

First impressions start with the house chips and salsa, which are both well above average. Salsa has a little heat and nice flavor. There was a nice bitter earthy note grounding the usual red salsa tanginess--if i had a better palette for dried chilies I'd be able to tell if it was guajillo or pasilla or what, but it was notable compared to run of the mill house salsa. The chips were warm, certain crisp, and most importantly, nicely salted, and not greasy. It seems like that's an area a lot of house chips fall flat, and these were great.

Spicy margarita was just right. In fact, that's worth noting across the board. Everything, food, drinks, and sauces, was well balanced. There was a little bit of hot pepper spice in everything, but I wouldn't think it was overwhelming for a mild person, and for a spice fan like me it was enough that i didn't feel a need to drench my food in hot sauce so the other flavors could show through.

I had the deluxe combo platter and it was excellent. The quality of the ingredients and preparation was evident in everything on the plate. Carne adovada, chile relleno, chicken enchilada, carnitas taco, Spanish rice, pozole, and pinto beans--everything was well seasoned and didn't taste monochromatic. The carnitas was juicy and rich, the carne adovada was fall-apart tender and deliciously dressed. You could tell the meat, tortillas, and everything were quality--no tough bits or chunks of unpleasant fat to be found. Even the beans and rice were clearly made in house and not just slapped on out of a can with little thought. Each component stood up on its own, and together it was a great meal.

Food came out super quickly after I ordered, and honestly-- at $26 for a variety plate of delicious dishes that even a hungry guy could barely finish, I think it's well worth the price. Considering it's easy to pay $14 for a very basic, boring burrito at some places, this food was above and beyond and worth the premium. It's on par with a lot of higher end Mexican restaurants that would charge $10 more for an elevated take on these classics. Tulsa is lucky to...

Found La Tertulia on Facebook, loved their social media presence and photos of food, seemed like a good date night spot!

Food was okay, but kind of one note. We got the queso, and a combination plate (enchilada, taco, tamale and their specialty pork dish), and the enchilada and the beans were the best things on the plate. There just wasn't a lot of variety of flavor across the spectrum.

GET THE CHURROS. THEY ARE THE SAVING GRACE. SO SO GOOD.

Our server Devin was nice and attentive, even with the Friday dinner rush. Service was slow at times, but he checked in regularly enough for us to know there was little he could do about the pace of service.

**my main issue with this restaurant is the kitchen staff. Our table was sat directly in front of the expo window, and it seemed to be all smiles and working at first, but there was one guy (seemed to be a kitchen worker or manager maybe) who was on his phone, visibly, throughout the entire meal. I watched him, phone up to his ear, grab food from a prep station with his bare hands and eat it right in front of the window.

I completely understand the concept of tasting food before it goes out? But use a tasting spoon or something. This seemed more like entitled snacking. There was also no observed hand washing or glove usage.

Also, with a full house, it just felt weird, and blind to the guest perspective, to be standing out in front of the kitchen window making calls/texting and distracting/hugging other staff in the middle of a dinner rush. If it's important and you need to handle business, do it in the back out of sight.

The other staff had great attitudes, and the last guy to talk with us was a lot of fun. The hostess was nice. I just feel like there's some really important management and sanitation issues that need addressing.

I threw up all my food when I got home, which may or may not have been related to poor sanitation, buuuuttt.... we probably...