I've lived in New Mexico, San Diego, and the South and East Bay of San Francisco, so please believe me when I say Tlako seems to have decent contemporary almost-fusion, as long as you don't really think of it as authentic "everyday" Mexican food.
Some of what makes this place nice:
1) The chips are an amazingly, beautifully perfected thing. And their chip salsa is legit, unique. Not _quite_ normal mexican chips and salsa, but honestly my favorite part of both meals I've had there (and it was the free part)!
2) Lime 'water' (agua fresca) is tasty, though I tend to appreciate sour more than sweet, and would be just as happy with twice the lime and 1/2 to 1/3 of the sugar.
3) Speaking of which, they are super-generous with fresh limes!
4) The tender swiss-ish ribs in chili guava sauce literally fell off the bone upon receipt.
5) The cappuccino was also solid. (Which it should be, for the price.)
6) They seem family-friendly.
7) The waitstaff is all very polite, exceedingly nice really, and they are very polite about speaking English; when I mentioned in a friendly way that their english handouts had slightly amusing grammatical errors the manager appreciated my suggestions; it turned out the updated form of the pdf on his phone had corrections for their next run. (I will note that all the managers and cooks seemed to be male, and most of the waitstaff female. A little more balanced diversity would be nice.) They also genuinely solicited feedback and tried to connect with customers, so I hope the below comments are taken as they are intended: constructively, not meanly!
8) Can't resist saying: the passionfruit mousse was delicious! Raspberry was a great touch (more please!)
9) Allergens and veggie/other are indicated on menu.
Reasons it's not 'everyday mexican' / could improve for how it's billed:
1) Authentic tortillas are usually corn or white flour, usually (or maaybe yucca/cassava); the tacos came on some sort of unusual darker color or multigrain texture, which is not necessarily bad but also not traditional. They were also lukewarm and floppy, no lightly flakey edge typical of a traditional place that knows its tortillas (whether over open fire or in a pan).
2) The carnitas that came in the tacos were ok, but more super-soft and mushy than the perfect authentic carnitas, which are both slow-cooked, and have a golden crispiness to its finish. Savory crisp edge is key: this is best accomplished with a sear before the slow cook and a high fry at the end. Also, they were not busy: lukewarm's really suboptimal.
3) Great salsa fresca, and guacamole is extremely fresh, but these were not: the tomatoes and onions in the fresca were ok but a little wilted, and it's so easy for old onions to taint tomato freshness; the guac was tolerable, but had that slightly-overripe or less than fresh taste, helped by a little lemon, lime, or citric acid; both guac and salsa could've used more garlic. (I may be picky here: I won 3rd place in a city guac contest once, and it came in higher among the traditional guacs. Still, I stand by my statements.)
4) Pomegranate seeds and the dressing on the side salad are not normal mexican, but also seemed tasty-healthy for what it was. A little on the minimalist side.
5) In the US you can get tacos for 1/3 of the price of these things at least. I realize fresh meat is expensive in this town but oh, the pain.
6) The rib sauce was far more chili than guava -- overwhelmed whatever guava flavor may've cost money to add. (The ribs still fell off the bone, though.)
7) The 'red' tomato rice was a little boring. Also, what about just having typical spanish style rice options, or solid refried beans?
That said, this place is still totally worth checking out if you're nearby and curious: hope this feedback is helpful. read more
