Tío Pío

Quick, Americanized and unauthentic Latin food. If you aren’t picky and prefer to save a few bucks then Tio Pio lunch is for you.
The food is confusingly bland for Latin Cuisine so I will continue to bypass Tio Pio.

This food is horrible. Almost 30 dollars spent on food and. drink that was practically inedible. The pernil (roast pork) was flavorless, bland and dry. The beans were very soupy and had no seasonings. The beef stew was dry and also flavorless. I’ve never had mac and cheese soup before but that is what they gave me and called it mac and cheese. The tres leches cake tasted horrible and the lemonade tasted like tap water and generic lemonade powder. I will never be ordering from this place again and I. suggest you dont waste your money. If I could give negative stars I would I don’t even want to give them one

I had passed this restaurant by several times in the past but never stopped in to try the food until recently.
Once you enter the restaurant it is pretty easy to figure out how things work. In the front area there are various desserts on display and then in the middle of the store is a salad bar. Further in the back is where the «hot» food is served.
Once it was my turn to order I asked for a number seven which was salad with rotisserie chicken. The food that I was served looked appetizing but once I sat down to enjoy my food… Uggh! The chicken was dry, bland and cold! I can not understand how they could make such horrible chicken when that is supposedly their specialty. Even the mojito sauce that I asked for on the side was horrible and tasted like it was store bought. However, I must say that the salad was excellent. I appreciated that they used an assortment of salad greens and the other ingredients used complimented the assorted greens perfectly. Most restaurant side salads could not match the one I was served here.
I definitely regretted my lunch choice that day. Evidently, Tio Pio serves great salads not chicken

Every time I pass by the memories from the tasty food just pulls me in. Been here many times and it seems like I always get the beef stew with yellow rice and a side. The presentation might not be the best but the taste and tenderness of the beef is so good I don’t even pay attention to how it’s displayed on my plate. For some reason I feel like their rice isn’t as yellow as it used to be but over all it still tastes the same. And their green sauce is so tasty when poured over the beef and rice, super spicy and enhances the favors. Not sure where the servers get the prices but it seems like every time I go they write a different price and they charge tax which kind of kills the mood…

Workers were really nice but that wasn’t enough to earn more stars. Unfortunately the price was a lot and the foot was mediocre at best. $ 13+ for salmon, Mac and cheese, and white rice. Not worth it.

Im here a few times a week for lunch. They have a million different salad options, you choose your lettuce and then add toppings as you wish. Choices are plentiful and the grilled chicken is juicy and has a great flavor. They also have a few low calorie dressing options which is very nice if youre trying to grab a quick work lunch without eating anything too unhealthy.
I’ve tried some of the hot prepared food as well, rotisserie chicken is fantastic and so is the roasted pork. They also make delicious burritos, price is very fair lunch is under $ 10 for the area its a great deal, highly recommend this place!

Expensive for the quality of the food offered, meat and cheese on display has freezer burn, meats are not cooked well and has too much moisture. I got a simple meal rice, sweet plantain beef and a sofa bill was $ 22.00 They need to take lessons in making Caribbean food before trying sell it.

Was in the neighborhood and decided to stop in and get a quick bite. I went with a salad which is something I used to get from this place fairly often. The pricing is adequate for the neighborhood, around $ 10 would get you a decently sized salad with chicken and a bunch of different vegies. The reason for the 3 stars vs 4 is mostly because the cherry tomatoes didn’t feel nearly as fresh as they should be. The wait time was average as the everyone files in here for lunch.

Pricey for what you get. There are no good lunch specials, or green sauce with your tostones. You must pay more for that. Small portions. I’ve had better pricing and portions in Manhattan.

Today, I ordered a turkey bacon egg and cheese sandwich w/​avocado. And just when the lady at the cashier went to bag my breakfast sandwich, I asked «is that a pork bacon egg and cheese sandwich w/​avocado?». She turned to the guy taking orders by the salad bar and asked the question in Spanish. The man answered it is and said that I had not asked for a turkey, egg and cheese sandwich. He put blame on me when I know what I said. I never asked for bacon and always make sure to mention turkey bacon. I do not eat pork because it makes me very sick after not eating it for 2 years. I know what I said. And while I made the order he was preoccupied with another task. When I went to eat the sandwich, the avocado had pork crumbs stuck to it and they didn’t even bother making me a new sandwich. Poor customer service and poorly prepared food.

Watch out the prices on the wall are cheaper than the prices on cashiers counter she checks when she rings you up, and claims it’s a newer menu. That’s false advertising and unacceptable. Make sure they charge you and you pay as originally advertised. Otherwise chicken rice and beans and plantains were good, the green sauce I’ve had much better.

They overcharge you and because it’s so busy they can get away with it. MAYBE.
I went three times. The first time, they charged me more for my chicken and rice meal than what was said on the menu. It was very minimal so I didn’t care.
The second time I went for some fruit. The watermelon tasted like it was almost about to go bad. Strawberries were good though.
Today I went for a third attempt. Ordered a salad. It was really good! But as I was eating it, I realized that I had paid $ 1.25… in TAXES?!! The salad cost 8.50 and I was charged $ 9.25. Even left a tip. Shouldn’t have. blah. This leaves a bad feeling.
I’ll get pizzas across the street for lunch from now on.

The empanadas, and fruit salad are great. Tio pio is an awesome place for lunch

I only get salads here, but this is a go-​to spot for me when I need something quick for lunch.
Good:
–The $ 6.99 salad (mesclun, spinach or iceberg) special is very filling (1 protein choice with 3 choices
–The salad is crisp and fresh to me
–The line to pay moves fairly quickly
–There’s a cash only register if you need to get your food and go
–The soup specials hit the spot on those cold days
Bad:
–N/​A

I don’t have any good or bad things to say about Tio Pio, but their food and service is good, their mojito sauce is slamming and tastes good on everything. This is by far a better option than what’s in the neighborhood.
Now on the other side of Atlantic Ave is a whole different ballgame…

I was craving peruvian chicken, and was tempted by the one-​time discount from seamless.
I ordered the half chicken, yellow rice with plantains and beans for delivery.
First off, I paid extra for yellow rice but received white. I also requested black beans but got pinto beans instead. The chicken was insanely salty, and the chicken wing was so burnt that it was inedible. Oh, and the rest of the chicken was bone dry.
What a disappointment.

I’m struggling between 1 and 2 stars but because the place is pretty clean, well kept and well lit, I guess two stars should suffice.
I have to begin by saying that Brooklyn Heights is in GREAT need of a really good and down-​to-​earth Latin food spot. I’m Dominican-​American and love going to local, family owned Latin restaurants (which we usually call «Spanish restaurants» even though that’s a language not an ethnicity lol) and enjoying a good order of white rice, beans, maduros (sweet plantains) and oven roasted chicken. However, if I’m craving that while in Brooklyn Heights I now know, Tio Pio is NOT a suitable option.
I came here once with my husband after work because I was craving the meal I referenced to above. It’s simple, basic and reliable. We came to Tip pio and had the hardest time ordering because the plate menu combinations were kind of confusing. After that we tried to have the server explain to us the menu and pricing, which was a bad idea, just like asking questions to a clerk at the DMV is a bad idea– they don’t like questions. They got annoyed, we got turned off, ordered whatever and paid $ 28 for our two orders (rice and two sides). We ordered a plate of rice, beans and chicken/​pork and two bottled drinks. I know this is Brooklyn Heights but the pricing in this place is silly, really silly. The food was offensively bad. And I’m not talking about, «Humph* I’m a Latina and I was expecting the food to taste like my grandma’s», I’m talking about indistinguishably odd seasoning on strangely cooked food. It was that much more offensive because the food LOOKS right but TASTED wrong.
I vowed to never come back.
Than I got pregnant.
Three months later and my craving for Latin food overcame me, I like any reasonable Unilocaler, decided to give Tio Pio another chance. I ordered Yellow rice with guandules, maduros, and shrimp with a soda. Payed $ 14.50 for that unhappily and sat to ate. The smells in that place, the ambiance and the look again are all great… But then I tasted my food. I hated it. The shrimp tasted like what you would imagine a bucket of shrimp at a fish market would taste like :/​My husband’s food was bad too.
Overall, Tio Pio is completely crossed off of my list of places to eat at, forever. When I look at their amazing location, (a corner store-​front by big office buildings) I congratulate them on having such a sweet spot for their business, and I wish and pray that one day, the beautiful restaurant will actually serve tasty food, or move for a restaurant that will, can do it.

Does speed matter? I was running late for a movie so this time it did. I got the half chicken with rice, beans and plantains. The chicken skin was very flavorful, the interior closer to supermarket-​caliber. At a more traditional establishment this level of chicken can move up a notch with the addition of interesting sauce, preferably green. I won’t go out of my way to come back tomorrow but I wouldn’t hesitate to revisit Tio Pio if I was in the vicinity, and I’m curious about the pernil.

I hate ordering from fast food places but I was starving. I perused the sandwich, salad and fruit bar but I wanted to go cheap. I ended up ordering a chicken empanada. It was huge but was all right. Not fancy.
Its definitely a fast food lunch place — salads, sandwiches, chips, soda, etc. It has a decent sized area to sit down and eat with tvs around. It’s very clean as well. Staff was fast and very nice.

It’s quick. Like bunny.
We ordered and walked over to our seats. I turned to look around the place and nearly smashed into the girl from the counter, there already with our chicken on a tray.
It’s cheap. Like ex-​girlfriend.
$ 9 got us ½ a chicken with plantains, beans, and rice. Plenty of food for two people. I have a feeling this wasn’t an organic chicken.
It’s satisfying, but not memorable. Like… I don’t remember.
It’s no Pio Pio (what a difference a letter makes), but the skin had decent flavor, the dark meat is solid (just much juicier than the white, unsurprisingly), the green sauce is OK, and the plantains are damn good… but in seriously limited supply compared to the mountain of overcooked rice and beans.
It’s just fast food. Nothing that impressive, but it’s a better option than the Checkers, Popeye’s, White Castle, Texas Fried Chicken, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, etc. in the neighborhood. I’ll be back when I’m feeling lazy, cheap and gluttonous. And by that I mean tomorrow.