Tio Gordos Cocina

Excellent meal and service! We had a family celebration at Tio Gordos on Sunday, June 5, 2016. Everyone loved their meals and the appetizer. The chicken enchiladas are the best I’ve ever had. Some of us chose the burritos and they loved them too. The portions are huge! The whole experience was great. We’ll head back there again.

Excellent! I have found a new favorite for Mexican! The salad, dressings, entrée were above expectation. Fresh choices, clean and the staff A+. The portions were large and again delicious! Great for large groups or a small intimate dinner. The atmosphere is snazzy as well. Ask questions about food they even made one of our guests a made to order special because she is allergic to peppers. Don’t hesitate to check this gem out. Parking in front and around the back.

The food was execellent and service was great. The drinks (mojito and margaritas) were out of this world. Prices were very reasonable!

Love the interior of this old building! The fish tacos were great. I wouldn’t order the Tio margarita without a better liquor though. Service was pleasant and our 4 meals arrived quickly. Everyone loved their dishes!

Hands down, one of the best restaurants in Port Huron. The botana dip appetizer is addicting, any leftovers are great even after rewarming. Definitely recommend it. The salsa is okay, I would expect something better since everything else is so good. My husband got the paella which he loved. Lots of seafood, huge serving, and nicely seasoned. I had the shredded beef chimichanga both times I have been here and would definitely recommend, love the sauce, it is not like the gravy most places put on it.

Very enjoyable lunch on a day trip. The family got a variety of dishes along with the taciquto appetizer, and everything was phenomenal! We will DEFINITELY be returning on our next trip to Port Huron.

Real Mexican cuisine. Had the pork chili pablanos and it was the best one I have ever ate in Michigan. Golden fried and the sauce was home made. Wife had pork tacos for the first time, and she loved them. Pinto beans were very good.
Cheese dip was ok, a little too runny for me. Great atmosphere and nice bar. Will come again

My party of four had lunch at this brand new Mexican restaurant, hoping the third restaurant in the exact location of two other failed restaurants would be the charm. Our waitress took excellent care of our party, making sure the order is correct and answering the questions regarding the menu as accurate as possible. The chips and salsa were very delicious. The food was excellent!
I ordered the Sonoran hot dog, a bacon-​wrapped hot dog on a bun mostly found in the state of Arizona. Believe me, Arizona is where they call Sonorans home. Anyways, the hot dog with the coleslaw was full of great taste for the economical price of $ 6. The food arrived right away, and I was very pleased about it. I will definitely come back to this restaurant, and I wish everyone continue to strive and be successful on the operation of Port Huron’s number-​one restaurant!
Thank you!

First off, the staff is nice. The staff are a mix of folks from Fuel and a few other local restaurants. They are a nice bunch, friendly, and attentive. The beer list is also good, and reasonably priced.
As for the food. Well… how can I put this? Most of the food is quite bland. Order the chorizo tacos, the pinto beans, and skip the rest. However, the pinto beans come with two caveats. First, they have pork in them, so if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, be careful. The second is that on two occasions, the beans were not that hot –rather tepid actually. Also, avoid the Paella. It is quite salty, when it is not bland. The seafood in the paella was previously frozen and is then added to pre-​cooked rice. The end result is bland, and rubbery, with an overpowering cinnamon flavor from the chicken.
On a couple of occasions, side orders (rice and beans) were not very hot, and the same goes for the chicken tacos and carnitas. On two occasions, my food wasn’t very warm. This is a warning sign.
Another bummer, is that the pork carnitas and chicken had an overpowering cinnamon taste to them. It was off putting. Given the texture of the meats, it appears they are boiling (which is fine when done right), but the point is to make sure that after the meat is boiled, to have it hit a grill, give it some color, and then put it in the tortilla. And speaking of tortillas… here comes something that there is no excuse for. My corn tortillas were undercooked! Yes, corn tortillas should be on the griddle before being filled. The tortillas should be hot! Sadly, mine were not.
I will say, however, that I believe the owner will work to remedy all of this, and I fully believe that Tio Gordo’s is still working out the bugs.

I, we, really liked the place. Stopped in at 2PM on a Saturday. Parking was hard but not difficult. Came in from the back and had to find a waitress to seat us. Was open for anything. looked for a waitress, not found. Latter, a waiter, «Keith», was very attentive. We were very impressed. I had the smothered burrito with seasoned pork. It was very good and not dry. I really don’t care where the tortilla came from or how, My friend had the enchiladas, he loved them.
Now, as to the salsa. Please, stop trying to DO your own thing.
Not working!!! Go to SAM“S and buy a big jug of Ch’Ch’s extra chunky and be done with it. Yours is just bad. So go’s the chips.

Food was good, great service, great prices, and nice proportions. Will eat there again.
Plus margaritas were great also.

We are originally from the Detroit area and have really been missing some good Mexican food (sorry but Red Pepper is not Mexican!). We have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Tio Gordos and I was excited that they had street tacos. We had a short wait and I thought the service was decent. The food was good and reasonably priced. I had the street tacos with chicken and my husband had the enchiladas and the elote (mexican street corn). We will definitely go again.

My friends and I decided that tacos were called for on Valentines Day. We got there at 11:15 after checking online to see their hours, but they weren’t open yet. We were eager to try this place out so we went and had coffee over at The Raven and came back.
It was worth the 45 minute wait, IMO. Everywhere I have checked state that they open at 11, so they might want to either open at 11, or update their hours on their Facebook page and here.
Their service was good, the salsa mediocre, and the food pretty decent. The environment makes up for some of the lack of delivery on the food. I ordered chicken street tacos and the chicken was dry while the tortilla was greasy enough to tear, it wasn’t a good combination. The Spanish rice was delicious though. If I could get margaritas at Qdoba, I would stick there. I’ll probably go back though because it wasn’t terrible, just disappointingly average.

Very good Mexican food. They started out with the traditional chips and salsa. The chips were decent. The salsa was very good. I had a couple Tio Margaritas on the rocks during the course of my meal. They were very good. I ordered steak tacos. They were phenomenal. The tacos came with black refried beans and I tried the cilantro lime rice. Both were good. My only complaint about the rice was that there were a few bites where clumps were stuck together and hard. I tried some fried ice cream for dessert. It was very good, although a little skimpy on the ice cream. The shell was a lot bigger than the scoop of vanilla. Overall it was a good experience and I will definitely go back for more and try some other dishes. Glad Port Huron finally has a decent Mexican restaurant. I hope it lasts.

The food was very good. The service was spot on. We arrived later in the evening and it wasnt as busy as other places. We will be back aga8n.

My husband and I had lunch at Tio Gordos today. Food and service was excellent. Tanya our server who is the manager took very good care of us. We had the chips and salsa first. Very tasty, not too spicy. Just right for my taste. We shared a chicken chimichanga. Glad we did because was quite large with rice and guacamole. The food arrived promptly too. I would give this Resturant an A. We wil be back. Hope you continue to be successful. Thank you. Paul and Mary Sweeney.

Please don’t claim to be something that you are not. The food is not authentic Mexican, Tex/​Mex, or akin to New Mexico. The salsa is sweet and bland as was the entrée. Authentic Mexican food is savory and spicy! Thought I might be at a French restaurant with the Chimichanga’s puff pastry instead of a tortilla. Barely ate a thing. Will not return.

We went with our 3 kids. It was nice. Food was flavorful with a nice visual presentation. I would have given a 5 stars but my shrimp tacos got to me soggy– this tells me the chef’s timing is off a bit or the tacos are too saucy. It was a «soft» opening. I think they need to explain to customers what that means as the workers assumed everyone understood the term. Think big professionally done poster! We cook and eat a plethora of Spanish influenced foods– this place has GREAT potential. Keep order to table time short, give excellent, cheery customer service and don’t get lazy with the details! I couldn’t get a to-​go menu, a business card or anything with their name on it — that’s a bit «soft» for me.
We can back to try again– the place was about ¼ full, 5 servers and our service was super super slow! Our chips we cold and oily – sitting, waiting to come to our table. Each meal was really yummy – and liked by all – we had 4 entrees. Chirps and fried ice cream for dessert – the ice cream was really melted – suggestion: freeze it to a rock then cook it?
The restaurant filled as we finished – the details will be what makes or breaks this place. I hope they can fix them. We all really like the food!

Finally had a chance to try the «new place» in town. For those who know even the slightest bit about Port Huron’s restaurant scene, this is the former «Goodfellas,» and before that the «Cajun Gator.» If your REALLY knowledgable on Port Huron, it’s also the former HAC (Huron Athletic Club, not to be confused with a restaurant of the exact same name on Quay Street) and the long time home of «George Innes Men’s Wear» and the Colony Bar.
Ok, enough «PoHo» History.
Having now been here three times, I feel I can give a balanced review. The food is about as authentic Mexican as this area gets. Sadly, most folks from around here expect «Tex-​Mex» or highly Americanized Mexican, and IMHO, would look at you completely dumbfounded if you ask «green or red,» so be VERY careful when you read/​analyze recommendations — just sayin’.
Anyhow…good enchiladas, tacos are pretty authentic. I agree the salsa is, well, so — so. If you ask, they will give you some ground chilies to spice it up, but it’s pretty bland. It’s about the only place you can get Pozole around here — wish they had Menudo (hint), and it’s really not bad. Service was attentive, fast, and courteous. In short, it’s four stars pushing 4 ½, and with some tweaking (especially that salsa) could be five.

Food is kind of bland and lacks the flavor and spice of good Mexican food. Also, the salsa is not very good at all.

Port Huron needed this! Endless homemade chips and salsa (salsa is a little spicy, but still good). We split the chicken taquitos as an appetizer, which were delicious. However you only get 4, so if you have more than 4 people in your party, order more. Don’t let that fool you, with the chips and salsa, along with your entrée, you still will be stuffed full. For my entrée I ordered the smothered burrito with beef (its shredded, not ground). The flavor of the beef sticks with in a good way. The overall flavor, was outstanding! Although the portion sizes look average, you will not go hungry!!! So don’t let the pictures dictate your opinion. I recommend, and will be going back again.

Food is really good! So nice to have a Mexican restaurant in town (Red Pepper is not Mexican). Service was incredibly slow and food took forever to come out. It’s the same owner as Fuel and kind of reverse order here. Fast food and service at Fuel but food is below average. Hopefully the service and speed picks up so I don’t give up on them too early. I’ll go back a couple more times and hope for improvement.

The best ! I’ve only been here once and I’ve been thinking about this place since! The food is fresh, presented very nice, great service, clean, and great atmosphere! I love their salsa! I can’t wait to go back!

Very good and for a new business, once the kinks get worked out, will be even better. Definitely a keeper!!!

Wow this place is tasty. After spending much time in Arizona and California chowing down on delicious Mexican food, it was so nice to come back to the same tastes here locally. The mango basil margarita is phenomenal and the burritos are simply mouthwatering. That being said, service was extremely slow, hostess didn’t show for almost fifteen minutes to seat us, and it’s a little bright in there for dinner– more like a cafeteria. Make a reservation or don’t bother. You won’t be disappointed. Yummmmmm.

My husband and I went for dinner tonight. They were a little busy (hockey tournament in town) but we didn’t have anywhere to be. The chips and salsa were very good and definitely fresh. My Tequila Glazed Chicken was delicious and it had the perfect amount of flavor! The black beans and cilantro lime rice were so good. The Ginger Peach Margarita I had was amazing! My husband had the Carnitas and really liked them! I should mention that the beer selection was good!

Went on a whim with my parents tonight. Our server Tori C. was just great. Busy tonight, but seated promptly. Service and food were well worth going to check this place out. The meats are pulled or shredded which is a nice change from the ground stuf. Price for our 3 dinners, 3 margaritas, fresh chips and salsa, and a shared dessert was just under $ 45.00. Will definitely be visiting again soon.

We had birthday dinner last night with 7 of us for my wife. All our dinners were excellent. The chips & salsa to start with was plentiful and maybe the best I’ve ever had. I think it says a lot about a place when everyone comments they can’t wait to come back.

Very tasty! Will definitely come here again. Free chips and salsa which were delicious! Prices were reasonable. Everyone at our table loved their meals!

The restaurant itself is a really amazing space. The menu looked good but all of our food lacked flavor and was just bland. The chicken was plain and didn’t have any kind of seasoning and the same with both the Spanish rice and the line rice. The chili rellenos were descent and probably the best thing we had, but I was still very disappointed over-​all.

Came in for the soft opening. The enchiladas were great — really good flavor. Service was super friendly and it seemed like once the restaurant opens for good it will be superb. They might be working out the kinks for a few weeks but I bet it will be a winner. Excellent beer list. Port Huron needs a good Mexican place and this might be it!

This place just opened! Its traditional Mexican food… And really, really good! Thank you Mike, Tonya, Eric and rest of the team for the awesome meal. Don’t miss out on this place!