It’s a typical weekday evening. You just finished a shopping exhibition at Sam’s and you are looking for something to eat. You glance over at the recently deceased Mexican goodness known as Sarita’s only to discover something new. A new Mexican place!! Tulum’s… Yes, where there once was a tex-mex place, now stand a tex-mex place. So you wonder, other than the name, what’s changed? Well, let’s talk about one of my favorite foods, Mexican / tex-mex. And yes, I know the difference. But I love them both.
THE FOOD:
So right out of the gate, the food is most definitely very similar to what Sarita’s once served. So with that out of the way, let’s talk about the food. The food is actually pretty good. If you want crunchy or cheesy or spicey, this will satisfy that craving. If you are looking for something more grilled and seasoned, look no further. The food is what you would expect. Nothing bad and nothing earth shattering. It’s tex-mex, plain and simple. We give the food a score of 9/10.
THE SERVICE:
The service at Tulum’s is a little shaky. Nothing annoys me more that when you walk in to a restaurant, request a table, and the host/hostess says “Hold on, let me check what we have available, then disappears into a predominantly empty dining room. #1) You should already know what’s available. #2) If your place is only a quarter or half full, don’t act like you have to go “find” a table. Whatever the reason behind it, it just kind of looks bad. Leaves one to wonder how “put together” the place actually is. Moving on… our server was very nice, but the food seemed to take a while to get to us. It was hot when it arrived, which would normally point at the kitchen as being the hold up. Never-the-less, we did get our food. I’ll chalk it up to start-up or growing pains. Our server was attentive and kept our drinks topped off. So, considering the ups and downs, we gave the service a solid 7/10.
THE PLACE:
Now we come to the place itself, the ambiance, the vibe. As I mentioned, this location was formerly Sarita’s Mexican Cantina. Now that it is Tulum’s Grill and Cantina, what has changed? Well, obviously the layout of the restaurant hasn’t really changed. The décor is a little more modern, yet still somewhat southwestern. I will say that the sitting area by the bar, with couches and lighted trees, adds a nice touch. The restaurant as a whole is super clean and excess stock and server stations are no longer in plain view as before. Does it still “feel” like the previous restaurant? Not really. Does it “feel” like a Mexican cantina? Sort of?? All in all, we give the new place a score of 9/10.
THE VALUE:
Here is the biggie. I’m not sure if they are shooting for a more “enhanced” dining experience, but the menu prices might suggest so. Tex-mex is notoriously cheap fare. There is seldom anything uppity or highbrow about it. Some have tried this but most have failed. While Tulum’s prices are not “fancy restaurant” high, they are on the upper end of the scale for that area. Is it worth the money? We gave the value score a 7/10.
Tulum’s is not a bad place to grab lunch or dinner. I don’t know what they are shooting for just yet, but I feel like they are still “finding” themselves a bit. It seems like a cool place to take the family or grab a few margs in the bar and eat some nachos while enjoying someone’s company. Tulum’s receives an overall 1-5 rating of 4 (Stars, table legs, whatever). Remember that we just love food and love talking about food. Don’t make the mistake of taking us too seriously.