Grub so Southern It's from Across the Border

Tapatio’s Restaurante Mexicano

It isn’t hard to find authentic Mexican food in Lakeland and one popular place for it is Tapatio’s.  Long a mainstay of the Memorial Boulevard restaurant row, it presents a cantina atmosphere with plenty of tile, stucco, murals, and the occasional mariachi band.  The menu is mainly authentic with some nods to Anglo palates, such as fajitas.

The staff is fairly young with a few senior people and does its job pretty well.  When we arrived at dinner time the restaurant was busy but not packed and we were seated almost immediately at the table of our choice.  Drink orders were taken and delivered promptly.

We both ordered combinations, which come with the standard sides of rice and refried beans.  The seasonings are distinctive and sauces use less tomato and are a little sweeter than Tex-Mex counterparts.  The hot sauce is very spicy but not excruciating.  My tostada was just the right proportions of meat, beans, greens and other goodies, and while the burritos and enchiladas seem fairly standard, they are hard to stop eating.  Portion sizes provide ample opportunity to over eat but don’t often leave enough to take home.  The cost for two, with no alcohol, was $24.

We go here often and reliably find good food and service at a good price.

Doug’s Rating – 4 of 5

Address
734 E. Memorial Blvd
Lakeland, FL

Phone
863-686-6958

Web
www.tapatiostogo.com

Hours
11-9 Tue-Thu
11-10 Fri-Sat
10-9 Sun