Tampico Seafood & Cocna Mexicana

If you don’t hate Mexican food you will after this. When we walked it seemed nice once seated we were greeted with a friendly waitress. When given are drinks the tea tastes like the waitress had peed in it or something. Then looking at the menu we discovered that they basically want your left arms for a bean burrito. When we decided to just split a small cheese nacho for 8 bucks the waitress instantly changed and right in front of our eyes transformed into the rudest waitress in history. She quickly brought us the 8 dollar Nacho but the plate only had 8 chips. The cheese was greasy and the beans had obviously come out of a can. The complimentary chips and salsa were disgusting the chips were a bit stale and the salsa had no flavor and was yellow. If you enjoy good food stay far away from here. If you hate your life and your family then please bring them.

Hands down the best Mexican seafood restaurants in Houston. The fried shrimps are superb and don’t taste greasy as in other restaurants in town. Also tried their awesome Chicharon — flash fried tilapia until crispy brown. So glad I found this place.

They have Mexican Coke!
Wait, let me rephrase that… they have Mexican Coca-​Cola!
I must say that they have great atmosphere for a bar and restaurant combo. You are started off with chips and warm salsa. This common snack was surprisingly decent. Something about the warmth of the salsa combined with the slight heat from the spice level worked really well. The chips were really fresh and crunchy. I read that they charge you a small fee after your second order of chips and salsa, so that lets you know something about the desirability factor of their chips and salsa.
I decided to order the «Tampico Botana» as my appetizer. That is 4 jumbo shrimps, chicken quesadilla, flautas, avocado slices and sour cream. They garnish the plate with jalapeños.
First of all, those are not jumbo shrimp… they are butterflied shrimp. Overall, the flavor is good with all items. There is nothing outstanding about this appetizer; it is just a good appetizer.
For my entrée I ordered the number 42 with the upgrade of special fried rice. The number 42 is a 8oz stuffed snapper fillet stuffed with their homemade crab stuffing and topped with cheese. You have option to do salmon the same way. The special fried rice is fried rice with shrimp, pork and chicken in the mixture.
The snapper was decent but slightly overcooked and rubbery at parts. The crab stuffing was not much, I prefer my stuffing to really be stuffed in there, and like everything else, just decent. The rice was good, but once again, no real wow factor. The included lime really made extra flavors pop when squeezed over the dish.
I have to mention that the bar and restaurant area are both smoke free which makes the dining experience way better for a non-​smoker such as myself. No WiFi, so come here to dine and be reality based sociable. This is a decent place with price to portion size slightly out of whack, and just slightly better than average Mexican food. I can’t see me paying $ 10 for exactly 8 nacho chips with toppings. That isn’t nachos to me!
There is pleasant cultural music playing in the background that does not blare over the many televisions that are in the place. If you are underneath one of the many televisions that are around the place, you can actually hear what is being said on the boob tube. If decent Mexican food at slightly high prices is your thing, then this place is for you.
NOTE: If you stay at the Quality Inn & Suites, which is a 3 minute walk away from them, you get 10% off your bill.

Food was pretty good, and the wait staff was attentive. The fajitas had a good flavor and the salsa was mild but tasty. Good place for lunch.

Food was a solid ‘decent’ and I enjoyed the margarita. Best part, though, was the service. I got there 10 minutes before close– a weary traveler that United airlines dropped at the Days Inn next door. They seated me, treated me well, and never rushed me.

It was my second time there it was very clean, staff was friendly. I wasn’t sure what to order decided on the Tacos Carbon meat was tasty and portion was generous. We also tried the Happy Hour margarita that was good.

Please dont lie in Unilocal,the food its totally bad, there are the same old menue, the food dont have taste, and it’s not mexican.
I want give a second chanse to this restaurant but them need a lot of help, first change all the menue, its really bad the traste, why the owner never notice this?, she or he dont notice the coments about the untaste food?.
The place its in a good área but always is empty, just 2 costumer and most came from beer or margaritas, not for food.
That really sad how a good location have a restaurwnt like this.

Food was salty.
Way overpriced.
Waitress gave my mom a plate that had what she’s allergic shrimp on it.
Never again.
No manager came to see us after we asked waitress for one.
No attentive staff is the deal breaker.
Happy customer = happy tip if you don’t want it I know plenty that have better food & charge less$$$
Not going fora 2^nd visit I will go to the bayou for food that salty & bland

Our go to Mexican seafood spot. Great service, and awesome menu, and delicious food have us coming back. Great décor and tidiness make this a place to take the misses, the sancha, or a group of friends.
Their margaritas are great and so are the micheladas (best in town). Salsa and chips always taste fresh and have the right amount of kick to them. What I love about Tampico is their HUGE menu. It is probably 90% seafood which for me is a plus. The parrillada with the huge red snapper and shrimp all around is your best bet. Grilled whole fish covered in seasoning makes you want to roll up your sleeves grab a tortilla and just go at it.
The seafood is never over cooked, that is what really sets it apart from most mexican seafood restaurants. Don’t hesitate to stop by, they have a security guard in the parking lot so your car will be safe.

Don’t waste ur time here!
Bad service excpet for one guy. The place was empty and it took them 30min to bring out 4 plates, 2 of which were the same plate. I ordered 1lb of chicharron de tilapia, they gave me about 7 small pieces of fish UNSEASONED! No salt whatsoever. The waitress was being helped by the manager and one very nice guy whom we left out tip to. Overall 0 stars if possible. Food was just barely edible. Mexican rice was prob yesterday’s and was barely warmed up. Never going there again.

Came in on a Saturday around 8PM, place wasn’t that busy, we had 3 different waitresses helping us, but 1 out of 2 of our appetizers arrived WITH our food, we cancelled the Queso, Queso shouldn’t take 20 minutes to get to a table. Getting two beers and a frozen margarita, took 10 minutes, my food was cold, it was a small piece of fish and TONS of breading. my margarita sucked, I will only go back to the Airline location. I give two stars because I know the service and food is better than tonight.

Just happened to be at hotel next door. YUMMMMY, what a great place. The food is EXCELLENT, however the service is a little tough if you don’t speak at least broken Spanish. I so RECOMMEND THIS PLACE. Beware, it is a Mexican Seafood place, they have some normal Texmex, but mainly seafood which is fresh and outstanding.
2 thumbs up
Also: the Best Fried Rice I have ever had

This is the definitive non-​franchised stop for great seafood. The grilled and fried shrimp are simply the best in Houston! We visit this place once a month when we are craving good seafood. Here you don’t get the decorations or tourist entrapments of the mega restaurant but you do get the best quality seafood in Houston. We highly recommend their shrimp be it fried, grilled or bacon rapped; superb!

Stopped here for a margarita, wanted a quick stop with easy on and off of Hwy 45. This place was a great find! Clean, great service, excellent margarita and fantastic food!

Had it for the first time yesterday. This place should have more customers than it does. They are cleaner, the good is more fresh, and the service is good. Like mambos (a franchise restaurant in Houston) but much better.

Every time I have been here, the food has always been good. It doesn’t matter what the meal is, it’s good. I will say the their Mexican food is better than their seafood.
Something that I haven’t understood is why there is hardly no one ever in here… it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is.
The service is average I guess, and they check on you often. They have a full bar as well.

i come here ALL the time for lunch so i have seen the good and the bad. my friend insists we eat here for lunch when we have business to discuss. i think he is there every day.
their mexican food is better than the seafood in my opinion. their signature dish with the snapper and shrimp is very very good. think its the snaper al a plancha or whatever.
my gripe with his place is its not consistent. one day its out-​of-​this-​world good and the next day the orders are all screwed up, the stuffed crab is cold and the shrimp are overcooked.
make sure and get the corn tortillas with your meal if they come with them. the flour tortillas are bought while they make the corn in store.

I have been wanting to try this place for a while, because of the way it looks. Seafood and mexican food, are pretty good. The service was great, I would recommend it to all. Very clean and lots of room, great place to take extended family.

I have always been a big fan of the other Tampico, but I have only gone to this location twice. The food is about as good, although for some reason the cooked dishes don’t seem quite the same. Personally, I prefer to get the ceviche, which is very tasty at both locations.
The setting itself is much nicer than the one on Airline, and there is always plenty of room to eat. The service is friendly, although they can be a bit slow.
Overall I am a fan of this Tampico and it’s currently my go-​to place if I’m eating near the airport.