Tio Pepe’s II

Awesome service, food was sooo good. Got the mixed fajitas and chicken nachos… there was more chicken than chips… yum!!!

Came here with my mother today for lunch. First time for both of us. The service was efficient and very friendly. We had the chicken flautas and the chicken salad. Everything was delicious, fresh, and well presented. The flan was very good too. Restaurant is cute and clean, including the restrooms. Can’t wait to come back.

I have been to this location hundreds of times, the food has always been consistent. It has been served for over 20 something years by a real sweetheart of a Lady named «Lupe». She is not only very pleasant, but Lupe has the best memory of any server I have ever known. Besides great service, the star of the show has always been the gravy. The menu at most Mexican restaurants are a variation on a theme (something wrapped up in a tortilla). So if the ingredients are fresh and the service is good you can’t really mess it up. This restaurant does not mess it up, fresh salsa, great gravy, primo portions. One tip… call in 10 minutes before arriving and order the chicken fajitas (they take a while to prepare) they are killer. Order the gravy and cheese for your chips and you will be addicted for life. I love the quesadilla without lettuce with gravy over it., Mas gravy.

Food is always great, prices are reasonable and very nice staff… nothing else to say about this restaurant.

Okay, well I was excited being My 5 year wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, about going back and visiting our favorite haunts. Boy has this place changed!
And before you roll your eyes, I’m fine with the seat yourself bit and the quietness of the restaurant. What I’m not fine with is being served rotting food!
My husband and I ordered the chili colorado, a fave dish of ours. Not only was it given to us in less than five minutes after we ordered it, but both waitresses kept asking if we wanted refills of soda when they were still half full. I’m guessing that the 1 free refill only applies to drinks that are half gone.
About halfway through my meal, I saw a piece of lettuce that had seen better days, lemme tell ya. I’m sure in many homes across America, there has been a time or two when you have let iceberg lettuce wilt in the fridge to the point it is mushy and dark green. Well my friends, this is what was on my plate. To make matters worse, when I showed the waitress, she said, «Oh, yeah, it looks like the lettuce was too close to the warming plate.» Hmmm, okay, sure. There was no apology, just deflection. Needless to say, my appetite was ruined. I was only able to eat half of my food and was charged full price. Obviously there were going to charge me full price because it clearly was not their fault.
I’m not telling anyone to not go there, what I am saying is be careful if you decide to go. You could be eating rotten food. YUK!

This is one of those restaurants we always look forward to catering our media meals with the Thunder. We finally went into the actual location for a staff lunch and I was excited to give it a try fresh from the kitchen.
We had a large group of nine people plus a to-​go order and we were all excited and hungry. We started off with the salsa which was really good and had a kick and we added some guacamole which could have used a little extra flavor.
We all ordered and when it came out it looked great! My combination plate tasted good and I had enough left to take home for an extra meal. The service was a little spotty though, I’m not sure if they were giving us space because we were a group or if they were just having an off day. I went through my cup of water pretty quickly and after a while they brought over a pitcher for us to fill our own glasses, but when the pitcher was empty we didn’t have anyone to check in to fill it again. While it didn’t ruin my meal its always nice to have a full water especially when you’re enjoying some salty food.
If you’re nearby and looking for some good food I’d give Tio Pepe’s a try, but with so many great choices around you may have a favorite that will trump this spot.

Tio Pepe’s on Lindsay St in Stockton, California.
Unilocal Challenge ⁹⁴⁄₁₀₀.
I found myself coming here about two months ago or so. Funny thing, I had some paperwork to fill out. I needed a place to go and get some stuff done.
Inside is pretty spacious and there’s plenty of parking for you.
The times I’ve come here, it’s been pretty dead inside. I don’t mind that at all. I really needed that on my last visit here. It’s nice to find a place that’s nice and quite to do things. Here Tio Pepe’s fits the bill.
Yeah the food is good and the service is great. The ladies treat me good here. So with that all said, I’ll be back to have a bite and clear my mind. When shit starts jumping off again.
Sincerely VD.

Love this place. They accommodated my «special» order of Huevos Rancheros with Shrimp, and it was delicious… Hubby got the #7 and he said his was tasty
Chips and salsa are great…
Our server was friendly, and on the ball…
If it was closer to home, we’d definitely frequent it… but either way, we will be back soon :)

Good food. I am from Clovis and went here with some friends who live in Stockton. The food was good and highly recommend this little quant hole in the wall.

This place has room to accommodate for parties and keep up with the orders. Love the cheesy bean dip. Staff is very friendly too.

I’m giving this restaurant a 3 mainly because of the service. I ordered the small taco salad and was glad I did. It was good and the chicken was plentiful. I also ordered the side chili relleno just because I wanted to try it, did not like it. The server we had was excellent and I wish the food was better.

6 chunks of beef per quesadilla. .! No more for you. I showed the young girl my plate and she simply said…“thats the cook.”…and carelessly walked her butt away. And you wonder why people stop bringing their money to your restaurant. I can cook very well and this wasn’t right. No extra napkins. My taco was cold tasteless and my quesadilla was fresh and scarce… the stars were for the freshness and taste of the quesadilla.

I have been going to tio pepes for about 15 years, this location and the one that closed down on west lane. I remember being a kid and tasting cheese gravy for the first time and thinking what is this amazing stuff. Tio pepes is the best Mexican food in town, I’ve loved everything I’ve ever tried. The location is a little sketchy but that can be said for pretty much everywhere in Stockton. I think it’s funny that it’s next to Cancuns, but skip your urge to go their and go to tio pepes for awesome tasting Mexican food.

It’s really surprising how the service of an establishment dramatically influences the customer experience.
As soon as we walk in, the lobby attendant rather blandly tells us we can «seat ourselves anywhere». Could have been a lot more enthusiastic, but it was chill. Us being first time customers though, its those spontaneous times like this when primacy effect matters. (Primacy effect meaning a psychological term for first impressions)
In about three minutes a male associate walks over to our table, in the middle of him setting the chips and salsa down we inform him we would like food to go. He stops, looks bewildered, hesitates, then says okay as he leaves. Guess we’ll dig in to the chips and salsa while we wait for the main associate who will be providing service for us.
She walks up, asks us if we’re ready to order. Older looking woman with dark black hair. Before we even gather up a response she pushes, «I can come back if you guys aren’t quite ready. Another few minutes, it’s alright.» Politely but a little too quickly, as we had our minds pretty set on what we were to order. We actually just had questions about the meal size. and to tell her we wanted a «to go» order. Frankly, she seemed disinterested in whatever we as customers could offer their business. Either way, I notified of the «to go» desire, immediately got a, «Oh, to go? Well we charge for the chips on the to go.» Not exactly the first thing I’d respond with, ya’ know? Setting the good customer service up and such. I dunno. I was kind of dressed down that day. but heck it shouldn’t matter at all! Like we can’t afford to pay for some tortilla chips clearly grabbed out of a stale bag with extremely watery red salsa. Poo.
We ordered and asked about portions after she wrote down our order. She seemed like she just NEEDED to scribble something. Initailly we chose the two burrito dinner, then asked the portion size. She made small gestures with her hands that weren’t pleasing for the price of $ 7.00, and we looked at each other and changed our minds. She did a great job of suggesting the option for the Supreme Burrito, much larger but she said, more expensive, $ 6.75 for one. We still got two, and I was not feeling very happy though the ambiance of the place was nice, the service implied that their hiked prices weren’t worth it. We ordered. I contemplated leaving.
After the initial response and stiff vibe from the associates, the experience just couldn’t get going right. I thanked myself silently that we had a to go order. Genuinely irked by the service/​lack of customer recognition that I would have been more satisfied with Honey Bunches Of Oats cereal for dinner.
Wait was long, close to 15 minutes for our order. They had sections closed off, gave a feeling they just wanted to be lazy and half assed today. The mood was not getting any better once the handful of tasteless tortilla chips and watery salsa ran out.
The order came this time brought by a different female. She made the experience end on a positive note with her welcoming personality, and all she simply did was sit the order on the table, tie the bag gently, smile and let us know that we were waiting for a «long time», the chips and salsa wouldn’t be included. I smiled at her, thanked her simply for smiling and making me feel like we were welcomed into the establishment finally, and frankly I still rushed my lady out of the place as quick as we could move those legs of ours. I was so glad that we got it to go because it’s really hard for me to not leave nice tips. It just, seems so disrespectful; even if the service doesn’t warrant it.
As we walked out I told my lady we should have went to one of the two places I suggested initially. She wholeheartedly agreed, and asked me «what did the last waitress say before we left?» Heh, she was so not in the Tio Pepe zone she didn’t even catch that we got the funky chips and salsa for free!
The Food: The ONLY reason they get this rating is well, it was good. Good portioned burritos. I wanted to give the cook full credit for this, and even decided to leave pictures for the full understanding. I just can’t sit right with bad reviews without doing all I can to add the benefit of the doubt.
The Food: Very tasty. It had just enough extras in it to balance the tortilla and chicken well. The tortilla was soft, the meat seemed to canoodle with my tastebuds. They put a lot of gravy over the burritos, I don’t recall them being «wet burritos» but, I definitely am not complaining.
The cook must have been the only one feeling themself that day, and if anything I’d go back JUST to give that person a tip. I’d still not ever go there again. For sure not to sit down. And I’d go to the nearest taco truck and get similar quality, if not better, for way cheaper. That’s just the real deal. However, the Chicken Supreme and Beef Supreme burritos were-​actually good-​not that it makes a ton of difference all factors considered.

I haven’t been here in years but we were downtown for the Christmas tree lighting and boat parade. Had to run from the church cookie exchange/​home tour directly to the waterfront and had no time for dinner. Cancun was closer but I wanted to see if my favorite downtown Mexican place was still around-​yup! I’d have to say, if Tio Pepe’s was closer to home they would be my first choice for Mexican food. Plus, they don’t jack the price up when dinner rolls around… you can still get «lunch» (one item plus beans and rice) for the very same price.
Needless to say the place filled up quickly once the parade was over and we had to flag someone down just to get a menu and chips and salsa. A lovely young waitress must have seen the hunger in our eyes and walked over from area to another waitresses area to accommodate us-​so sweet.
I ordered a chicken chimichanga which was fried to perfection and served with a generous portion of guacamole and sour cream. The beans were topped with queso fresco rather than a blob of yellow cheese, customary at most Mexican restaurants in the area. The salsa, I just loved. The only complaint was the chips, seemed more packaged than fresh… but everything else was perfect.
We will be back… and this time we won’t wait so long!

Best chicken nachos I’ve ever tasted!
I usually get NO beans with extra jalapeño and chicken. Super bomb.

Food. Good. Service. Good. Location. Garbage. Ownership. Horrendous. Girl who works here, I think a busser, is amazing. Works fast, hard, and deals with the classless clientele that has over taken one of my childhood favorites.
I’m literally watching 3 owners lean on the host stand while this girl runs around the entire restaurant helping guests. Pathetic.

We drove by and the wife said «I heard they are good» so we parked and walked in. The place is in an old and dated building but I like brick.
We ordered French toast for the kid. This is the first time he ever, I mean ever finished everything on his plate
Huevos Rancheros for the wife. She said the y were good, I did notice they had a generous portion of beef on top that was good (I snuck a piece).
Machaca for me This was a very large portion of very good food. I asked them to go easy on the bell peppers and they got it just right.
This place served authentic Mexican food that was good and the beans were home made to boot.
We like it better than Cancun right down the street hands down. This place is getting a bum rap

I am happy to update my review and tell you that I had a much better experience eating at Tio Pepe’s II a second time.
Maybe that’s why its got a II after it… you have to eat there twice to get it?
HAHAHAHA
Ok, at least I tried.
We decided to come here for lunch the other day… the waitress that helped us was a delight. She said she had been working there for 26 years, so I guess she must somewhat like her job.
First the gravy and cheese.
You do realize that it seems like Stockton is the only place in the state that serves gravy and cheese with your chips? Seriously all the major ones in Stockton do, but it seems like no where else do they practice that tradition. The gravy here seems a lot like the Tio Pepe’s that used to be on March Lane. A bit tastier than the Casa Flores gravy.
I ordered 2 cheese enchiladas (my standard) and I was pretty damn impressed with them… if you like the gravy with your chips there is a good chance you will like the enchiladas.
Dad got a combo plate with an enchilada, taco and chili relleno. He said the taco and enchilada were some of the best he has had in a long time but the chili relleno was a bit on the watery side. He just commented that next time he would avoid the relleno but would love to get the other two items again.
All said and done our lunch was in the mid $ 20 range.
Good Mexican food at a reasonable price. Can’t go wrong there.
:0)

2 ½ stars (round down) at the most… omg I miss my Tio’s on West Lane.
Went here for lunch. Chips were out of a bag… salsa was
watery. Portions were small. Service was spotty.
Average at best… like most other Mexican restaurants in Stockton.
I will give Casa Flores Marina another try… also Don Luis. Will try
to find another Mexican food ‘home’…until Tio’s reopens!