We finally found it! Yea! I know this doesn’t sound like much to get excited about, but for someone who had an excessive amount of Mexican food restaurants from which to choose in Fort Worth, it’s great! We have tried several local restaurants which appeared to serve Mexican food (you know, they have names like Casa Jose or Baja Casa) but we have been highly disappointed…until now. I have typically judged a Tex-Mex restaurant by the salsa and guacamole. You can’t go wrong with enchiladas and fajitas, right? (Wrong…apparently). We ordered fajitas at a Tex-Mex restaurant in Fort Lauderdale recently and they were messed up! There was some sort of jerk seasoning in them. I guess they were attempting to add “a flavor of the tropics” but I wasn’t looking for it. ANYWAY, the great Tex-Mex food we found (so far, anyway) is at Tijuana Flats in Deerfield Beach. We found it quite by accident. Dear gets his haircut at a barber shop in the same shopping center. It was lunch time and we decided to give Tijuana Flats (TF) a chance. They have a bar of various hot sauces but these are more along the lines of flavored Tabasco – which is not something I usually like on my Tex-Mex food. Dear and I prefer salsas or pico de gallo. Even though TF didn’t offer these as toppings, the food was great. I ordered chicken flautas with a side of black beans and a side of queso – yum-o! My order was also served with diced tomatoes, fresh sliced jalapenos (very rare around here!), and lettuce. The guacamole was a bit lacking but you could tell it was packaged vs. fresh. Dear ordered the special (3 cheese nachos with refried beans and rice). He was very happy to see his order topped with lots of fresh, sliced jalapenos as well! Now, here’s a word of caution: Don’t expect a fine decor…it’s actually a bit tacky, but that’s part of the charm, I guess. All I know is I will return for more chicken flautas, black beans (the best I’ve ever tasted!), and queso. (Oh yeah, the tortilla chips are very tasty too).
UPDATE: May 25, 2009
It’s been a long wait, but we’ve been patient. UNCLE JULIO’S is now open in Boca – actually, it’s in Mizner Park! I can’t tell you how nice it is to find true Tex-Mex in South Florida! When we lived in Fort Worth, there was an Uncle Julio’s restaurant in our neighborhood. However, due to the high number of fantastic Tex-Mex restaurants in Fort Worth (and all over Texas), we frequented a few others since Uncle’s a little pricey. However, here in South Florida, I’m willing to pay! I still like TF but if you want a sit-down style restaurant with nice ambience (and for a little more cash), Uncle’s is the place to go. Ariba!
