A Review of Tony's Mexican Restaurant in Houston, TX

Tony's Mexican restaurant in the Heights area of Houston, TX offers traditional fare with a plethora of options. There is something for everyone (including vegetarians) on the menu but sometimes too many choices can be a bit overwhelming. Tony's restaurant offers lunch specials during the week but none over the weekend; they do, however, have dinner specials that start at 3:00 p.m. (a pretty early dinner if you ask me). We actually went to Tony's Mexican restaurant around 3:00 p.m. for a very late lunch and though the parking lot seemed full, the restaurant was not.

We noticed a sign near the front door that warned patrons that no short shorts were allowed, shirts and shoes were required, and a few other rules I can't quite remember, but I did notice a woman wearing short shorts inside the restaurant and she wasn't kicked out so maybe they're not sticklers for rules.

The ambiance was dark and comfortable but what struck me the most was how religious Tony's Mexican restaurant in Houston, TX was. When I say religious I mean there were bible verses and sayings about God and Jesus everywhere -- and I do mean everywhere. Even the business cards near the entrance say something like "Jesus loves you." Whoever owns the restaurant has a right to do whatever they want at home but in the workplace where customers from all different faiths and backgrounds might frequent your establishment, you might want to ease off of the religious stuff because it can offend someone. As one who is not Christian, I found it to be over-the-top, not offensive, but way too much for a causal restaurant. After all, Muslims, Jewish people, Buddhists, Hindus, and Scientologists might want to eat Mexican food and they shouldn't have religion shoved down their throat while eating their tacos.

The staff was very friendly and attentive, and I appreciated the fact that the wait staff filled our glasses with iced tea frequently. The noise level was just right too. One thing I noticed was the plethora of errors on the menu. I know we all make mistakes (especially when it comes to proofreading) but I found several errors on the menu to the point where I was confused at to what the meal description really was. And they had deep fried chalupas covered with cheese listed under their "healthy" section. I tried to point that out to the waiter because it made me laugh and he didn't seem to understand my point. Oh well, I just hope someone doesn't order the chalupa hoping it is low in calories -- yes, that's sarcasm.

It took me a long time to decide what to have because the food options were plenty at Tony's Mexican restaurant in Houston, TX, so I opted to get a combination plate; that way I could try a bit of everything. I ordered the Summer Plate which consisted of a puff chili con queso (I had no idea what it was before I ordered it), one taco, one chicken enchilada, one chili relleno, rice and refried beans, and of course, cheese and lots of it. I didn't realize the taco and the chili relleno would be filled with ground beef so there went my mostly vegetarian diet. The taco was well, a taco. It was nothing special and tasted like the tacos we make at home except the ones we make have more flavor. The rice was bland but I'm a carb addict so I ate all of it; the refried beans were fine (my husband enjoyed his much more than I), and the puff chili con queso turned out to be an upside down crispy shell (sort of shaped like a taco salad shell) covered with spicy cheese. I didn't eat it but I did taste the cheese to see if it was indeed spicy; it wasn't very spicy.

The chicken enchilada at Tony's Mexican restaurant in the Houston Heights had chicken in it but not much, and I had no idea if the enchilada was actually wrapped in a flour tortilla because the entire thing was saturated (and I mean saturated) with cheese that reminded me of Velveeta. I could have done without so much cheese and even though I attempted to scrape it off, the cheese was kind of like the blob (the movie) and took over my entire plate. Surprisingly what I enjoyed most was the chili relleno. I had never had one before and though I try not to eat beef, it was tasty. What is a chili relleno you ask? Well it's a roasted green bell pepper filled with seasoned ground beef -- or at least that's what it was at Tony's Mexican restaurant in Houston, TX.

My husband played it safe (or so he thought) and ordered the beef fajitas. I thought they smelled delightful and for a moment I was jealous he picked the better menu option but alas, he did not enjoy the meat. My husband said the texture was strange as if it was liver. I can't say because I didn't have any but for a Texan to not like the beef, you know it had to be off (or at least not what he was used to).

Our total came to around $29 including tax and we only had two iced teas so Tony's isn't cheap but not overly expensive either. We wouldn't return to Tony's Mexican restaurant in Houston, TX -- especially since Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen in the Houston area.

Tony's Mexican restaurant is located at 2222 Ella Boulevard, Houston, TX 77008.

*Disclaimer: My review is based on our dining experience in June, 2011. I encourage my readers to visit Tony's Mexican restaurant and formulate their own opinion.