Tio Pepe has survived and prospered since 1970. Considering that this Greenwich Village hot spot on West 4th Street is right smack in the middle of one of the most competitive restaurant areas in the city, if not the world, it must be doing something right. It is, in fact, doing many things right.
This dark in the back, bright in the front, pretty all over restaurant has managed to successfully combine two dissimilar cuisines, Spanish and Mexican. (Yes, both countries speak Spanish, but the often fiery food of Mexico and the more subtle, sophisticated fare of Spain aren't even kissing cousins.)
Tio Pepe offers different strokes for different folks. Upfront, there's a lively bar scene, a sidewalk cafe, exposed brick walls, bare tables of colorful inlaid tiles, peppy Latino music and wall-to-wall young people. Patrons who walk through the restaurant's main dining room and reach the skylight garden patio room in the rear enter a place of chandeliers, stone and brick walls, hanging plants and romance.
In both rooms and everything in between the fresh guacamole is made to order (hot, medium or mild) in tableside stone bowls, the corn chips are warm, the salsa is snappy and jumbo pitchers of margaritas and very good sangria are the order of the day. Nor is anyone scared away by the prices. A la carte entrees cost as little as $13 and there's a list of mainly paella specials priced at $12.95.
And then there's the rice. At many, perhaps most restaurants, rice is neutral at best. At Tio Pepe, the rice is not only impeccably cooked and moist, but it has full flavor of a sort that has diners eating not just because it's on the table but because it tastes good.The paella Valenciana with mixed seafood, chicken chunks and zippy chorizo and arroz con pollo with chicken and chorizo are both suggested for their saffron rice as well. Other main courses sampled were two humongous, tasty, charcoal grilled pork chops with mushrooms in a Rioja red wine sauce and shrimp sauteed in a rich, dreamy pumpkin seed salsa.
Starters to savor are a smooth, garlic soup with egg and croutons, escargot identical to the garlic and shallot French version and clams baked with herbs, bacon and breadcrumbs. Quesadillas with cheese, chicken and sour cream were respectable, but the menu didn't mention their tomato sauce topper.
At dessert time try the three milk cake and cheesecake or the caramel custard (flan) and cream custard--they're extraordinary. So is Tio Pepe.
168 W. 4th St. btw. Sixth & Seventh Ave. So., 212-242-9338; www.tiopepenyc.com.
For their City Guide listing, click here.
Richard Jay Scholem was a restaurant critic for the New York Times Long Island Section for 14 years. His A La Carte column appeared from 1990 to 2004.
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