Restaurant Review: Tin Star

The Tin Star restaurant has been under construction on McNeil and 183 (across the street from the Water Tank) for what seems like a year and a half. Lately, they look like they're ready to open. Periodically we'll drive by at night, see the lights on, and slow down to look inside. Nope, the chairs are always still up on the tables.

But tonight, we drove by, and voila! People were sitting in the chairs and eating. We whipped in to the parking lot eager to try a new place. When we got up to the door, we saw a sign that read, "By invitation only. Open to the public on Wednesday, November 8."

Oh well, we thought, and started to walk back to the car. Suddenly a woman burst out of the restaurant and invited us in. She said that tonight was a sneak preview for some of their business partners, but that we were invited in as well.

Great, we thought. We'll be the first people in the 'hood to try this place. Well, we soon found out that wasn't the coolest part. The kicker? All the food tonight was free. Niiice.

The place reminded me of Pei Wei. It was sort of upscale fast food. You order and pay up front, get your beverage, then sit down and they bring you out your food. Tech nerd detail: They give you a little plastic T-shaped device that you swipe into a black box at your table. The box tells the kitchen where you're sitting, so they know exactly where to bring your food. Also, the black box has a white button that you can press anytime to summon a waitperson.

We had chips and queso for an appetizer. I ordered the veggie tacos and Liz ordered the black bean quesadillas. Doesn't sound that exciting, right? Actually, the veggie tacos were kind of fancy. They were filled with marinated mushrooms, broccoli and some other veggies, and topped with strands of grated sweet potato. Very tasty. The black bean quesadillas were even better. And the salsa was delicious.

Those two dishes were pretty much the only veggie options, so you omnivores will have lots of chicken and beef Mexican dishes to choose from.

And just when we thought we were done, they asked us if we wanted a piece of chocolate eruption cake. I said, Hyeah. We had the choice of chocolate or raspberry sauce, on top or on the side. We had the razz, and it was really good.

So, if you want some quick, tasty Tex-Mex, check out the Tin Star.