(Tio Alex shares a kitchen with Bambu next door, and offers basically the same menu.)
Supposedly, this is one of the older restaurants in town, having opened back in 1950. I like historical charm, and usually trust the enduring capabilities of an establishment to be a sign of quality. As a result, I wanted to like Tio Alex. In an act very unlike us, my wife and I were swayed into a restaurant by a man on the street waving us down and showing us his menu. As one would expect, this was certainly a mistake. Likely, we were swayed at the prospect of two-for-one drinks. Additionally, we liked the idea of dining in the open air with a view of the bay. Alas, our drinks (piña coladas for me) ended up being both small and underwhelming. More significantly however, I boldly ordered the huachinango (red snapper) a la talla, which was described to me as the whole fish, opened up and baked in a chipotle sauce. I should have taken the waiter more literally. Apparently, by "whole fish" he meant including all of the bones. =( This was too bad, because a dish that was otherwise pretty tasty eded up being a miserable experience. All I remember is the dozens of tiny bones that I was pulling from every attempted bite. I think my wife enjoyed her food more than I did, but I was so distracted by the bones, I cannot even recall what she ordered. read more