During my years as a child, the Chadwick family were devotees of Tee Pee Mexican Food. The location at 42nd Street and Indian School in Phoenix was convenient and we all loved the food. I remember the era of Tee Pee before they added on the patio (complete with TVs and misters) and long before President Bush showed up for dinner there with Jerry Colangelo and gave more PR to Tee Pee in one plate of Mexican food than all the radio spots they had ever done.

But as I grew up and bought a car and discovered other things that caught my interest, I grew away from Tee Pee and started eating at Manuel’s or Ricardo’s or Pepe’s Taco Villa or even (God forgive me) Pancho’s Mexican Buffet.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Tee Pee because I had so many meals there as a kid, but the last few times I had visited the place, the food just didn’t live up to my childhood memories. However, I was willing to give it another go since I wanted to try it again, I had a craving for Mexican food, and I wanted to review the place for my blog.

The parking lot was relatively full when I pulled in just past the lunch hour on that Saturday. There were people milling about on the patio watching some sporting event on the TVs and sipping margaritas and beers. I opened the door and my eyes had to adjust from the brightness of the outside to the dim lighting of the interior. I requested a table for one and was given the option of sitting in the bar or in the main dining room. I opted for the latter and was taken to a small two-top booth in the middle of the restaurant. I was handed a menu and was told my server would be with me momentarily.

The table was set with a bottle of hot sauce, a bowl of salsa and a pitcher of ice water. I poured myself a glass and looked over the menu. The menu – save the prices – hadn’t changed much over the years and I pretty much knew what I wanted. I did notice that they were still showcasing the “Presidential Special” which featured the meal President Bush dined on during his visit: two cheese enchiladas, rice and beans for $9.50.

My server approached with a bowl of chips and asked for my drink order. I went with a Diet Coke ($1.50) and also ordered a Cheese Crisp ($5.50). He departed for the kitchen while grabbing an order from a table behind me.

I grabbed the bottle of hot sauce and a chip and got ready to enjoy my meal. Right off the bat, I recognized the hot sauce. The recipe hadn’t changed since when I was a boy. It was still hot, tangy and thin, but I loved the taste. After a couple of chips with hot sauce, my lips were burning. What had changed over the years, however, were the chips. They were terrible. I remember the chips from many years ago because they were thin, crisp, light and exceptionally crunchy. They were also in the shape of triangles from the round corn tortillas that were cut into eighths or so. Unfortunately, these chips were just abysmal. It struck me as though they were the broken pieces of taco salad bowl shells that needed to be used before the shelf life expired. The chips were ranging in size from pea sized to large planks. Some were hard and chewy while others were almost wafer like. The consistency was simply not there and they lacked anything resembling freshness.

I tried the salsa and I give Tee Pee props for a job well done on the mix. The veggies were fresh and I loved the fact that the chopped scallions were still crunchy. I also liked that they added green chiles to the mix for a bit of added flavor. If only the chips had been as fresh or flavorful as the hot sauce and salsa.

My server returned with my soda and took my order. I decided to go with something simple, so I ordered the Tee Pee Daily Special ($8.00) which featured a ground beef taco, a bean tostada and a cheese enchilada. My server indicated that my Cheese Crisp was just about ready and he would return shortly.

He was right because I had barely had a few sips of my soda before he returned with a raised serving frame and my cheese crisp. I grabbed a piece of the disc and slathered it in hot sauce. I was quite pleased with the result. The cheese crisp was indeed crisp and the kitchen hadn’t skimped on the cheese. It had been spread out to the very edge of the tortilla and there was some nice indications of browning both on the cheese and the underside of the tortilla. This was a very good cheese crisp, but I noticed it was a much better companion with the hot sauce than the salsa.

As I waited for my entree, I noticed the interior of Tee Pee hasn’t changed that much since my childhood. They still had the same artwork and the small shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe. What did get me was the big plaque and framed newspaper article adorning the booth where President Bush ingested his two cheese enchiladas, rice and beans. The couple sitting there seemed more amused than anything else about their location and I giggled when one of the couple said, “Oh, I was hoping we would get the Dick Cheney booth.”

My Tee Pee Daily Special arrived and the plate was not just hot, it was nuclear. The cheese and sauce on the enchilada had the temperature of molten lead, but I found this to be a positive because that meant the food would not get cold as I progressed through my meal. I started with the Ground Beef Taco. While the taste was fine, the taco shell was not crisp, but chewy. I was making a tearing motion with the taco to break part of it off with my teeth. The ground beef was good and substantial. The lettuce was, thankfully, not soaking wet and there was plenty of cheese. But I disliked the shell. The first thing that crossed my mind was a freshness issue with the tortilla. Disappointing, to say the least.

The tostada, on the other hand, was very good. The tortilla was thin and crisp and the beans had quite a bit of flavor. Like the taco, there was a fair amount of cheese and lettuce. I found this to be the standout on the plate.

The cheese enchilada was still bubbling around the edges by the time I got to it. I noticed the cheese had cooked into an almost gelatin-like formation with a bit of crust around the edge. That was the good part. The sauce was okay, but lacked depth. What ruined the enchilada, however, was the tortilla. Again, it suffered from a freshness issue. It seemed almost gummy. I am sure it had some flavor, but the texture was such a distraction that I left half of it on my plate, picking the cheese out to eat.

When I had finished, I was full, mostly from the cheese crisp. The bowl of chips, which normally would have been emptied several times over, was more than half full. My server brought me my check and the total was $16.49 including tax. The service was efficient and friendly.

For the third time in a row, I left Tee Pee disappointed. There were some high points to my meal, but the freshness issue on something as basic as a tortilla was troubling to me. Sure, the tortillas on the tostada and cheese crisp were good, but then that suggests a consistency problem in the kitchen. It all seemed to be lacking from what I remember as a kid when Tee Pee was the first place I would name when my parents asked where we wanted to go for dinner.

Perhaps it has changed and has lost it luster from the glory days of the 70s and 80s.

Or, maybe my childhood palate just didn’t know any better.

Tee Pee Mexican Food
4144 East Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85018
Dress: Casual
Hours: Monday through Saturday – 11 AM to 10 PM; Sunday – 11 AM to 9 PM
Website: www.teepeemexicanfood.com