Tucos Wine Market and Cafe

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Location
130 G Street at the south end of the building
Hours
Sun-Thu 11:30AM-9:00PM
Fri-Sat 11:30AM-10:00PM
Phone
(530)757-6600
Website
[WWW]Tucos.org
Email
<tucos AT sbcglobal DOT net>
Menu
Club Tucos

Since 2004, Tucos Wine Market & Cafe has been hand picking a dream team of some the finest food and wine producers in the world, many of whom are our neighbors here in Northern California, such as:

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Our menus and recipes are driven by these world-class ingredients: real food without too much fuss or pretense, but with lots of pride and creativity, and a goal of delivering flavors and textures that make it an event. Our retail market allows you to take these products home and recreate these experiences for yourself.

Too good to be true? Where did NY Times best selling food writer, [WWW]Michael Pollan, eat after his recent sold out lecture at The Mondavi Center? Tucos. Who served lunch to the visiting culinary students from [WWW]Slow Food's University of Gastronomic Sciences (an International powerhouse on world food)? Tucos. Who served lunch at Community Alliance of Family Farmers’ (CAFF) groundbreaking workshops, featured in the NY Times for changing the food served at some of the nation’s largest institutional kitchens? Tucos. If you still don’t believe us, come see for yourself.

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Older Reviews

Current Reviews

2008-01-14 23:48:39   I love Tucos. At my last visit Celvin provided prompt and professional service. While dining, we enjoyed the polenta with stewed bison which was to die for. The suggested wines paired perfectly with the creaminess of the polenta and the texture of the bison. A little bit pricey but well worth it. Can't wait until my next visit. Thanks Tucos, you guys rock!!!! —dunaneer

2008-01-20 22:55:48   I really enjoy this place. They have great food, and really nice staff. I ordered a glass of champagne that seemed to be a bit flat, but the waiter quickly opened a new bottle and poured me a new glass with a smile. This restaurant is a touch of Napa in our own little town! —Dr.Lindsay

2008-03-31 16:05:12   Probably my favorite place in Davis! Not inexpensive but it always delivers. We often get an appetizer to split with a shot of soup and a small course. Plenty to enjoy....with a glass of wine of course. The service is always on spot and the food delicious. —LokiAbbi

2008-04-14 15:23:19   Hands down, best restaurant in Davis. If you're into great local, fresh cuisine... this is your place. Great service and atmosphere... pricy, as expected, but it's worth every cent. It could easily be mistaken for a great restaurant you would find in San Francisco or a comparable food capital. —SRB

2008-05-07 15:01:14   Scott Lay, you are awesome. —qt123

2008-05-12 09:11:54   After reading these reviews and seeing the prices we expected a lot. First the good: great tucked away atmosphere, the seafood was incredibly fresh (especially for Davis) excellent oysters, crab appetizer was very good (with lots of real and fresh crab), the higher priced wines are quite good. The not so good: way too much butter (on two out of five dishes), boring cocktail sauce (come on do better than ketchup and lemon), lower price wines were hardly palatable (there are lots of pretty good wines that sell for $25-35 in other restaurants, why not serve some of them). We will definitely go back, with lower expectations and probably our own bottle of wine. —ACA

2008-06-06 15:40:25   Took my mom here for lunch one afternoon, service was very friendly and food was fresh and delicious! We sat outside because we had our german shepherd with us and true to their word, they do welcome well behaved dogs, and even brought him a bowl of water! Love the atmosphere, will definitely go back, and the interesting/changing menu is refreshing! —Lia

2008-06-16 08:13:10   Went here for my graduation dinner and thought the food was absolutely fantastic, the best in Davis even. All the chicken and beef are free range, and the produce is very fresh. I split the bison tenderloin and the the tuna Nicoise with my brother and both dishes were very good. I also had a taste of my aunts fish and chips, where the fish came wrapped in a delicious puff pastry. For drinks I had the cashew slushy which was quite tasty (comes from the fruit of the cashew and not the nut). But perhaps the best part was the cherry tart for desert, flaky, tart, sweet and hot topped with cold vanilla ice cream. There was a bit of an incident at the beginning where we made a reservation for 6 people, and they only had 5 chairs available for our table when we arrived. However, it appeared that the owner drove some place and picked up a chair from perhaps his home. Now thats resolving a situation. The service was great, attentive, but not overbearing. Granted, with the smaller portions, you would find it difficult to leave here full without spending at least 35 dollars a person. Yet, for special occasions, this is a little Davis gem. —MattHh

2008-06-28 21:17:16   Tucos was a fun experience, and one of the better places to eat in Davis. I began with a serving of the Cowgirl Creamery cheese "Red Hawk". This cheese, from a creamery in Point Reyes, is truly excellent. It's a hard find in Davis - even the Nugget doesn't carry it. It was served with spiced dried fruit and nuts, a subtle but good olive oil, and some Acme breads from the famous Bay Area bakery that began the California renaissance of artisan breads. Even with my bias aside for the excellent Pt. Reyes cheese, this starter was excellent.

Next, I had a dungeness crab crostini, with a melted cheese over it. This was good - I'm a crab lover - but not as good as it could be. I didn't catch the name of the cheese on the crostini but it was too overpowering. Good crab has a delicate flavor that is all too often crushed in dishes, leaving only a taste indistinguishable from lesser quality.

My entree was the bison stroganoff. The pasta was clearly fresh, likely made at Tucos. The bison itself was excellent - tender, flavorful, not overpowered by too creamy of a sauce. The dish highlighted the bison and fresh pasta, to good effect. However, for a $25 entree (and accounting for how expensive Bison could be) I would expect a little better presentation. The colors were monotonous; even the slightest bit of green from some fresh parsley (or, something more creative) would liven it up a bit.

What made this experience excellent were the wines. I recommended the wine flights - I went for the Old World flight. Two Italian wines, one French, and one Portuguese. All were good, the Portuguese my favorite - long, lingering finish, well-balanced, very viscous. I also has a 2007 Malbec from Mendoza (also recommended).

Overall: The wine and cheese experience was excellent, but the entrees lacked a certain 'pop' I would expect from the prices. That said, much of the prices go towards excellent ingredients in dishes that spotlight their brilliance (minus the crab). 7.9/10. I'll definitely be back. —VinceBuffalo

2008-08-25 17:35:51   Great, period! We have never had a bad meal at Tucos! No one else in Davis is more committed to the support of our local farmer's and incorporates fresh, organic and sustainable local ingredients in such creative and deliciously consistent ways. Simply unique and always mouth-watering! I can't wait to wrap my lips around those rich and tender Cachapas again!—JacquelineClemens

2008-09-08 10:33:10   Tuco's catered a party for me and I couldn't be happier with the whole event. Pru, Tuco's owner, was very easy to work with. The pricing and amounts were just right. Most importantly, the food was amazingly good. All my guests raved about it. As a plus, the table set-up was beautiful. I also felt good about working with a locally-owned restaurant that buys from local farmers and supports Slow Food principles. If I cater a party again, I'll call Tuco's. —SuzanneM

2008-09-28 00:47:30   Food was great, service was TERRIBLE, and the wine selection was only OK. Extremely overpriced for the portion size. We definitely left still feeling hungry after spending almost $100 for 2 people. —amryan1

2008-10-24 14:51:37   Hands down my favorite place in Davis in terms of the food quality. I have enjoyed pretty much all the dishes I have had there and have taken many outside visitors there to showcase good food in Davis. —JonathanEisen

2008-11-06 15:00:33   Tucos is a good little place that could be made a lot better with some consistency. It's so nice to find a new place to like, and sad when you end up disappointed.

Our first visit was for lunch, and we were pleasantly surprised. After a vacation of mostly "corporate" (read flavorless) food, it was very nice to have something that had a taste to it. The crab melt sandwich and the pulled pork sandwich were tasty. The salad greens on the side could have used a little more dressing, but we didn't ask so I can't complain. And, the coffee was fantastic.

A week or two later, we decided to try dinner. The crab & cheese bruschetta had a nice flavor, and bison burger was interesting, but the "bacon" on top had no taste at all. Apparently we were spoiled with the service at lunch because this time, even though there were only two other occupied tables, the server spent more time chatting with his buddies and ignoring us (whatever happened to "how is everything"?). Overall disappointing.

OK, lunch was good, so we went back for lunch the next day. We noticed plantains on the menu the last time, so we thought we'd try that. Sorry, the plantains are not ripe. OK, well that crab sandwich was good, let's have that. Sorry, we just sold the last one. On a Wednesday afternoon. At 1pm. The table next to us was equally disappointed at the lack of crab that day. We were starting to feel like we were in the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch.

We opted to give the bison burger another chance. Just OK, again. Question: does a tomato and onion make it a "dinner item", because last night it was there and today it's not.

Also ordered the pulled pork sandwich again, and apparently they were running out of that, too, because you could barely find the pork. The waitress offered to bring us some more, but we had to leave. She did discount our check, which I thought was nice.

After one good experience out of three, we probably won't go back again, simply because for the price I expect consistent service and food. Actually, not too much to ask at any price point. —RobW

2008-11-07 09:18:26   I am surprised about RobW comments on consistency. I probably go to Tuco's 3-4 times a month. Sometimes for dinner and mostly for lunch. I have always had great service and great food. I recently went there with a couple of co-workers who have not been there before. They both loved it. One person had the latino combo, the other had the pulled pork sandwhich and I had the crab sandwhich. I thought the crab sandwhich was very good and not lacking at all. More crab would have made it too rich.

I have to admit that I am most fond of their salads and soup. They are all good and it is great to have a shot of soup because it is always so yummy. —LokiAbbi

2008-12-11 20:31:42   I absolutely love Tucos and go there every chance I get. The food has always (consistently) been amazing. Definitely the place to go in Davis for an excellent meal with excellent atmosphere. Also, I have been reading the Tucos reviews for years now and have always been perplexed by the the posts of people leaving hungry. Who are these o'beast people? I am a 200 lbs guy that grew up on a farm in the midwest - we know how to put away the food - and I have never left hungry. Maybe this problem has more to do with the obesity epidemic in America than with Tucos's portion size...which I think is a great value. —WalleyWorld

2009-02-09 17:52:09   I visited Tucos for the first time today. The crab sandwich was delicious!! I'll definitely be back to try some of the other items on the menu. —davis.renter

2009-02-23 12:54:27   Interesting review by the Sacramento Bee this weekend...loved the food and ambience but hated the service. He specifically called out the male waiter with the pony tail. I have always had great service here, but have not had that particular waiter. —LokiAbbi

2009-06-15 18:02:44   Gossip aside, Tuco's is one of my favorite restaurants in Davis. I have been maybe a dozen times now and never once have I ordered or tried something I didn't find excellent. I'm not big on wine, but the beer selection always pleases me. Service has always been exemplary as well.

Great restaurant for a date. —JamesWaterhouse

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