Description
The affable man who owns Tia Maria treats his customers like royalty, which is reason enough to plop your butt down in a cushy booth and spend the afternoon slumped over shots, which he doles out in frequent doses. The tequila syllabus is impressive -- and so are the tasting notes that accompany it -- and the shots pair perfectly with the restaurant's verde, a stinging, savory swamp of garlic, tomatoes, cubed pork and ambrosial chiles that weep with heat. It puddles plates heaped with all the usual suspects, and it also swathes a rotund, pink-fleshed ham hock that may be the best dish on the menu.
