Quick, Casual - And Tasty

(Friday, June 10, 2005) - Greg Cutchall doesn't like the term "quick-casual Mexican," at least not when applied to his latest restaurant venture, Tin Star at Village Pointe. The Tin Star is a quick-casual place, there's no denying that. You get in line and order at the counter. Then you find a seat and wait for the servers to bring your meal. It's not much different from the slew of quick-casual restaurants that have opened in Omaha lately. But Cutchall, who owns several area restaurants, uses the term "Southwestern" when describing the cuisine, a burrito-less menu that includes gourmet tacos, cheeseburger tacos and entrees such as chipotle chicken and sweet and sour salmon. Fajitas, soups and salads and quesadillas round out the offerings, with wine, beer and margaritas available. After ordering, you can grab warm chips and a variety of salsas from the complimentary salad bar-style setup. Tin Star offers 14 varieties of gourmet soft tacos. If, like my wife, you can't make up your mind, you can order a two-taco plate featuring any two varieties for $6.99. She chose the "executive," which featured slices of tender, seasoned steak, crumbled bleu cheese and thin strings of breaded and fried onion. It was covered in shredded lettuce and a fresh tomato salsa. The second taco was one of two seafood varieties. It contained five pieces of tempura shrimp, a bacon strip and a fruit pico, featuring chopped green apple, pineapple and cucumber. The taco was drizzled with a citrus-infused Caribbean sauce. The seafood taco was a nice change of pace, and the mix of sweeter fruit flavors made it more memorable than the "executive," which was tasty but more commonplace. I ordered the spicy chicken pasta ($7.99), lightly seasoned chicken breast on a penne pasta drenched in a spicy Southwestern Alfredo sauce, dusted with grated parmesan cheese. The reddish Alfredo sauce, seasoned with a variety of peppers, had real bite after a couple of mouthfuls, but sides of garlic toast helped leaven the spices. There were a couple of new-restaurant service glitches. Our appetizer, a smoky grilled tomato queso ($3.99), didn't arrive with our food, and we had to ask for it. The children ordered a cheeseburger and macaroni and cheese (both $3.99) off the kids menu, which included a drink and an ice cream dessert. We adults finished with a chocolate eruption cake ($4.99), a large chocolate mousse cake, very sweet. Other desserts include shakes and cookies. The total for the meal was $52.76 before tip. The gourmet tacos, spicy entrees and reasonable prices may help Tin Star wrangle out a niche in Omaha's increasingly crowded quick-casual restaurant scene.
Where: 17151 Davenport St. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays Prices: Appetizers $3.99; entrees $3.99 to $18.99 Alcohol: Beer, margaritas, full bar Payment: Credit cards, no checks Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Smoking section: No
Information: 333-7827

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