tia betty blue's

worth a second, third, fourth, fifth trip. it's hard to decide what to order here. savory (b'fast burrito? eggs w/carne adovada?) or sweet (blue corn waffle boat with fresh fruit and whipped cream)? a tasty and unusual compromise is the blue corn waffle topped with eggs and chile. it's delicious. the tea offerings are good; the water's hot enough, which is unusual; the coffee is great--i love the breve. the only thing i've had for lunch so far is the new mexico po' boy, which has killercarneadovada, fritos, and pickled jalapeños. wicked good. oh, and for people who love soda (i don't), there are more than 100 kinds of bottled soda pop. cute atmosphere, free wi-fi, dog-friendly patio.

authentic, fun, unusual. loved the fun retro coffee house feel. had the blue corn waffle boat with seasonal berries, and lavender whipped cream. it was great and super filling. all for $4! my partner had the huevos con carne, fried eggs one top of a pile of their house made, very hot,carneadovada and beans, papas, and a grilled torilla ($5), with red chile. the red was like my grandmother used to make; meaty, deep, and hot. i had a great latte and my partner had the fresh-squeezed rose water lemonade, which seemed slightly indian.

they only have counter service and the food items are served in baskets or to go.

tia betty's is an odd an fun place; retro 40's new mexican foods, a coffee house vibe, super fast lunch and prices that seem like they are also from the 1940's. what a treasure.

very good homemade food. how do these guys do it? the food is very good and it's cranked out of this small, exposed efficient kitchen. the menu is classic yet adventurous and even healthy if you feel so inclined. great collection of classic new mexican ingredients and fun delicious combinations. one of my favorites is thecarneadovada on the savory blue corn waffle with an egg on top. good coffee and a fun collection of bottled sodas too.

this is excellent made-from-scratch new mexican food with a friendly staff and comfortable setting. we had breakfast and loved thecarneadovada; the red chile rivals our family recipe, delicious.

new mexican food....fast --not!. the ew place, new decor and new signs got my wife and me to try this place since we were in a hurry. the big blue sign on the outside says, "new mexican food ... fast." the line only had 3 people in front of us when we got there... but took 10 minutes to get to our order. got our fountain sodas (vice the high-priced bottles) and immediately noticed they were flat and over-saturated with the flavoring. the gal in the kitchen took them back to refill them after she changed the co2 bottle. 5 minutes later she came back and offered a bottled soda because they were out of co2. ok, not so bad. however 30 minutes later, we still had no food. i stuck my head in the kitchen and asked where our order was and she said it was up next (despite having the people that were 5 folks behind us in the line already eating their meals). so, i asked for it to go. 5 minutes later, we finally got our food. i dropped her off at work and i went back to mine and wouldn't you know, my wife sends me a text saying she must've grabbed my food cause she got what i ordered... nope, i got mine... they just made 2 identical boxes of food despite my wife special ordering completely different with their gluten free chili and no cheese. so, there... i tried it and will never be back. 50 minutes is not fast and the only flavor in the food was the fritos and overpowering paprika of thecarneasada.

thecarnehot dog and soda. i was so thrilled to get a faygo rock-n-rye soda...talk about a blast from my childhood. that was great; many other good choices as well. i had the carne-adovado dog. i belive that this is the best choice on the menu. the dogs-more than one; were sliced in such a great way that i had hotdog and chile in every bite from beginning to end. okay, i feel like i am writing for a hot dog stand. my partner got the huevos. this huevos had an egg that was cooked to perfection. this dish was said to come with jicama slaw. perhaps a good thing that it didn't.

check your take out orders!. i ordered a "big burrito" to take home because i was mighty hungry and figured this was the best route to try the red chili and thecarneadovada. at first glance the burrito looked great but in truth it was a tortilla stuffed with mostly lettuce, a few tomatoes, fine dice onions, pickled jalapenos and a miniscule ammount of potatoes and beans. i dug through the steaming, wilted mess in vain but found nocarneadovada (which was listed on the menu as an ingredient in my burrito). i understand that mistakes happen but you can never make a second first impression.the red chili used to smother the burrito was pretty good, but not as a salad dressing. sorry guys.

my new favorite. on the first visit i had a simple, but very large (24 oz) bowl of beans with the best, most complex, pork-based red chile that i have had in a very long time, and a grilled-until-crispy tortilla. it was intensely satisfying yet simple. i drank a tart class of hibiscus flower iced tea. the entree was under $5 and the tea about $3.

on the second visit i had to try to nm po'boy. it consisted of home madecarneadovada (all shredded, no white clumps of dry meat), fritos, cheese, pickled jalapenos, and red chile in a house made 12" loaf. it was indeed amazing. very spicy, crunchy, and sour, all at once. it came with raw jicama and carrot sticks with a fresh lime wedge and a sprinkle of chile powder. i drank an abita root beer from new orleans, one of their 100 or so vintage and odd ball sodas.

i would have to caution that this place, or at least the nm food selection, is probably best appreciated by those accustomed to eating foods in the spicy to very spicy range. i would rate the "heat" of their red chile andcarneadovada as being in the upper 10% of new mexican restaurants that i have tried, something like sadie's, maybe slightly hotter, and more complex.

there is only counter service here, no waiters, which makes the whole experience very easy on the wallet and the food appear very quickly.

they open early and function as a coffee house but i've only tried lunch so far.

tia betty prepares authentic new mexican cuisine in-house includingcarneadovada prepared daily, atole (a sweet-hot blue corn porridge seasoned with cinnamon) and large (24-ounce) bowls of frijoles or posole for hearty eaters. the frijoles are new mexican pinto beans slow-cooked with salt-cured pork and topped with fiesta green chile or tia’s housemade red chile.