Tio’s Latin American Kitchen opening 2nd location in Bluffton. Here are the details
Read more here: https://www.islandpacket.com/article248150800.html#storylink=cpy
Tio’s Latin American Kitchen is coming to Bluffton.
The restaurant has become a fixture at Shelter Cove Towne Centre on Hilton Head over the last several years, and its owners, Chef Lynden Zuniga and Sally Zuniga, are putting the finishing touches on a new Bluffton location.
“We are going to open as soon as possible,” Sally Zuniga said, “hopefully in the next month.”
Sally Zuniga said the couple signed a lease agreement for the space in 2019 and intended to be open before now, but COVID-19 slowed their plans.
“We really wanted to be in Bluffton,” she said. “It was our plan from the beginning.”
Tio’s first opened on the north end of Hilton Head in 2017 before moving to a larger, 4,000-square-foot space at Shelter Cove Towne Centre in 2019. Prior to opening his own restaurant, Lynden Zuniga worked as a chef in several SERG group restaurants, including Skull Creek Boathouse.
The Bluffton Tio’s will feature an open kitchen.
“The kitchen will be front and center of the restaurant,” Sally Zuniga said. “You are going to be able to sit around the kitchen.”
Those who love the look of the Hilton Head location likely will feel at home in the new space. The young artist who painted a mural at the Hilton Head location, Charlotte Ofee, also is creating one for the Bluffton restaurant.
Sally Zuniga described the overall decor as “rustic industrial.”
The Bluffton restaurant will be furnished similarly to the one on Hilton Head, with an eclectic mix of tables and chairs purchased from local resale shops setting the tone.
“I think there’s a coziness to having a family table at a restaurant,” Sally Zuniga explained.
The restaurant also will offer takeout and outdoor seating for those who are uncomfortable dining indoors during the coronavirus pandemic.
THE MENU
The menu at the Bluffton location will be the same as the one on Hilton Head, at least at the beginning. However, the Zunigas plan to let the new restaurant’s menu “evolve” with the wishes of their Bluffton clientele.
Lynden Zuniga was born in Honduras and moved to the United States when he was 14. Tio’s menu reflects not only this heritage but also includes dishes from other Latin American countries and Puerto Rico.
Diners will find Argentinian camarones, Mexican enchiladas, Honduran tamales and Cuban ropa vieja tacos among other options on the extensive fusion menu.
The Zunigas not only have a new restaurant, but the parents of three daughters welcomed a baby son in November.
Said Sally Zuniga: “It’s been a real exciting 2020 for our family.”
Read more here: https://www.islandpacket.com/article248150800.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: https://www.islandpacket.com/article248150800.html#storylink=cpy
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