Tula's Kitchen & Cocktails

Opening less than 1 month ago, I have been looking forward to dining in here :) The location is great, right off 125 and Jefferson. And the restaurant is beautiful inside and out! The menu, ambiance, and service is consistent with the Paseo location. I thought it was thoughtful and unique to have outlets right next to each table. I could see this extremely convenient for a work meeting, charging personal devices and more! Disappointed with how loud the restaurant was. It was hard to communicate with our waitress and enjoy a conversation.

Tula's is a nice new spot to visit off of I-25. I have no doubt that it will take on some popularity as causal spot for lunch and dinner. The interior is really nice and new giving a family dinner/kitchen kind of vibe. There's a lot of comfy booths available for seating. Off to the the right of the entrance is a bar with plenty of seating if you are just dropping in for a quick drink. I came for lunch and it was a bit loud with a lot of hustle and bustle. I imagine, not every day is super busy and loud though. The green chile cheddar biscuits that are complimentary to each table, are bomb. I looked for them on the menu, and you will not find them! LOL A bunch of different items were ordered at our table. The mac and cheese, chicken tenders, a chicken sandwich, the kebobs and a ceasar salad with salmon (that was mine) made it to our table. Nothing was really stellar. (I didn't even bother to take any pictures when all the food arrived!) My ceasar salad lacked flavor in the dressing. The croutons were just really hard and not seasoned, but the salmon was cooked great.Overall, Tula's was just OK in my book. I bet I'll be back at some point.

Had been to the other Tulas for the first time a few weeks ago. Kind of opposite. As I sit w hubby no one has even acknowledged our presence. Yes it's new, but... I guess our server just started work shift. Not his fault. Seems to be a lot of hustling with no action by staff. There is a woman with dark hair in a bob cut that just seems trying to look busy. Meanwhile, wait staff hard to find. They need a tune up. Kudos to Jake our server. I could tell he got it. I would come back and let's hope they grow into this spot.

Great second location! Lots bigger and I appreciate table service (ordering from your table). Very clean and welcoming space. Broad menu options. I had the prime rib sandwich and it was very tasty. Everyone in my party was happy with thier orders and quality of food and service. It was a Friday night and the place was busy but our wait wasn't long. Nice big round booths for larger parties.

Oh boy - every bit as good as the original Tula's Kitchen up on Paseo, but larger. The interior really feels the same - vibrant yet casual. (One thing that I noticed was that the new location is _slightly_ quieter when handling a capacity crowd; the original Paseo location is cacophonous much of the time.)And you'll find a capacity crowd: both times I've visited Tula's Kitchen & Cocktails on the I-25 frontage road, it's been standing room only. Today my friend and I were smart and got there right at the 11a opening. Seated right away and immediatly addressed by a terrific server (thanks, Austin!), we had our food in minutes. So fast, in fact, that the green chile biscuit lagniappe (same as at the other location) arrived a few minutes after our food. (As with the other location, expect a manager to visit your table to check on how everything is - these folks are professionals.)Getting back to capacity, when my friend and I left at 12p, every seat was taken - the waiting area was filled to capacity and people were standing waiting to be seated. Judging from the professionalism of the staff, I'm sure they didn't wait long (we were among the first tables to turn, being almost the first to arrive) - but if you can get there early or hold off just a bit to not arrive at peak times, it might be best. Food was every bit as good (which is to say, excellent) as at the original Tula's on Paseo. There's a reason the crowd is here. I had the (5) chicken strips with quinoa salad, and the chicken arrived piping hot and full of flavor, crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside - very delicious. And the quinoa salad is a great side. I'm a big eater and I went away full. Anyhow, the Tula's (Dion's) folks have done it again - this place appears to be even more popular than the stellar original due to its more central location. If you're in the area at lunchtime, you won't regret my advice to come on in!

Dined here tonight with friend. The restaurant is beautiful. No complaints about the service. However my dinner salad was very bland ... a large dollop of dull chicken salad on vast amount of romaine lettuce. I will give it another try, but wonder what I should have ordered instead.

Enjoyed Tulas new restaurant and friendly service and people, new nicely designed restaurant decorated with comfy booths and blue turquoise natural colors in a open bright space with a mixed American classics food menu with a bit of everything from prime rib roast beef steaks to chicken tenders, the bar has many drinks under $12 -15, I'll try there Mac cheese a popular side dish was sold out but have other sides like chicken greenchili stew, salads, tots, great friendly staff with a hard working crew

Excellent food. Wonderful staff. Fine beverages. Great environment with fantastic remodeling. Lots of space and reasonably quiet ( good place for having a conversation). This, just like Tula's on Paseo is a WINNER & KEEPER!!!!

I had heard such good things about the food at Tula's which is owned by Dion's. I met my sister there for cocktails and dinner. We sat at the bar. This is the old Nick & Jimmy's for those familiar with the building. They completely opened up the bar to the dining room so it is extremely noisy. I don't imagine this would be very pleasant for someone with hearing aids that pick up background noise. The bar is some type of white Formica looking material with veins of gray. This wouldn't necessarily be so offensive except that the lighting in the entire restaurant is bright, bright white. There are bright white ring light fixtures hanging over the bar and bright white globes everywhere. Do they make 200 watt bulbs? If they do, I think Tula's has purchased them. No warm bulbs here and for sure no romantic lighting. The lighting reminded me of Furr's Cafeteria or some such establishment. I would refer them to Oldner Lighting in Albuquerque to fix their lighting. I have no personal experience or affiliation with this company but I have heard very good things about them and I'm sure Tula's atmosphere could be quite lovely with nice lighting. The walls are painted a slate blue which is very pretty and would lend itself nicely to warmth. I was tempted to get my sunglasses. The bartender made me a very nice martini which helped me last as long as I did. Also, I was looking forward to the prime rib which my sister and I both ordered. The prime rib (requested medium), came out pretty rare looking and we asked if we could have it medium. The server brought them back to the kitchen and were promptly returned to us along with the manager, Desiree. She explained to us that this is how they cook their prime rib and it was indeed medium. I asked if it could be put back on the grill for a few minutes which she declined. She said it wasn't possible to change the temperature. Honestly, I have eaten a lot of prime rib in my life and it has always been presented at my requested temperature. Perhaps they have no grill. She did offer to replace the prime rib with another cut of beef, but that wasn't what I was interested in. My sister was starving and salivating, but I was over it at this point after sitting under interrogation lights. We ended up leaving and had a nice dinner at M'Tucci's a few doors down. Of course, it wasn't the prime rib we had been craving. And I think my sister has forgiven me.