Dine & Dash: tacos and popsicles 🍽
Tommy's Tacos makes a strong case for adobada and mole plates; Frios Gourmet Pops takes a craft ice cream approach to popsicles with fun, bright flavors
Tommy’s Tacos
Located near the Nevada Avenue and Fillmore Street intersection, Tommy’s opened around a month and a half ago. A staffer tells us it’s the continuation of a business that moved from Arizona which operated for more than 10 years. (I later find this Springs Magazine writeup, partly quoting an owner named Yesenia, which notes both a prior restaurant and food truck, fueled by family recipes dating back three generations.)
All that explains why the place exudes a comfortable, established vibe despite being so new. They appear already settled in and easily commanding the flow of things, including takeout and delivery services. The place is colorful, clean and bright with an open kitchen behind the order counter. Even the bathroom’s spotless. The dining room is small; the menu’s big. The staff is beyond nice and helpful.
While we’re deciding what to order last Friday evening, we’re handed a sample of champurrado, a piloncillo-sweetened Mexican hot chocolate made with masa. It’s wonderful on a cold night and I’m glad to try it, but I’m not craving drinking a whole cup of it with my dinner. (Maybe grab one to-go as dessert?) Instead, I ask for a tall jamaica (hibiscus tea) that’s thankfully not too sweet and quite refreshing paired with the spicy food that’s ahead for us.
That spiciness comes thanks to my visit to the salsa bar, with five salsas that are uniquely vibrant and overall fantastic. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy any one of them in a bottle would that they offered it. I didn’t ask the individual makeup of each one by way of chile blends, etc., so I enjoy sampling blissfully blind to what’s what. The staff drops us a basket of chips to dip in the salsas as we await our food. I rate everything medium to pretty smokin’ hot, writing “not gringo nonsense sauces” into my phone as a note to self.
In addition to the birria, carnitas, carne asada and adobada tacos pictured above ($3.15-$3.50 each) we get Tommy’s mole plate ($15.49) that comes with rice and your choice of corn or flour tortillas. For no good reason other than taco distraction and the culmination of a long work week, I neglect taking a photo of the mole plate. So hopefully my description below affords you a mental image.
Starting with that mole, I’d rank it among the top locally, handily winning us over within two bites. I immediately like that it’s not overly sweet (like some of the lamest renditions I’ve had) with any excessive notes from commercial Mexican chocolates like Abuelita or Ibarra. (Not saying they don’t use one of them — I don’t know — but they certainly don’t use too much of one of them, if so.) And I like that there’s not too much clove or anise amidst the bouquet of spices and earthy chiles.
The word is balanced: the mole is balanced. And beautiful. There’s a backbone of heat, but not really spiciness. It tastes muddy in a good way. The pair of chicken drumsticks central to the dish are tender and steamy inside, plated appropriately hot and smothered in the good, dark sauce. Our Mexican rice on the side is plump and well seasoned, not an afterthought, but part of the dish’s harmony.
Back to the tacos: they arrive in double-layered tortillas as naked proteins. Grab a tangle of cilantro and good scoop of diced white onions from the salsa bar for garnish if you know what’s good for you. And go ham with the salsas, pairing each with whatever your intuition tells you. No matter how I dipped and doused I created no wrong in my mouth. It’s like when a teacher, to encourage a discussion, tells a class there’s no stupid questions. Well, here I couldn’t find a wrong pairing no matter how haphazard and capricious I was. (Like I said, it was a long week.)
Of the four, for my tastes, I can only make suggestions for improvement on the carnitas (needs more crisping) and carne asada (needs more charring). Still, the meat’s chewy and satisfying. But the birria’s awesome, shredded and juicy with the inherent flavors of its consommé. And the adobada proves infallible, edging into pastor territory almost with fruity red chile essence coating the nicely seared pork bits. If you opted for a single-meat burrito from the menu, this would be the protein to choose.
I’m genuinely excited for more dining down the road at Tommy’s based on this pretty stellar introduction. They defied my expectations.
Frios Gourmet Pops
After leaving the Army as a disabled veteran, Eric Signor went through an entrepreneurship program offered by the VA. His mentor supplied him with a list of potential franchises that might be a good fit for him, as he was looking to do something in addition to his day job in cybersecurity. Frios Gourmet Pops caught his eye as a flexible work option with a cool product (no pun intended).
“I liked their grassroots philosophy and focus on community, plus popsicles are fun,” he tells me. In November 2024 he signed a franchisee agreement with the Mobile, Alabama-based company (founded in 2013), and by spring 2025 he was in full swing vending Frios pops at events around town.
Wherever you might find him you can expect upwards of 25-30 flavor options composed of bestsellers, monthly rotators and seasonal specials. That includes dairy-free fruit flavors, protein-enhanced pops and some lower sugar options (plus one no-sugar, pickle-flavored pop). “There’s truly a pop for everyone,” Signor says. “And there’s not a single bland flavor. Sometimes when people think of a popsicle they think of a cheap Otter Pop, but when people bite these they tend say ‘wow this tastes like real ice cream.’”
Signor’s personal favorites are the key lime pie, cookie dough and root beer float. “The key lime pie has such a punch; it tastes better than some actual pies I’ve had. The root beer float tastes just like an A&W Root Beer.”
Some flavors are super minimalist, like a three-ingredient watermelon flavor, while others like the cookie dough have an expansive ingredient list that includes food dyes and preservatives, which makes the claim on Frios’ homepage that their pops “are made with REAL ingredients - no science experiments” a bit disingenuous.
It’s your dessert: choose wisely.
We go for seasonal pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate dipped cold brew flavors ($5 each). They’re both delightful, the first one being rich and laced with baking spices and graham cracker hints. The latter is hard to put down and not wolf down, as you crunch through a dark chocolate jacket to the coffee-strong cold brew core. It’s like you can have your mocha and eat it too.
That’s in line with Frios’ and Signor’s mission to spread happiness. He notes he’s wanting to build strong local ties with his franchise and do as many give backs as he can to nonprofits and schools and such. Last year, despite just starting, he was able to gift more than $4,000 he says. “I want to build a brand that people can get behind,” he says.
If you don’t want to wait for an event or chance encounter to try Frios, you can find pops available in a cooler at Crazee Craves candy shop in Old Colorado City. And you can order direct online for home delivery, with no minimums, just a delivery charge.