Tio Leo’s will close it’s doors this Saturday, August 30th. After 26 years, arguably the best Mexican Food in Mira Mesa will be closed for good to make way for a new Walgreens. This gives us only a few days left to enjoy the enchiladas, consume the carnitas, and taste the tacos that have been a Mira Mesa favorite for so long. Grab your friends for that last round of Karaoke and cocktails, and say goodbye to the friendly staff at Tio Leo’s. You will be greatly missed.
Popularity: 27% [?]
August 26th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
What a terrible mistake! We love Tio Leo’s!
Why do we need a Walgreen’s across the street from CVS?
BAD DECISION. We will be driving to Morena Blvd for our favorite Mexican food and to hear SideJobz play their great rock n roll.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
My husband and I have lived in Mira Mesa for 23 years and many days of those years were spent at Tio Leo’s especially on Super Bowl Sundays, where the staff was so friendly and the food Oh, So GOOD! I cannot believe we have lost another great restaurant (anyone remember Sizzlers and Coco’s and and and?)…A great family restaurant will be greatly missed!
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:13 am
We went to Tio Leo’s almost every Friday for the last 20 years. I would rather have it replaced by another nice dining place like Dave & Busters, etc. Walgreens is a BIG mistake. We don’t need another pharmacy in that area. Why do we need to litter Mira Mesa with Walgreen shopping carts. Now central Mira Mesa will be teeming with Walgreens shopping carts all over the neighborhood. Walgreens better have a shopping cart control system. Now, Wendy’s closed also. I knew that was going to happen because of the homeless people frequenting that area. I didn’t want to go there because of the homeless people staring at you while you dined. Shopping carts littered in Mira Mesa means more homeless people feeling at home, folks. The mayor should provide shelter for these people in Downtown SD and now they are all over the San Diego. Yes, I remembered the Acapulcos, Sizzlers, Coco’s, Carrows, Tony Romas, Church’s Chicken, Farrells, Burger King, etc. We are losing what Mira Mesa is known for!!! An endless array of restaurants. Wendy’s should be replaced by Weinershnitzel. Hey, how can we oppose the opening of Walgreens here in Mira Mesa?
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:13 am
I didn’t eat at Tio Leo’s all that much, but I’m really disappointed to hear about another long time place with a local feel get replace by yet another chain store. At least it’s not yet another bank though. Mira Mesa is becoming too generic. How can we encourage unique businesses to come to Mira Mesa instead of more banks and chain restaurants?
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I was so sad to hear about Tio Leo’s closing! This is my favorite mexican food restaurant and my husband and I have been going there since we first moved to San Diego. The people there were always so friendly and they were part of what made us keep coming back! (not to mention the great food) I’m shocked to hear about their closing and I wish I could have made it there one more time before they were gone.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I agree, why would they put a Walgreens right across from CVS? It seems a little ridiculous to me.
I’ve only been to Tio Leo’s once (and that was last summer with my friends) so I don’t have as many memories as everyone else does, but it still makes me a little sad. Tio Leo’s has been here for as long as I can remember. (Keep in mind, I’m 17. :p)
I also agree with Brian, we need more unique businesses!
My friend and I were just talking a few days ago about how we barely have any businesses in Mira Mesa that isn’t part of a large chain.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:38 am
This is horrible. The property managers are to blame for this crap. Farrell’s lost it’s lease because Citibank offered to pay so much more. Last I checked, Citibank as a whole…not doing so great.
I love Tio Leo’s and even though I didn’t go there too often in recent years…maybe once a year….I counted on that place always being there. They were always busy..that’s for sure. Hands down the best chips and salsa in town.
When a Walgreens goes in, that means your area is officially turning into a ghetto. Mira Mesa pretty much sucks now that Tio Leo’s is gone.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:43 am
BTW, I go way far back. I remember that Acapulcos was ChiChi’s before and that Church’s wasn’t around as long as PicNicNChicken….that where Wings n Things is, was a Swensen’s and next door a Pioneer Chicken. I remember that Carrow’s was nowhere near as good as Allie’s before it and Bob’s Big Boy before THAT. Things change. Alberto’s (whatever it’s called now) originally was EatAFajita and the movie theater it was next to, showed Filipino movies.
September 12th, 2008 at 11:20 am
With the opening of Wal-Ghetto, as nicknamed by many, I predict that Black Angus will close down. Black Angus is now open from 3-10pm. They are no longer open for lunch. With that, I also predict the Red Lobster will move to a better area because the upper-class people who eat there would not want to visit a ghetto area anymore, thus slowing the business down for Red Lobster. I also predict that Walgreens will have a domino-effect on the higher-class restaurants around central Mira Mesa which one-by-one will close down. This will also affect IHOP or will turn IHOP into a ghetto restaurant. I am sorry for being so negative and dark about this but it seems like the world is ending for Mira Mesa with the opening of Walgreens. Who decides which businesses are going to open up in Mira Mesa? This is almost as bad as the Hooters opening up at Rancho Bernardo or maybe even worse.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Mira Mesa is not a getto, while I also hate loseing Tio Leo’s.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
We do have a shopping cart problem in Mira Mesa……our community leadership sucks. The shopping carts, dead or overgrown yards, and the businesses like Tio Leo’s leaving is a sign of bad leadership.
September 20th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Tio Leo’s is being replaced because not enough people went there. There is a taco shop on every corner in San Diego. You can’t miss a place if you do not go there to eat either. And eating there every couple months doesnt count.
And Black Angus and Red Lobster is not where upper class people eat. I can cook better food in my own kitchen. They are a baby step above fast food in quality but then charge as if the foods is edible.
The mira mesa community leadership has nothing to do with mira mesa being a bit of a crap pile. Thats the fault of the type of people living here. Was I the only person who noticed all the foreclosure signs around mira mesa? There’s not much money here and thats why unique businesses will not relocate here. Walgreens is moving in because I’m sure on the short list of businesses who thought they could make money, walgreens has the only chance with their cheap china made merchandise.
Mira Mesa teeters on being ghetto, and if you think I’m wrong let me ask how often you hear a helicopter flying overhead saying to be on the lookout for someone who just committed armed robbery? You don’t get that in nice neighborhoods.
September 21st, 2008 at 12:10 am
Who is in charge of Mira Mesa? The volunteers? Is there a person getting paid to be in charge of MM?
Brian Maienschein is the Councilman for Mira Mesa. What has he done for Mira Mesa?
Read…
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/what_about_brian/5917/
Mira Mesa Issues:
-More abandoned shopping carts
-More beggars on the street islands
-More homeless people
-More litter in the community - shopping bag litter, etc.
-More businesses closing in Mira Mesa
-More day laborers loitering in the Camino Ruiz area
-More crime that are related to vehicle theft
-Grass/weed problems
-Wall problems
-Road surface problems
-Graffiti/gang problems
-Handling vandalized homes due to foreclosure to prevent blight in community
-Police presence and protection
What about Brian?
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/what_about_brian/5917/
Council Members are voted to represent the community on issues. Maienschein was presented with the shopping cart theft and abandonment issue in 2006. To this day, this issue has been going in circles in his department.
One has a better chance with Brian Bilbray, our Congressman in solving issues. Oceanside already adopted a new shopping cart law.
What’s up, Brian? October is coming up, have you got a plan yet from letting the wildfires reach RB, Scripps Ranch and the communities you represent?
Our community needs a good leader who can take action quickly.
Carl DeMaio - as the incoming Council Member, we look forward to you helping Mira Mesa in solving its issues. Assure that you get along with the other Council Members, the Mayor and their constituents, so everything gets approved in your favor quickly and this helps the communities that you represent.
September 21st, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Eric wrote, “The mira mesa community leadership has nothing to do with mira mesa being a bit of a crap pile. Thats the fault of the type of people living here.”
Eric, you are kidding, right? You need a leader and authority to keep a community that has 80,000 people in good order. Mira Mesa, a community (not a city) has probably more people than the city of Poway. Only the Mira Mesa Town Council (MMTC), which is a volunteer organization that works toward the improvement of the Mira Mesa Community has done their best to fix Mira Mesa with the limited authority that is given to them. If the leadership does not have rules in place that control the people and enforce these rules, then that gives the people the opportunity to do what they want because no one is watching them.
Do you know how many times I called the police over the past years to ask them to arrest the shopping cart thieves? We have a mayor who was a former chief of police and laws as simple as the shopping cart theft law are NO LONGER being enforced. Do you know how many times, I want to put the law into my own hands and just yell at these people who steal and abandon carts, then stop those who throw out litter from their cars, shoo away those who loiter and block my way into the business place, then invite the homeless people to ride the bus back to downtown, etc. The LOITERING law is probably no longer being enforced either. There is even a registered sex offender living right next to Ericson Elementary and no one is doing about that. The police is doing the best they can in Mira Mesa with whatever their leaders are telling them to do. Mira Mesa is glad for any police presence and patrolling to keep the community in order.
Mira Mesa needs good leadership and Mira Mesa needs its own small police station near the Fire station. The people of Mira Mesa are generally good and friendly. The ones committing the crimes are the uneducated ones that need to be educated and the leaders need to address this. As citizen, I can’t just go out there and tell the criminal to stop what they are doing. I tried, and they could not understand English. They kept shaking their heads no. Only the leaders can address this and provide interpreters to educate these people.
Believe me, I tried educating them and they can’t understand a word I am saying. Some of these criminals are probably not even from the Mira Mesa because most of Mira Mesa are very friendly people.
September 21st, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Eric wrote, “The mira mesa community leadership has nothing to do with mira mesa being a bit of a crap pile. Thats the fault of the type of people living here.”
Eric, you are kidding, right? You need a leader and authority to keep a community that has 80,000 people in good order. Mira Mesa, a community (not a city) has probably more people than the city of Poway. Only the Mira Mesa Town Council (MMTC), which is a volunteer organization that works toward the improvement of the Mira Mesa Community has done their best to fix Mira Mesa with the limited authority that is given to them. If the leadership does not have rules in place that control the people and enforce these rules, then that gives the people the opportunity to do what they want because no one is watching them.
Do you know how many times I called the police over the past years to ask them to arrest the shopping cart thieves? We have a mayor who was a former chief of police and laws as simple as the shopping cart theft law are NO LONGER being enforced. Do you know how many times, I want to put the law into my own hands and just yell at these people who steal and abandon carts, then stop those who throw out litter from their cars, shoo away those who loiter and block my way into the business place, then invite the homeless people to ride the bus back to downtown, etc. The LOITERING law is probably no longer being enforced either. There is even a registered sex offender living right next to Ericson Elementary and no one is doing about that. The police is doing the best they can in Mira Mesa with whatever their leaders are telling them to do. Mira Mesa is glad for any police presence and patrolling to keep the community in order.
Mira Mesa needs good leadership and Mira Mesa needs its own small police station near the Fire station. The people of Mira Mesa are generally good and friendly. The ones committing the crimes are the uneducated ones that need to be educated and the leaders need to address this. As citizen, I can’t just go out there and tell the criminal to stop what they are doing. I tried, and they could not understand English. They kept shaking their heads no. Only the leaders can address this and provide interpreters to educate these people.
Believe me, I tried educating them and they can’t understand a word I am saying. Some of these criminals are probably not even from the Mira Mesa because most of Mira Mesa are very friendly people.
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Tio Leo’s was the one distinctive anchor in this pavement gauntlet of generic fast food outlets and national chains. Without Tio Leo’s there is zero redeeming value left to this prefab community. Hanging precious banners along the main artery to “build community” is hardly compelling given the state of that community. Fix the decay first, then boast.
The priorities defining a livable community aren’t measured in terms of having plant life in the concrete islands in the middle of Mira Mesa Blvd. Delivering one of the county’s dozen fireworks events also seems somewhat irrelevant; given the state of this community there isn’t money for idle diversions.
I understand the comment about homeless people in the Wendys area. Hadn’t gone to its neighbor Arbys in ages. So a few weeks ago I went there with my four year old son. While we were waiting in the lobby for our order, one of the vagrants who makes regular rounds on Mira Mesa Blvd, the chinless old one with poor posture and a ballcap, was in the bathroom screaming like Linda Blair in the Exorcist. My son was so frightened that to this date he’s afraid to go into the bathroom even in our own home without me walking him to the door. Don’t even get me started on the guy who camps out in front of the post office or Home Depot hustling everyone who walks by. Then there’s “grizzly adams” who stands in the middle of traffic lanes waiting for someone to hit him.
As for the remaining competitors for sit-down mexican restaurants, I refuse to support El Torito or On The Border (or the not-so-far Chevys), corporate America’s delusion as to what southern California’s mexican food might be. The one time I took a date to On The Border, just to check out the new restaurant (at the time), she said it looked like a sissy Hollywood set designer’s version of a mexican restaurant. We need to send these chains to Iowa or Ohio where the midwesterners would accept it as passable mexican food. But here in San Diego? It’s about as passable as a kidney stone.
Walgreens can be sure that with CVS, Longs, and Rite Aid within a mile they’ll never see me darken their door.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I don’t know why Eric and Phil are being so negative about the GOOD things that are in Mira Mesa such as the banners, plant life, fireworks, Black Angus, Red Lobster, On the Borders, El Toritos, etc. Those are NOT the problems. You take them away then there won’t be any good things left.
I support the following:
1) Welcome to Mira Mesa Banners that look new
2) Good plant life in the concrete islands. They should place them all the way to the street light in order to discourage the beggars and the San Diego Union Tribune from peddling there.
3) 4th of July Fireworks and Events - this is what brings the community together to watch the fireworks
4) Black Angus and Red Lobster - sit-down restaurants - these are the only relaxing restaurants for couples that are left in north central Mira Mesa. You take these two away and Mira Mesa becomes a strip mall of fast-food restaurants.
5) El Toritos and On the Borders. On the Borders is founded by an SDSU alumni so this restaurant is as local as you can get.
The issues should be pointed towards those who have the authority to address the following (*cough* mayor, councilman *cough*):
1) Shopping Cart Theft and Abandonment
2) Homeless Issue
3) Concrete Island Peddling
4) Beautification -Litter/Walls/Grass/Weeds/etc.
5) The closing of the businesses due to the bad economy - (all of San Diego is affected by this)
6) Foreclosures - (all of San Diego is affected by this including 4closure Ranch).
There is NOTHING wrong with the community in general. Just go to the Camino Ruiz, Westonhill, Mira Mesa Rec, Wangenheim, Hourglass parks, etc. The people play sports and have picnics there all the time. The people are GREAT!!!! Watch the Monster Manor, Street Fair, 4th of July, etc., the people are great!!! Go to the eateries - the people are great!!!
Remember the 80-20 rule. 80% of Mira Mesa are doing fine. It is the 20% of the people that are causing 80% of the problems - shopping cart thieves, beggars, homeless, peddlers, those who loiter and litter, gangs, criminals, lazy people, etc. And it is hard for me to believe that all the people in Mira Mesa are the ones committing the vehicle theft. Remember that thousands of cars go through Mira Mesa Blvd each day and those cars come from all over San Diego and probably Riverside. As the police is saying, car theft is a crime of opportunity. They see something not protected and the criminals make their move. You can easily spot those people driving around who don’t belong in Mira Mesa because they look different. They look like criminals and they look around too much from their cars as if checking out the neighborhood. People just need to protect themselves with alarms, cameras, etc., know your neighbors and report suspicious activity to the police and neighbors.
And those shopping cart thieves, 50% of those are bus riders outside of Mira Mesa. They abandon their carts in the bus stops. If you notice, there are more shopping carts abandoned during the week than the weekends. That’s because some of those shopping cart thieves are not even from Mira Mesa and are probably working during the week in Mira Mesa. If the police starts arresting/citing the shopping cart thieves like in the 80s and 90s, then this problem would be controlled. As it stands now, the only way to solve this problem is for the city to pick up all the abandoned carts and dump them all in the LANDFILL. Retrieval by the stores would cost $1000 per cart payable to the city. Then Vons, CVS, etc. are going to start to wonder where all their shopping carts went and they are actually going to do something to stop the theft.
About 200-300 students are being bussed into Mira Mesa High School from the inner city. Who are these kids? Where are they from? Are they all good kids or are some of them troublemakers? Are some of them the ones causing the graffiti and vandalism around Mira Mesa?
So you cannot blame all the problems to the Mira Mesa people because I know for a fact when I look at most of them - they are decent - especially those who live in West Mira Mesa. Yes, some areas in the central and east may be questionable. All the parents need to do are watch their children and teens and keep them away from trouble by signing them up in after school activities and youth sports. It is worth the investment than raising a child who is going to get in trouble with the law. There are a LOT of youth activities in Mira Mesa to prevent teen crime. LOTS!!! Mira Mesa High School alone has a ton of clubs to keep every teen busy for a whole year - see http://www.youtube.com/user/miramesahighschool for some sample MMHS activities.
The leader of Mira Mesa, whoever this may be needs to address the REAL issues that are plaguing Mira Mesa.
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Also, you’ve got to remember that Mira Mesa is a major traffic thoroughfare because it is located in the center - see http://www.venere.com/img/hotel/0/2/2/5/225220/image_location_map_connectionbyroad_1.jpg. People go through Mira Mesa to go to Sorrento Valley, Scripps Ranch, Rancho Penasquitos, Miramar, Sabre Springs, I-15, I-805, I-5, etc.
If you look at the Google map, Mira Mesa is densely populated as compared to Poway and Scripps Ranch. Rancho Bernardo is sitting on its own with no major communities surrounding it like Mira Mesa. Therefore, those communities outside of Mira Mesa are NICER because seldom do traffic get directed in their neighborhood. In Mira Mesa, if the Mira Mesa Blvd has a lot of traffic, people know to use the residential streets to get to Sorrento, Black Mountain, Westview, etc. So many of the Mira Mesa residential streets become thoroughfares. So when you compare where someone lives in Scripps Ranch, their residential street may get a few cars going through per day so they will immediately know who does not belong in their neighborhood. In Mira Mesa and the “residential street” that I live in, we get hundreds of cars going through the street each day and the place that I live is very residential. That’s because people are using our street as a shortcut to wherever they are going whether it is freeway 5, 805 or 15 to avoid Mira Mesa Blvd. And who knows which criminal is scoping out our residential street waiting for the perfect moment.
Therefore, it is more than likely that the many crimes that are happening in Mira Mesa are NOT all being committed by Mira Mesa people but are being committed by outsiders who use the surface streets to get to wherever they want to go. This is why the people of Mira Mesa need to protect their homes, cars, etc. I swear when I see the Mira Mesa people, most of them look decent so I really believe that most of the crimes are being committed by outsiders.
Mira Mesa is in the center of it all and Mira Mesa needs help from its leaders!!! The police needs to patrol the areas of Mira Mesa during the day and especially at night!
September 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Oh yes. Check out the crime stats at http://www.sandiego.gov/police/pdf/janjuly08actual.pdf
Check out Mira Mesa and check out La Jolla. La Jolla houses rich people and the crime there is staggering. Do these La Jolla people just love to steal from each other? Many people and tourists from everywhere drive through La Jolla. It would not surprise me if over 90% of the crimes at La Jolla are committed by people who do not live there. In Mira Mesa, I can walk around just about anywhere during the day. There is not a place in Mira Mesa that I would consider scary during the day. While I’ve seen neighborhoods at other places outside of Mira Mesa where I drive around and there are gang members staring at me at the roof of their homes while I wonder if I should duck my head or if I was going to come out of that neighborhood alive. The most glaring obvious crime that I can see being committed in Mira Mesa is shopping cart theft by usually ethnic people who think that if Jo Ho can wheel out a shopping cart from a parking lot and not get in trouble, they can do it too. Give these thieves the fear of being arrested on the spot, handcuffs and all. And the word will spread out in their own language regarding the arrests then watch the community quickly go back to normal.
There is a saying…
“If the laws are not enforced, then expect no order in the community.”