Tio’s

Tio’s Tacos is not only a great Mexican Restaurant, but an incredible folk art site as well! This Riverside, California site is filled with an exceptional number of extraordinarily imaginative sculptures, structures and humorous assemblages. Martin Sanchez told me that “Yo construí mi sueño” (I built my dream) when I asked him what inspired him to create the garden environment surrounding his restaurant. Explaining how he grew up extremely poor in Mexico and how when he arrived in America, he witnessed the incredible amount of good things disposed of by Americans he was inspired to put them to use. Being further inspired from his vivid dreams he set about constructing them as they began to unfold. For the past 17 years he hasn’t thrown anything away, instead being inspired to utilize all of the material generated by both his family and restaurant patrons in his ongoing works. Below are some of his works in the gardens.