I'm not from the area, so it totally baffles me that AZ has so many great restaurants in strip malls. Tapino is one of them.
I didn't sit in the main dining room but at the bar and was very well taken care of by our bartender. We started off with the $5 happy hour menu and then began ordering off the regular menu.
Lobster Corn Dogs - nice sweet crispy crust and sweet lobster mixed with the sweet chili sauce made this taste like dessert. They also came with two other dipping sauces but I was pleased with the first one I tried.
Beef Carpaccio - I'm not a big fan of beef but this was a great dish. The fried capers on top added a nice salty crunchy bite.
Halibut - I love fish and this was a tasty tasty dish.
Grilled Flat Iron Steak w/ Chimmichurri Sauce - Like I said, I'm not a big red meat eater but this one hit the spot as well. The sauce was great. The outside of the meat was salty crisp while the inside was still juicy and tender.
Hummus - I wasn't a huge fan of the hummus. Instead of it being nice and creamy it was quite lumpy and felt a bit like wallpaper paste.
Our bartender kept our wine glasses full and even gave us a free sampling to compare to the wine we were currently drinking. His generosity and knowledge of wines was very appreciated.
When I'm back in the AZ area, I'd definitely come back to try out the rest of the menu.