Lindon’s OTEO inherits expert flavors of some now-defunct restaurants past
Pork belly tacos at OTEO in Lindon.
Brownie-stuffed churros at OTEO in Lindon.
OTEO's sope de chicharrón.
Th pork belly tacos at OTEO in Lindon.
The creators of Tortilla Bar, a now-defunct Mexican restaurant in Utah County, should start a culinary family tree. A few offshoots have sprung forth from Tortilla Bar over the past few years: da’foco, an incredible food truck in Salt Lake City; masa, a recently closed artisan-type Mexican joint in Lindon; and now OTEO, which is basically masa with a different name.
As I understand it, most of these offshoots started from various fallings out. They’ve all specialized in similar culinary fare, though: adventurous, sometimes high-concept takes on Mexican classics. (And, for some reason, they’ve all used the same font on their storefronts. Go figure.)
Not sure what all the disagreements have been about — I get the sense some of them are hard to work with — but as long as they keep making food the way they do, I’ll follow that trail of breadcrumbs.
I made my way to OTEO last week, somewhat circuitously. At first I stopped by masa, which, to my surprise, had been closed. Then I realized I was actually looking for OTEO. I didn’t have to travel far, though, since OTEO was just across the street. Our waiter confirmed that, yes, some folks from masa had started OTEO. The atmosphere wasn’t quite as nice as masa’s — the former is in a business park, the latter was in its own charming little standalone building. What matters is the food, though. And OTEO delivered.
We started with the fruta, a delicious and beautifully presented fruit salad. This included long, skinny apple shavings with some kind of subtly spicy powder, as well as chunks of pineapple, watermelon and various citruses. I think the fruits had been soaked together for some period of time beforehand, which was awesome. I tasted hints of grapefruit as I bit into a ball of watermelon. More restaurants should do this.
Our fruit adventures continued with a side of platano macho, or seared plantain. These chunks of plantain had a slightly melted feta cheese as well as caramelized marzipan. If you go to OTEO, don’t skip this appetizer.
For our entrees we went with empanadas and sope. OTEO has four different entrees — the aforementioned empanadas and sope, as well as molote (a fried masa dumpling) and tacos — which you can get with hanging beef tender, Niman Ranch pork, organic chicken or avocado. For those unfamiliar, empanadas are basically fluffy fried bread pastries. I’m used to empanadas being sealed up, but these were served open with a tasty mix of tender chicken, lettuce, salsa and jalapeno. The person who accompanied me had a root canal earlier that day, and said the empanadas weren’t an issue — so yeah, really fluffy and tender. Most of the fresh flavors were mild, offset by the strong kick of jalapeno. A great yin-yang for your taste buds.
The sope, a grilled corn cake, was served with hanging beef tender, which was seared and served medium rare. (I’ve said this before, but ALL HAIL MEDIUM RARE MEATS.) This meat took a little more work than the chicken — if you’ve had a root canal the day of your visit, maybe choose another meat; if not, you’re fine.
Besides the fruta, which seemed slightly pricey for a few pieces of fruit ($6.50), everything else has a low price point for how high quality it is. The appetizers are between $3.50 and $8.50, the entrees between $10.50 and $11.50. Between the high-quality food, the price points and the beautiful presentation of the dishes, there’s a lot to love about OTEO. A wonderful experience from a patron’s standpoint. Here’s hoping whatever behind-the-scenes turmoil happened at the restaurant’s previous iterations doesn’t derail the current one.
OTEO
Where: 139 S. State St., Lindon
Prices: Appetizers $3.50-$8.50, entrees $10.50-$11.50
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Sundays
Info: oteolindon.com, facebook.com/oteolindon, (801) 999-0341
Dining
