{"id":112949,"date":"2026-02-13T10:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T10:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/112949\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T10:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T10:21:08","slug":"a-byob-gem-in-upper-darby-tlali-marries-traditional-mexican-recipes-with-contemporary-influences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/112949\/","title":{"rendered":"A BYOB gem in Upper Darby, Tlali marries traditional Mexican recipes with contemporary influences"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is something magical about the mole poblano at Tlali in Upper Darby<\/a>, but it took me a moment to register what it is. <\/p>\n

The Sandoval family\u2019s mole, at first glance, is as deep a brown as any other you might have encountered from the state of Puebla, the result of a blend of dried chilies, fruits, and bittersweet Mexican chocolate. But when I swipe a juicy morsel of prime seared ribeye through the luxuriously dark puree, what I\u2019m struck by is its ethereal lightness, both of the texture and the complexity of flavors. It\u2019s so elegantly balanced, I taste each note \u2014 the smoky dry heat of chipotle meco<\/a> peppers in the background, the fruity sweetness of ripe plantains and raisins, the nutty richness of walnuts and sesame seeds, a whiff of canela and bay leaf \u2014 all flowing into one earthy harmony of measured sweetness and spice. <\/p>\n

What I\u2019m tasting here, in fact, is Alberto Sandoval\u2019s memory as a 10-year-old come to life. He vividly recalls the moment when his mother, Teresa Hernandez, was cooking that same mole for his father\u2019s birthday in San Mateo Ozolco and held up a spoonful for Alberto to see. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour mole has to be this consistency \u2014 really light, not too thick, not too spicy. This is a good mole.”<\/p>\n

Decades later, after a career rising through the ranks of some of Philadelphia\u2019s most vaunted kitchens, including Striped Bass, Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, Le Bec Fin 2.0, Volv\u00e8r, Suraya, and Condesa, he and his brother, Efrain, are leaning into those memories of home for the menu at Tlali. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese recipes represent who we are and where we came from,\u201d says Alberto.<\/p>\n

The base of that mole \u2014 which their mother still makes over the course of two days in Mexico and sends to her sons, who rehydrate and simmer it to completion with chicken stock \u2014 is only the beginning. Everything about this charming 18-seat BYOB the brothers opened in August inside a renovated pizzeria is a tribute to their birthplace in San Mateo Ozolco<\/a>, the tiny town on the side of an active volcano in Puebla from which much of South Philly\u2019s Mexican population immigrated. There\u2019s an image of Popocat\u00e9ptl<\/a>, its volcanic peak ever fuming, depicted on a colorful woven mat that hangs above the open kitchen here. The hand-painted terra cotta ceramics that decorate the walls and deliver the food were all imported from Puebla. <\/p>\n

The brothers have cut no corners in crafting the flavors on this menu, especially with another key building block: the tortillas. They are patiently made from blue and yellow heirloom Mexican corn that\u2019s nixtamalized overnight then ground into fresh masa<\/a>, resulting in pressed tortillas that have a velvety suppleness when cooked to order off the plancha. <\/p>\n

You can taste this in the enmoladas, in which the tortillas are coated in that mole before being folded into half-moon bundles over tender shreds of chicken. The tortilla\u2019s toasty corn flavor also powers the bright orange puree of Tlali\u2019s tortilla soup. They\u2019re fried into shatteringly crisp rounds for antojito starters like the irresistible mashed-to-order guacamole and tostadas topped with chipotle-stewed chicken tinga.<\/p>\n

Those crispy discs also accompany the striking aguachile negro, making the perfect cracker on which to layer slices of raw kanpachi that have been bathed in a spicy brew of citrus and olive oil tinted black with charred habaneros and onions. Scattered with green tufts of cilantro and crunchy matchsticks of radish, it\u2019s the single most refreshing starter on a list of other seafood cocktails that are solid but lack a little spark. A notable exception was Dorito Nayarit, in which poached shrimp striped with Valentina hot sauce and crema are served atop crispy pork belly crackers known as chicharr\u00f3nes preparados. (A tuna tostada topped with a spoonful of frumpy poached tuna salad, though, was the one dish at Tlali where the extra-homey approach left me truly underwhelmed.) <\/p>\n

Tlali, which means \u201cland\u201d in Nahuatl, the indigenous language of Puebla, occupies a simple space on West Chester<\/a> Pike that took a significant investment to completely rehab. It lacks the design frills of the high-style dining rooms where the brothers have largely worked, including Stephen Starr<\/a>\u2019s LMNO, where Alberto is still the chef de cuisine. There is nonetheless a comforting warmth to the pale green walls and natural wood wainscoting in Tlali\u2019s dining room, bolstered by hospitality from the restaurant\u2019s single server, Melanie Ortiz. She deftly sorted out a sticky situation by convincing a couple to move to a two-top after she\u2019d accidentally sat them at the only remaining table reserved for a party of four (which happened to be us). <\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear from the many emails and messages I\u2019ve received since this restaurant opened in Upper Darby \u2014 a multicultural nexus<\/a> of international dining, but not previously known for Mexican food \u2014 that Tlali has a devoted clientele rooting for it to succeed. <\/p>\n

After diving much deeper into the menu, it\u2019s easy to see why. Tlali is in many ways a sequel to the small restaurant the two brothers used to co-own in South Philadelphia<\/a>, La Fonda de Teresita, which closed during the pandemic. But the Sandovals have both since continued to grow as chefs and have taken their pursuit of family flavors to the next level. That includes a tribute to their father, Don Guero, who ran a taqueria in Mexico City by the same name where Alberto got his first taste of kitchen life as a teen mincing mountains of onions and cilantro. <\/p>\n

Don Guero\u2019s recipe for Chilango-style carnitas \u2014 whose pork belly and shoulder are simmered for hours in a large copper cazo pot bubbling with lard, orange juice, Coca-Cola, and herbs \u2014 produces meltingly soft, flavorful carnitas that are among the best I\u2019ve had. But even that takes second place to the al pastor, a vertical spit of stacked pork shoulder marinated with three kinds of chilies, pineapple juice, achiote, and bay leaves; the pork roasts on a turning trompo fueled by real fire that flows through the perforated bricks that Don Guero himself gifted them from Mexico shortly before he died two years ago. The family taqueria lives on here.<\/p>\n

The entree section of the menu noted as \u201cPlatos de Ozolco\u201d offers a handful of other standout dishes that showcase the brothers\u2019 hometown flavors in both traditional and modern ways. I was especially fond of the classic mixiote: When the maguey leaf-wrapped bundle of steamed chicken rubbed in adobo spice was cut open tableside, the fragrant cloud of guajillo-scented steam that enveloped us brought me straight back to my own 2023 visit to San Mateo<\/a> with chef Dionicio Jim\u00e9nez of Cantina La Martina, where mixiote was the first thing we were served at his mother\u2019s home \u2014 the ultimate dish to welcome a special guest. <\/p>\n

I was also intrigued to see Alberto and Efrain stretch their chef chops to re-interpret traditional flavors in inventive ways. That includes the michmole, which steeps a dried fish from Puebla in a tomatillo-chili salsa for deep marine flavor, then discards the bony remains for a golden sauce that gets topped with nopales and a gorgeous fillet of pan-roasted branzino (also lightly brined) to retain just enough of the traditional dish\u2019s brackish edge. <\/p>\n

Another distinctive offering pairs the chefs\u2019 love of fresh pasta with head-on shrimp and a zesty rag\u00f9 of house chorizo simmered in a lightly creamed chipotle salsa. It\u2019s a unique dish that bridges the Sandoval brothers\u2019 origin story with their current status as longtime contributors to Philadelphia\u2019s contemporary dining scene. As they continue to grow their audience in this tiny Upper Darby dining room, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if more such creations appear. <\/p>\n

I have no doubt that those future plates will remain somehow rooted in the memories of their mother\u2019s table in San Mateo Ozolco, which not only give Tlali\u2019s owners a proud reservoir of traditions, but an elusively distinctive and delicate family touch that will always be their own. <\/p>\n

Tlali<\/p>\n

7219 West Chester Pike, Upper Darby Township, 484-466-3593, instagram.com\/tlalirestaurante<\/a><\/p>\n

Full menu served daily, noon to 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

Entrees, $12-$38<\/p>\n

BYOB<\/p>\n

Street parking only. <\/p>\n

Not wheelchair accessible. There are two steps at the entrance and the narrow bathroom is not accessible.<\/p>\n

Almost the entire menu is gluten-free, except for the cemita sandwiches. <\/p>\n

Menu highlights: guacamole; empanadas; alb\u00f3ndigas; sopes; sopa de tortilla; aguachile negro; coctel de campechano (shrimp and octopus); tacos al pastor; carnitas tacos al estilo Chilango; res en mole Poblano; huarache Teresita; mixiotes de pollo; michmole; pappardelle with shrimp en chorizo rag\u00f9. <\/p>\n