The Commercial Appeal - Go Memphis
Uncle Goyo’s Mexican Restaurant opens in Germantown
The Weekly Dish
Don’t be surprised when you hear music as you walk up to the front door of Uncle Goyo’s Mexican Restaurant. A mariachi band straight from Mexico City is part of the experience you will enjoy at the latest restaurant venture by Taconganas owner Greg Diaz.
Diaz said his goal with Uncle Goyo’s is to provide Memphians an authentic taste of Mexico.
“I have been in America for 32 years. I wish I could have a dollar for every time someone asked me where I can get authentic Mexican food,” Diaz said. “I used to tell them my house (my wife is a wonderful cook) or my mother’s house.”
Now, he can recommend Uncle Goyo’s.
Uncle Goyo’s Mexican Restaurant opened March 5 at 1730 S. Germantown Road in Germantown’s Thornwood development.
“I opened Uncle Goyo’s for people to truly have an authentic Mexican culinary experience,” Diaz said. “Things like cheese dip, chimichangas and chalupas are not real Mexican foods.”
To ensure that the fare served is truly authentic, Diaz brought a culinary team of nine people from Mexico City to lead the kitchen staff. At the helm of the kitchen is Israel Loyo. Loyo is a member
Uncle Goyo's Mexican Restaurant
Where: 1730 S. Germantown Road, Germantown
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily
Phone: (901) 310-4855
Reservations: Reservations are currently accepted by phone; RESY will be available in the coming weeks.
of the World Federation of Chefs, and his resume includes a stint with the Mexican government.
Freshness and authenticity were of utmost importance to Diaz when designing the menu. “This is a fromscratch kitchen,” he emphasized.
Starters include dishes like Aguachile de Camaron (a lime and chile marinated shrimp dish) and Choriqueso (an authentic queso dish served with chorizo). Diaz said he is especially excited about the Chicarron de Rib Eye appetizer. “It’s amazing,” he said, as he described the dish where the meat is cooked until crispy on the outside, yet remains tender and juicy.
Signature entrees include dishes like Enchiladas Verdes (with your choice of chicken or queso fresco inside) and Pulpa a la Talla (a whole octopus that is tenderized and then finished on the grill).
The Arrachera Azteca is Uncle Goyo’s version of fajitas, but made with highquality beef unlike the Americanized version served at Tex-mex restaurants. A sliced tender and juicy grilled steak is served on a cutting board over a bed of cacti, queso asadero and grilled chambray onions. It comes with a bean quesadilla as an accompaniment.
Diaz said the Salmon de Uncle Goyo’s is one of Chef Loyo’s specialties. The fish comes with a house-made coconut cream as the sauce, sweet potato puree and chile poblanos.
A selection of tacos is also available. Diaz is quick to say the tacos at Uncle Goyo’s are nothing like the ones served at Taconganas.
“There is nothing on the menu that is on the Taconganas food trucks,” he said. “The tacos at Uncle Goyo’s are amazing, but not the same style. We are able to do things here we can’t do on the truck.”
The opening menu has six tacos that can be ordered a la carte.
“The pescado … oh my goodness,” said Diaz when asked if he had a favorite taco. The Taco de Pescado (fish taco) is made with red snapper and dressed with an in-house pasilla chile sauce, avocado sauce and salsa. He said the chile sauce has a little kick, but is not overwhelmingly hot.
As part of the culinary team, Diaz hired a pastry chef from Mexico City. “You have to try our Tres Leches cake,” he said.
A labor of love
Uncle Goyo’s is a tribute to Diaz’s homeland — and his mother.
Diaz is the youngest of 10 children, raised by a single mother in Mexico City.
“My mother was always in the restaurant business. She even once owned a chain of restaurants. My siblings and I grew up always going to work with her and helping out,” said Diaz, adding most of his siblings are in the hospitality industry.
Until 2020, Diaz had put the food industry in his past, instead working as pastor and executive director of Las Americas (a youth development center for Latino children that he founded with his wife, Daisy) and helping run Nueva Direccion, a local nonprofit he also founded. His step back into the food industry came from his desire to fill a need.
“Food has always come easy for me,” Diaz said. “I bought a police swat truck and turned it into a food truck to help support our nonprofit. We opened it on Jan. 19, 2020. This gave us a way to feed the kids. We give them free tacos.”
Taconganas now has four food truck locations across Memphis, and has garnered an almost cult-like following for its chile-oil dipped tacos.
Uncle Goyo’s, which is what his 36 nieces and nephews call Diaz (whose full first name is Gregorio), is his way of bringing a taste of Mexico to Memphis.
“I hope to honor my mom Lupita and the values and memories she created with us as children at her table,” Diaz said. “My greatest desire is that every time you sit and dine at Uncle Goyo’s, you have the opportunity to receive an experience, to share in our culinary and cultural traditions.”
The 160-seat restaurant will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. In addition to indoor seating, outdoor patio seating will be offered. The restaurant will open with only beer at the bar, but expect a full-bar service in the near future.
“We brought two of the best mixologists in Mexico City here,” Diaz said.
And speaking of the aforementioned mariachi band. Live music by a mariachi band straight from Plaza Garibaldi in Mexico City will play Wednesday through Sunday nights during dinner service.