Tio Pepe's Churros

I realize that most people can not order products from food service distributors, or wholesale vendors.  So you might wonder why I have labels for these sorts of items on my blog, and why I bother review, if they aren't accessible to you.  The reason?  You likely eat these products yourselves, and you just don't know it.

Iconic Signage.

Like Tio Pepe's churros.  Have you ever had a churro at a beach boardwalk, carnival, amusement park, or from a street vendor?  One that wasn't made by them?  If so, chances are fairly high it was made by Tio Pepe's.  They kinda own this market.  It probably had a sign in the corner somewhere like the one above (which I spotted on the streets of San Francisco, on a churro cart).

Tio Pepe's is part of the J & J Snack Foods lineup of brands, which also includes Super Pretzels (coming soon!), Slush Puppies, ICEE, and much, more much.  They are carried by nearly ever large food service distributor who carries churros.  I have confirmation that these are the ones sold at Disneyland.  If you really want them, they are also carried by Smart & Final.

Tio Pepe's makes only one thing: frozen churros, in a variety of sizes and flavors.

Churros.

"Tio Pepe’s authentic churros will have your taste buds going loco!"

Traditional churros are available in 3 sizes (5" mini, 10" traditional, 16" King Size), and several varieties: plain, bavarian creme filled, cinnamon sugar, double twisted, double twisted with cinnamon sugar), strawberry.  They also make 51% whole grain varieties, with more fruit filled options, like mango, guava, apple, raspberry.  They are called "Cinnamon waffle sticks" in some markets.

I don't claim to be a churro expert.  I barely even like them, to be honest, like the lackluster ones from Rubio's, which I've tried several times (although I did kinda like the one I had a Nick's Crispy Tacos).  The only churro I really recall liking before is the cream filled one from Phat Philly.  I wonder if that was from Tio Pepe's?

Anyway, these are solid classic churros.  Not fresh, not amazing, but they are what they are.

For foodservice distribution, they come frozen, plain.  Instructions to the distributor are pretty simple: bake in the oven for 4 minutes, or fry for 10-20 seconds.

Cinnamon Sugar Traditional.

"Churros are a straight donut-like Hispanic pastry. The traditional churro is rolled in a cinnamon-sugar mixture and served with a slightly crispy exterior and warm moist center. Its lightly sweet taste is enjoyed by children and adults alike."

All the churros come plain, packaged with a cinnamon sugar packet.  The distributor has instructions to roll in the provided cinnamon sugar mix.

I had a cinnamon sugar version, and it was heated in the oven.

It was a pretty classic churro, much like you'd get at any amusement park or street vendor (probably, literally).  It was crispy, not too greasy, and well coated in cinnamon and sugar.  I liked the cinnamon and sugar.

And beyond that?  Not much to say.  It wasn't as good as a fresh one.  It wasn't as good as a fried one.  It was what it was.