Riverside, California -
Sanchez's Beer Bottle Chapel, Folk Art

Authentic Mexican restaurant with the most beautiful and interesting landscape and art. They have a certified chapel made out of beer bottles, a garden with fountains and water, statues and homemade art, each time you visit you will notice something new you never realized was even there. [Brandi Bayus, 06/03/2010]

[RA: We just visited -- the zany sculpture displays, gardens and fountains cover property three or four times larger than the restaurant itself.]

"I built my Dream" is how Martin Sanchez describes the environmental sculptures that he has created in and around his unique restaurant. Besides serving great food, Martin has created a feast for your eyes with all pf the sculptures, fountains. and topiary he has interwoven on his property. Martin claims to not have disposed of anything for 17 years, and instead used everything that comes his way. All you have to do is walk around the gardens to see exactly what he means.

This is one of those places that is a must see for anyone traveling near Riverside. A folk art lover's paradise! [Phil Pasquini, 05/17/2009]

Martin Sanchez started building his vision 10 years ago on a city block in downtown Riverside. Water features, a chapel of beer bottles, gardens, mosaics, fountains of found objects and refuse, toys and ephemera. A true naive untrained folk artist, this place is on the scale of the Watts Towers.

Plus a great restaurant on site with fresh seafood and fruit smoothies. Named "Tio's Tacos", this name does nothing to convey the magnificence you'll find inside. This is a great stop on the way from LA to Palm Springs. [Marlow Harris, 10/10/2007]