Chuy's started in Austin in the 80's (what's with all these Mexican restaurants starting in the 80s?) now they've got a whole bunch of locations in 7 states. I like it when stuff starts in Austin and spreads to other places. It makes me feel sorta like we're building a taco empire...
Anyway, apparently Chuy's participates in the hatch chile festival so on a Tuesday evening the line was bonkers. Fortunately you can order food at the bar, so that's what we did! I got a frozen lime margarita and it was pretty standard, but delicious. It didn't taste chemical-y so I'm pretty sure it's all real - the website claims they use real lime juice. Good enough for me!
I was craving a chile relleno to counteract the mushy grease bomb I was served at Taqueria Los Altos, but I also wanted to participate in the hatch chile festival - so I did both! The chile relleno was a big poblano pepper stuffed with cheese and shrimp, breaded with a nice light breading, and fried. The shrimp were small and clearly previously frozen, but when they're covered in cheese, who cares? The relleno was really delicious because the breading was so flavorful and light and it hadn't been fried to death. The pepper was just barely cooked so still crispy and fresh. The beans and rice were standard, but good. The enchilada was definitely a win. It had shredded chicken, crispy corn, and cheese inside. The sauce was packed with hatch chiles and it was much spicier than most enchilada sauces. I love spicy food so that was a nice surprise!
Paul got the Comida Mexicana Combo with 2 cheese enchiladas, 2 chicken flautas, a grilled sirloin crispy taco, a couple chips with queso, guacamole, beans, and rice - a Tex-Mex lover's dream. The cheese inside the enchiladas was pretty basic, but the sauce was a delicious, slightly spicy, and tomatoey red "Tex-Mex" sauce. The chicken inside the flautas was moist and the sirloin in the taco was nicely seasoned.
Chuy's definitely feels like a chain, but you don't feel like you're in a stuffy, Applebee's-like, cookie cutter restaurant. The food is churned out en masse, but it's served fresh, hot, and delicious. It's not gourmet, but it wont disappoint. This is the kind of upstanding Tex-Mex establishment I will really miss in Massachusetts - a place where you can shamelessly gobble down mass quantities of beans, rice, and cheese all swirled together with a delicious spicy sauce. A place where Tex-Mex is what it should be - bastardized Mexican food that fills the place in your soul yearning for grease, salt, spices, crispy lettuce, and creamy avocado, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, and crunchy chips.
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