Discussion of Robin Garr's Chuy's review in The Voice-Tribun

[Robin Garr]

Chuy's says "¡Hola, Amigo!" to Louisville
LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

Back in the early '90s, I had occasion to visit Austin a couple of times on what was then my day job, and got to know and like the capital city of Texas and home of the Lone Star's state university.

Austin was a good-size town, busy and fun, not only loaded with the innovative non-profit groups that had brought me there but blessed with a noteworthy music scene, the world's first Whole Foods Market, and maybe best of all, dozens of eateries serving some of the best Tex-Mex food I had ever tasted.

One of the most popular was a U.T. hangout named Chuy's (pronounced "Chewy's"), a wacky joint that had taken over an old barbecue pit and, the legend went, redecorated it on a $20 budget, taking advantage of velvet Elvis paintings, old photos, and a wildly mismatched collection of colorful Mexican tiles.

The food was hearty and cheap, and if a Tex-Mex eatery run by a couple of Anglo entrepreneurs wasn't quite as authentic as the more Latino places around town where it helped to bring a Spanish dictionary to dinner, nobody seemed to mind much, especially during Happy Hour.

Now Chuy's has parlayed the original's success into a Texas-wide chain that's expanding across the South. It reached Louisville with an oversize outlet that landed in the former Bahama Breeze facilities at Oxmoor Center a few months ago, and a shop in Clarksville, Ind., will follow soon.

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/chuys ... louisville

Chuy's
104 Oxmoor Court
327-3033

Another location is coming in April at 1440 Veterans Parkway, Clarksville, Ind.

We've been twice. I was not impressed either time. There are many all "Mexican" restaurants around the area that do the same type of food 50 times better. The salsa was good. The queso was ok. The green jalapeno sauce was nice. The other things (couple of different enchiledas, tacos, quesadillas, chimichanga, rice, beans both kinds) were just ok.

What Trisha said. Also not impressed...

Goofy concept...attractive to some families I guess. Very bland food. Probably will not be back. I had even managed to forget about it until this review. They come and go, they come and go. There's a sucker born every minute.

I'm a fan of the place. Especially the green chile rice. Not a huge vegetarian selection but the place works for me. The only negative is the ridiculous waits at times (which I will not partake in, it's more than 10-15 minutes I'm out). Yes El Mundo and Puerta Vallarta are awesome locals but this chain isnt an affront to cuisine like Olive Garden is.

[Robin Garr]

Yes El Mundo and Puerta Vallarta are awesome locals but this chain isnt an affront to cuisine like Olive Garden is.

I really prefer a Mexican place where real Spanish is spoken, and of course I tilt to the locals. I thought Chuy's was decent enough to review (and this one was for the Voice-Tribune, which doesn't do ratings), but I'd say your analysis pretty much matches mine, Mike.

The original was packed this weekend judging from the cars out front. I passed on eating there. Did so back in '05. It was decent enough, but nothing special.

Ate here on Thursday - http://www.guerostacobar.com/. It's much better.

And if you want Austin funk, there are plenty of options better than Chuy's. Can only think the translation into a chain didn't make the so-so original any better.

[Robin Garr]

And if you want Austin funk, there are plenty of options better than Chuy's. Can only think the translation into a chain didn't make the so-so original any better.

In my defense, I ate there around 1992. It seemed pretty funky then, but I still liked the places where you needed a Spanish dictionary. There was a place called Rosita's Salsitas that I particularly enjoyed, with a hand-made wooden rack of six salsa jars brought to your table.

And if you want Austin funk, there are plenty of options better than Chuy's. Can only think the translation into a chain didn't make the so-so original any better.

In my defense, I ate there around 1992. It seemed pretty funky then, but I still liked the places where you needed a Spanish dictionary. There was a place called Rosita's Salsitas that I particularly enjoyed, with a hand-made wooden rack of six salsa jars brought to your table.

No defense needed. I was stating the point more in terms of Austin options now. I'm not sure how that population supports all those restaurants. What really caught my attention was, in general, how much bigger Austin restaurants are than Louisville. A Cumberland-ish type place is at least three times as big as Cumberland. Having a 50,000 person university, major football team, major music conference, state capital, etc. probably helps out. We have the Derby.

I'm a native Texan and went to UT in Austin, so I guess I'm biased, but I really like Chuy's. My husband and I were there on opening day and have been back many times since then. I feel like they are using quality ingredients, the service is decent enough and it has a fun atmosphere. The prices seem reasonable for the portion size so I feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

As the ultimate redneck hybrid (born in Texas, educated in Kentucky) I feel like my opinion on this is worth at least $.02...do what you like with it. I have always liked Chuy's and thought it would do great here due to the lack of great Tex-Mex choices. I even went so far as to inquire about franchise opportunities (not seriously, but more out of curiosity) several years ago. At the time they wanted to "keep it in the family" and had no plans to franchise, and even if they did, I know just enough about the restaurant business to never put my money where my mouth is. Of course, judging by the fact that I have been asked to wait 90 minutes on a Tuesday night at 8:30, that may have been a mistake! Sweet Maria, that places is selling some food!

As Robin noted, Chuy's passed as decent Tex-Mex in Texas (even among the Foodie crowd) and was always a good local place for an inexpensive group gathering, a beer and burrito after a softball game, family night, or a decent Margarita after work. Of, course, you didn't have to wait two hours for a table and they took reservations which makes a big difference. Yes, there were better places, but for "bang for the buck", fun atmosphere, and universal appeal (everyone could agree on it - much like pizza/italian here) it was a winner and I have missed it since movng here!

I find the Tex-Mex here bland and tasting like everything came out of a can. Even the tortillias taste packaged (and probably are as I've never seen anyone making them), and the chips are thick and tasteless - a HUGE deal for me. I was lucky enough to attend Chuy's soft opening and talk to one of the owners, who explained that all the sauces and tortillias were allmade on-site from fresh ingredients using original family recipes. I don't know any other Tex-Mex joints in town that do this (a few of the "authentic" Mexican places do, but it's just not the style I'm looking for)...certainly not the small chains here in town. Field greens in my tacos (along with notoriously surly service - you know who I'm talking about ) or rubbery (!?), wet, sticky tortillias just don't do it for me. I will conceed that the "authintic bagel" factor (see "authintic" bagel threads) may be coming into play a little here...we all have our thing...

For those of you that have had bland food or food "50x better" (really?) Tex-Mex food somewhere else in town I would encourage you to try the house specialties if you haven't already. I think it is a little unfair to judge Chuy's or any Tex-Mex place solely on the quality of their tacos, quesadillas, etc (not that anyone here did...). In fairness, these items are extremely simple (lettuce, tomato, cheese meat) and don't vary too much from place to place. Although, again, the fresh taco shells and pico do make a difference to me. If tacos are what you like, I agree with Robin, head to the authintic places on the Southside they seem to do it best, especially when in comes to those delictable pork tacos.

This isn't Volare folks don't over think it. Tex-Mex, IMO, is all about gooey, savory, belt-busting, all melting together, spicy, goodness. Order the items that best fit this discription. In an apparent effort to please everyone, Chuy's will allow you to ruin your meal by adding the wrong sauce to the wrong dish. Yellow cheese on a burrito? Blech! Nothing against yellow cheese or burritos, but it's only meant to be at Tumbleweed. Stick to the items where they choose the sauce for you (unlees they have a burrito with yellow cheese )...that's at least a hint that you're ordering something "authentic". And yes, the quotes are there to impart a certain degree of sarcasm, but you know what I mean...

My favorite, the steak burrito, is the spiciest dish I remember ordering in town (without specifically asking for extra kick). It's not Thai spicy "5", but your nose is going to be running half way through. Tender steak rolled in a massive fresh flower tortillia with copious amounts of melted jack (?) cheese and smothered with that amazingly spicy Hatch green chili sauce and served with charo beans and green chili rice....holy crap... I highly recommend it, but it's not for the faint of heart. I have noticed that the heat varies seasonally as the chili's (which I believe I was told are imported from New Mexico) used to make the sauce are a little hotter in the Summer months. There are a few other favorites....the Chica Chica Boom-Boom (is that right?) comes to mind.

Another hint....like most of you, I'm not about to wait 2 hours to eat anywhere so the only time I found we can get seated in less that 20 minutes is at odd times of the day...say a late lunch at 3:00 after shopping or whatever. I have also had some luck right after work on weekdays (5:30ish, but not too long after that the place blows up). Anyone else have any other hints? Good luck and enjoy!

At first, I was confused why Chuy's was so crowded, but I think i've figured it out.

Louisville is home to thousands of displaced Texans.

As a native Texan (and we should start a club... we can eat blue bell ice cream and drink Tito's), I enjoy Chuy's and will be back.

I wanted to start a Meetup group for Texas expats!

I wanted to start a Meetup group for Texas expats!

I'd say we should meet a Chuy's but I'm not willing to wait in line... I actually haven't met many Texans up here.

For those of you that have had bland food or food "50x better" (really?) Tex-Mex food somewhere else in town I would encourage you to try the house specialties if you haven't already. I think it is a little unfair to judge Chuy's or any Tex-Mex place solely on the quality of their tacos, quesadillas, etc (not that anyone here did...).

I did have the tacos. The shells crumbled after ONE bite. The hamburger meat was tasteless. The chicken in the chicken enchileda was tasteless. The best thing was the green jalepeno sauce. Seriously.....we tried ALOT on the menu because of a job oppurtunity for someone in our group. We even had the Elvis combos and a few other things that the waiter recommended as their best. I was STILL not impressed.

It reminds me a WHOLE lot of Chi-Chi's.....with less taste.