After a very long and stressful week, I found myself turning to comfort food yesterday. As I was scarfing down my takeout dinner, it occurred to me that I return to the same restaurant over and over again for my comfort needs: the Tex-Mex chain restaurant Chuy’s.
I was first introduced to Chuy’s when I moved to Houston (it was started in the 1980s in Austin), but I was surprised to learn that there are Chuy’s locations as far north as Ohio. From their website:
Chuy's opened on April 16, 1982 in an old, abandoned Texas Barbeque joint on iconic Barton Springs Road in Austin, TX. There was seating for about sixty, a women's restroom the size of a broom closet and a men's restroom that was, well, outside. Founders Mike Young and John Zapp had a vision of a fun and funky Tex-Mex restaurant that served authentic and fresh food in an atmosphere that appealed to everyone. From these humble beginnings Chuy's was born.
The decor is one of the things that makes dinner at Chuy’s unique. They’ve got a thing for old cars and Elvis. (The King even gets his own spot on the menu with the Elvis Presley Memorial Combo—a meal so large that not even I can quite finish it.)
Mike and John, along with their "decorator" Jose Cuervo, made some interesting decisions on restaurant decor, due to lack of money and creativity of their "designer". Those Chuy's touches you love, like the hand-carved wooden fish "swimming" from the ceiling, hubcaps hanging bright and shiny above your booth and the Elvis shrine started with Mike and John and are still alive today. Although we say, "If you've seen one Chuy's, You've seen one Chuy's, " we still like to keep a few of these original eclectic touches in each of our restaurants.
The BF and I made Chuy’s our date night spot very early in our relationship, and we keep going back. Sometimes we get so stuck in a Chuy’s rut that we have to make a conscious decision to try somewhere new. Actually, he recently informed me that he’s getting tired of Chuy’s, which absolutely broke my heart. (I thought he was joking at first—how could you get tired of Chuy’s?) It only took a break of a few weeks, however, until he was ready to go back. He can’t resist the Chuy’s temptation for long!
To be perfectly honest, the food is not the greatest, and I realize this. I’ve heard some people complain that it’s not actual Mexican food, to which I would remind them that maybe they should go to an actual Mexican restaurant. But even among Tex-Mex restaurants, Chuy’s isn’t the best. Two things keep me coming back, though: the creamy jalapeno dip and the tres leches cake. Most Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurants will offer chips and salsa, and Chuy’s does as well, but they also bring out a sauce that is probably best described as the lovechild between ranch dressing and jalapenos.
It will scorch your throat and insides until it finally burns its way out of your body, but it is completely worth it. I fully intend to have a creamy jalapeno dip fountain at my wedding, and nobody is going to get in my way. The tres leches cake is also to die for (literally—it’s going to kill me).
As for the entree...the entree doesn’t matter as much to me. They have all of the Tex-Mex basics: enchiladas, burritos, flautas. None of them are extraordinary, and that’s fine with me. The creamy jalapeno dip and the cake are the only comfort foods I need.
Do you have any comfort foods?
What do you want to kibitz about tonight?