Restaurant review: Chuy's Tex-Mex

Chuy’s Tex-Mex, the rapidly-growing restaurant chain that began in 1982 in Austin, Texas, now boasts five restaurants in Central Florida with the newest one opening last month in a beautiful space at the corner of Orlando Avenue (U.S. Highway 17-92) and Morse Avenue in Winter Park. In 1982, founders Mike Young and John Zapp wanted to create a fun/funky Tex-Mex restaurant serving fresh, authentic food with a family-style menu with recipes from south Texas and Mexican border towns. Young and Zapp gave Jose Cuervo credit as their “decorator” (they did) and from that humble beginning Chuy's immediately earned the reputation as the most fun place to eat Tex-Mex at a great price.

Most remarkable is the fact that exactly one week after opening in Winter Park, the Tuesday lunch crowd packed the restaurant, every table was taken, and there was a wait-line for tables. That was exactly one week after opening. And I’m very happy to say that the ‘famous’ Chuy's touches – the hand-carved wooden fish "swimming" from the ceiling, polished hubcaps making a bright, shiny ceiling mosaic above your table and the Elvis shrine, begun by Young and Zapp, are still around today.

Chuy’s restaurants are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner with a weekday happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. with drink specials. The Winter Park restaurant is at 170 S. Orlando Ave. Call 321-972-1742 or visit Facebook.com/ChuysWinterPark or Chuys.com

In my notes, I wrote, “When the food is good to begin with – then why not have the experience be fun too.” I was sitting in a pink dining room punctuated with life-size metal palm trees, and almost immediately I was drinking a Margarita Swirl – a mix of traditional and strawberry margaritas. Life is more fun after a quick margarita.

My guest, who was only too aware of why we were eating at Chuy’s one week after its opening, was intent on coming up with a headline for this review. After some truly awful puns, he said, “Can you afford not to eat here?” which serves as a perfect segue to the Chuy’s motto…

“We don't take anything seriously, except our food.”

Tex-Mex, as per Chuy’s, is a combination of flavors and fresh ingredients from across New Mexico, the Rio Grande Valley, and Austin. They are particularly proud of their Green Chile salsa/sauce (from New Mexico), and their fajita marinade (from South Padre Island). Even with recipes coming from a variety of places, the real difference in Chuy’s as a destination comes from the fresh – as in made fresh daily – salsas and the amount of food that comes out on each plate. Trust me, you can taste freshness, and the servers actually seem to have fun with the descriptions of the nine salsa choices – in ascending heat levels. If you enjoy real-deal hot Mexican, you have to try the Hatch Green Chile featuring fire-roasted New Mexican green chilies and caramelized onions.

Once you’ve settled on your choice (or choices) of salsas, you deal with the size of the portions. With most choices hovering around $9 or $10 dollars, you may be tempted to over-order … as my guest and I did on our first visit. We shared the appetizer plate, which is easily a meal for two people! It includes chile con queso, nachos, chicken flautas, quesadillas, and some special guacamole.

Chuy’s flour and corn tortillas are hand-rolled and cooked every day on a comal, a heavy cast-iron pan used for grilling meats and vegetables, but also perfect for cooking or re-heating tortillas. Chuy’s tortilla station is behind a glass wall that invites customers to watch as their meals are prepared to order.

I had to try the “famous” Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom Enchiladas, which benefits once again from those classic green chiles in the sauce. Add some cheese, cilantro, and lime juice, and you’ve created a menu-winner. My friend ordered the Comida Deluxe ($11.49) featuring two cheese enchiladas, two more chicken flautas, a chopped sirloin crispy taco, more guacamole, and chips with chile con queso. It was a lot of food, and we each had a bag to take home.

We were seduced into dessert by a challenge from Chloe, our charming server who stated with confidence that we were to have a life-changing experience with their flan. Now my regular readers know I’m a chocoholic, so flan had little chance with me. Chloe was right, however, and not only was Chuy’s the best flan I ever tasted, but it actually allowed me to understand why anyone would order it as a dessert. With that admission, I still went with the Sopadillas, which are soft tortillas, fried and puffed up before being dusted with cinnamon and sugar before being dipped in either honey or chocolate.

A few thousand bites later, and I’m a true convert. Chuy’s is all that it’s supposed to be.

When the food is good (and fresh) why not let it be fun too.