RIP Chuy's

SKJ · July 19

https://austin.eater.com/2024/7/18/24201159/chuys-tex-mex-chain-restaurant-acquired-darden-restaurants

It can only go down from here

Edited July 19 by SKJ

'stache · July 19

Damn, that food is about to get even saltier af. RIP

billfromlaketravis · July 19

Hula Hut had pretty good chow in the mid-2000’s. The Thai fajitas were a standout. Good tiki bar drinks as well.

Shady Grove was solid during the same era. I always ordered the green chile meatloaf or chicken fried steak.

I never thought much of Chuy’s. I’d usually roll my eyes and just go with it when friends wanted to eat there. I always ordered something safe like cheese enchiladas or crispy tacos.

hornbri · July 19

At one point I thought Chuy’s was a great example of Tex Mex, that was over 20 years ago. It has slowly died and this is the final nail in the coffin.

freyguy · July 19

I went there on Monday, got the big as your face burrito, and that night had the worst god awful diarrhea I can remember.

Go die a firey death chuys....

Hate · July 19

Chuy’s may be the most overrated place in the history of places. When I lived in Austin, I tried it twice and it sucked both times. There is one in The Woodlands that I have never been to in my 17 years of living here.

Ghost of LL · July 19

The last two times I've been there, it's been actively bad. Perhaps Darden can improve it; it really couldn't get worse.

MissingInAction · July 19

Id rather eat out of a taco truck on Cameron Rd.

Torta Cubana ftw.

Dr Fear · July 19

The last two times I've been there, it's been actively bad. Perhaps Darden can improve it; it really couldn't get worse.

I used to love going in Austin in the early 2000s. Now I have worked very short walking distance from the Fort Worth location for the past year and a half, been there 3 times and each time regretted it.

Deej · July 19

58 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

Id rather eat out of a taco truck on Cameron Rd.

I'd choose a sketchy taco truck over quite a few places.

Armybrat · July 19

The only thing I like from Chuy’s are the chicken fajitas, and Mrs.Brat likes their tortilla soup.
Nada mas.

Edited July 19 by Armybrat

CycleTex87 · July 19

Back in the day when it was just the place on Barton Springs the margaritas made ladies clothes fall off. But the food sucked.

nolongerU2horn · July 19

4 hours ago, SKJ said:

https://austin.eater.com/2024/7/18/24201159/chuys-tex-mex-chain-restaurant-acquired-darden-restaurants

It can only go down from here

I mean, did you not realize that Chuy's has been a huge publicly-traded company with over 100 locations for over a decade?

smuggs · July 19

I once sat at a booth next to James Hetfield @ Barton Springs. Big dude, didn't get a look at his meal. SAD BUT TRUE!

Edited July 20 by smuggs
grammar

jimmyjazz · July 19

1 minute ago, smuggs said:

I once sat a booth next to James Hetfield @ Barton Springs. Big dude, didn't get a look at his meal. SAD BUT TRUE!

You should have just started chatting him up in your best Lars accent. "Hey, whaddaya think of the salsa? I mean, not the BEST I've ever had, but not bad, right? Hey you wanna jam later?"

Deej · July 19

31 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

Back in the day when it was just the place on Barton Springs the margaritas made ladies clothes fall off. But the food sucked.

smuggs · July 19

6 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

You should have just started chatting him up in your best Lars accent. "Hey, whaddaya think of the salsa? I mean, not the BEST I've ever had, but not bad, right? Hey you wanna jam later?"

I don't know which would have gotten my ass kicked faster - that or singing my fajita order in my best Mustaine-hyena voice.

Dewey · July 19

25 minutes ago, nolongerU2horn said:

I mean, did you not realize that Chuy's has been a huge publicly-traded company with over 100 locations for over a decade?

They have a location in El Paso, like having an Olive Garden in Milan, hell maybe they do.

midtown · July 19

Anyone who eats at Chuys will have no idea if the quality goes down or up

BurntOrange&White · July 19

2 minutes ago, midtown said:

Anyone who eats at Chuys will have no idea if the quality goes down or up

@closetojumping

closetojumping · July 19

33 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

@closetojumping

What in the hell do I have to do with Chuy’s, dufus?

BurntOrange&White · July 19

4 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

What in the hell do I have to do with Chuy’s, dufus?

You frequent Chuys and other shitty chains.

6th Street · July 19

The Chuys in the west suburbs in Denver recently went out of business. Not surprising. It was always empty AF and the food tasted like re-heated frozen dinners. At least the jalapeño ranch and chips slammed

MrX · July 19

Denver had a Chuys? Sheesh. Had no idea.

jimmyjazz · July 19

24 minutes ago, MrX said:

Denver had a Chuys? Sheesh. Had no idea.

I don't know if it was Denver, but I remember driving back to Austin from A-Basin in the late 90's and seeing a Chuy's somewhere near Denver, maybe south towards CoSprings. Surprised me for sure.

Judge Roybeanbag · July 19

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I don't know if it was Denver, but I remember driving back to Austin from A-Basin in the late 90's and seeing a Chuy's somewhere near Denver, maybe south towards CoSprings. Surprised me for sure.

Co springs has a Chuys. Or did, right near my son’s apartment. Was pretty much the same as here.

wood · July 20

10 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Hula Hut had pretty good chow in the mid-2000’s. The Thai fajitas were a standout. Good tiki bar drinks as well.

Shady Grove was solid during the same era. I always ordered the green chile meatloaf or chicken fried steak.

I never thought much of Chuy’s. I’d usually roll my eyes and just go with it when friends wanted to eat there. I always ordered something safe like cheese enchiladas or crispy tacos.

Yep. Mediocre on their best day.

Edited July 20 by wood

wood · July 20

7 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

Id rather eat out of a taco truck on Cameron Rd.

Torta Cubana ftw.

Yep. Just got back from Isla Mujeres. We ate street tacos almost every night that were eleventy billion x as good as anything at Chuy's, for like $1.50 a taco. Had some Argentine steak tacos that were fucking incredible. $2 each.

closetojumping · July 20

5 hours ago, closetojumping said:

What in the hell do I have to do with Chuy’s, dufus?

I don’t mind Chuy’s via Doordash every couple of months. My kids are fine with the choices, I like the chuychanga, and I get to reload on the jalapeno ranch for $8.

Every idiot on these threads attends chains and I likely visit or order from them less than most. You are a broke and hopeless dipshit, and no one needs to hear your lame “I eat at better restaurants than you” smack. I was in Manhattan last weekend and spent more than you make in a year on 4 dinners with my wife.

IDIOTsavant · July 20

7 hours ago, Armybrat said:

The only thing I like from Chuy’s are the chicken fajitas, and Mrs.Brat likes their tortilla soup.
Nada mas.

The only thing I find edible are the chicken fajita quesadillas…and I get the jalapeño ranch instead of sour cream or guac. It’s not really Tex-mex at that point, but it ain’t too bad.

Wally Pryor · July 20

I'll always be indebted to the Chuy's late night happy hour on Barton Springs which included that (free) trailer loaded with chips, queso, refrieds, pico, salsa and more queso. When you were on a budget and especially didn't give a shit about cholesterol, plaque or anything else it was simply paradise.

F250 · July 20

1 hour ago, closetojumping said:

I don’t mind Chuy’s via Doordash every couple of months. My kids are fine with the choices, I like the chuychanga, and I get to reload on the jalapeno ranch for $8.

Every idiot on these threads attends chains and I likely visit or order from them less than most. You are a broke and hopeless dipshit, and no one needs to hear your lame “I eat at better restaurants than you” smack. I was in Manhattan last weekend and spent more than you make in a year on 4 dinners with my wife.

Are you arguing with yourself?

KYHorn · July 20

Someone on Surly or Shag posted the recipe for the jalapeno ranch dip and I truly haven't been back to Chuy's since then because we can just make the best part at home.

CTC2 · July 20

47 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

I'll always be indebted to the Chuy's late night happy hour on Barton Springs which included that (free) trailer loaded with chips, queso, refrieds, pico, salsa and more queso. When you were on a budget and especially didn't give a shit about cholesterol, plaque or anything else it was simply paradise.

Whoa…total flashback moment. Thanks for bringing that up.

closetojumping · July 20

22 minutes ago, F250 said:

Are you arguing with yourself?

Maybe. Someone quoted me on to here, but I don’t mind the discussion.

tx 3 putt · July 20

This place has been crap for a long time

Judge Roybeanbag · July 20

21 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

This place has been crap for a long time

Reported.

Wiler77 · July 20

I've eaten at a chuys less than 10x in my life, but I always ordered things with their green chile. They had a green chile soup with pork that was pretty good.

SKJ · July 20

10 hours ago, nolongerU2horn said:

I mean, did you not realize that Chuy's has been a huge publicly-traded company with over 100 locations for over a decade?

The post is referring to Darden.

It can only get worse when they're involved

Hagbard Celine · July 20

for a long time, the kitchen at the mckinney avenue store was on par with barton springs, the ritas were the same, etc..

chimichangas were rolled when you placed your order

then after they went public they started bringing them in pre-rolled and frozen from some industrial kitchen

also, they stopped making hatch on site, and it somehow became available year-round

the end

yoladu · July 20

15 hours ago, Wally Pryor said:

I'll always be indebted to the Chuy's late night happy hour on Barton Springs which included that (free) trailer loaded with chips, queso, refrieds, pico, salsa and more queso. When you were on a budget and especially didn't give a shit about cholesterol, plaque or anything else it was simply paradise.

i ate many "free dinners" there in the day

Texzilla588 · July 20

The Chuys in the west suburbs in Denver recently went out of business. Not surprising. It was always empty AF and the food tasted like re-heated frozen dinners. At least the jalapeño ranch and chips slammed

It wasn’t there When we lived there in early 00s. I would have killed for a Chuy’s or an el Chico or el Fenix. I would have killed for an el charrito frozen dinner. I lived in Tex Mex deserts like San Francisco, Portland, and Denver. We drove 2 hours to eat at an on the border in the South Bay and it had been Californiated. We’d eat at Chevy’s for chrissakes which is like No-Mex Mexican food. Like fucking Iowa on a tortilla

txduck87 · July 20

Fond memories of hitting chuys on westheimer and Kirby back in the day..circa 90-93. Getting Thursday nights started with a dot or two, some shiner, and some chips and salsa before heading over to gman in rice village to listen to Trish and Darin. Good times.

I should cross post this in the “getting old sucks” thread .

sith_horn · July 20

Well unlike many here, I like Chuy's. Not everything on the menu, but they have stuff I like. But not as much as I once did. My first experience was back when it was only at Barton Springs as a student. I've never liked their too thin and often too greasy, delicate chips that break. I didn't like the tomato sauce with carrots they called salsa. The chunky salsa, I like. But it's not my favorite salsa.

I'm a fan of the steak burrito with hatch sauce. But it seems to me the beef portion is lacking compared to pre-covid. They also dropped charro beans from the menu which IMO, was a mistake. Those were good. Their refried beans aren't bad, but I liked having both options depending what I ordered, and I like other restaurants' versions of refried beans better.

I like the chicka-chicka boom-boom enchiladas and their deluxe chicken enchiladas with tomatillo sauce have been OK when I've tried them, but it's rare I order it there. Way back when, I liked their quesadillas, but the last time I tried it ... no mas.

Their fajitas have been OK over the years as well. But I usually go for the steak burrito with hatch sauce and like it best with charro beans. Bummer.

Like most large chains, your experience can vary from one location to the next. The commitment, or lack thereof, of local management and personnel to setting a standard makes all the difference to the extent they can given the framework executive management provides them.

Not encouraged by this latest development, but they were already suffereing to a degree from profit-squeeze-and-growth-itus.

Edited July 20 by sith_horn
punctuation correction

JOSEYWALES66 · July 20

I love me some boom boom sauce.

DixonHur · July 20

Worked at the original location (Barton Springs) for 5 years back in the early 90's and it was a fantastic experience.

We were all super tight and remain so today, having periodic reunions and such. Austin, as a whole, just felt different back then. Damn, I miss those days.

All but once most of us left, one bartender still remains, it started to become corporate and went down hill pretty fast.

The final nail, for me, was COVID when they shrunk the menu, and the ingredients went to complete shit.

But there will always be a soft spot in my heart.

You can still support the old guard at 90's Chuy's alum spots like Galaxy, Torchy's, Royal Blue and Flight Path Coffee.

6th Street · July 20

Wait there's a bartender that's worked at Chuy's for 30 years?

Stringer · July 20

21 hours ago, closetojumping said:

You are a broke and hopeless dipshit, and no one needs to hear your lame “I eat at better restaurants than you” smack. I was in Manhattan last weekend and spent more than you make in a year on 4 dinners with my wife.

closetojumping · July 20

Just now, Stringer said:

Well, of course I was being ridiculous. It would have been better if my dumbass had actually quoted the correct idiot.

CycleTex87 · July 20

2 hours ago, txduck87 said:

Fond memories of hitting chuys on westheimer and Kirby back in the day..circa 90-93. Getting Thursday nights started with a dot or two, some shiner, and some chips and salsa before heading over to gman in rice village to listen to Trish and Darin. Good times.

I should cross post this in the “getting old sucks” thread .

Holy sheeet Trish and Darin at the Gingerman. A whole section of my life just flew before my eyes.

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RIP Chuy's

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