WhiteH2O Horn
250+ Posts
As a native Texan, I have been raised on, and love, Tex-Mex cuisine, but I also have quite a passion for New Mexico-style Mexican food, especially anything involving hot green chiles. I'm always searching for places around town that prepare these types of dishes, but they are few and far between. I'll list the few local places that I know of, but would love to hear if anyone who shares a love of hot green chile dishes has had any luck with Austin restaurants that maybe I've missed.
1) Shady Grove. Seems like an unlikely locale to find green chile, but they do offer it with two or three dishes I believe. I've had the green chile cheeseburger, and it was okay at best. The green chile was below average and not very hot. That was a one-time experience, though. Maybe I'll give it another shot.
2) El Rey. Pretty damned good Tex-Mex from a little restaurant in the Brodie Oaks strip center (off S Lamar) which bills itsself as "Sonoran-style" Mexican food. They make a pretty good chile verde (pork stew w/ green chiles), but also offer an alternative to the traditional dish with their "pollo verde." These dishes are both available as a meal served in a flour tortilla bowl, or as a burrito. Both are pretty flavorful, but not hot at all. Still, El Rey is a good alternative to the busier, more well-known Tex-Mex joints because it's still a little under the radar.
3) Then there's Chuy's. This place makes a decent green chile with a satisfying amount heat, but just about everything else on the menu ruins it. Why is it that a place that is capable of making a pretty authentic, fresh tasting green chile sauce not able to keep the rest of their food from tasting like chain fare? I guess you can't hide what you really are. Too bad, because Chuy's is almost greatness in my book. They make one hell of an effort to promote their annual green chile festival and actually offer some interesting menu items during that time, it's just a shame that their green chile can't save the rest of their food from mediocrity. However, when September rolls around, unless I can make it down to Hatch, NM for the real green chile festival, I know that I'll be heading back to Chuy's because when it comes to the hot green stuff, they're the only game in town, at least as far as I know.
Someone please save me from Chuy's, Inc.! There has to be somewhere in Austin where chile heads can feed their jones!
1) Shady Grove. Seems like an unlikely locale to find green chile, but they do offer it with two or three dishes I believe. I've had the green chile cheeseburger, and it was okay at best. The green chile was below average and not very hot. That was a one-time experience, though. Maybe I'll give it another shot.
2) El Rey. Pretty damned good Tex-Mex from a little restaurant in the Brodie Oaks strip center (off S Lamar) which bills itsself as "Sonoran-style" Mexican food. They make a pretty good chile verde (pork stew w/ green chiles), but also offer an alternative to the traditional dish with their "pollo verde." These dishes are both available as a meal served in a flour tortilla bowl, or as a burrito. Both are pretty flavorful, but not hot at all. Still, El Rey is a good alternative to the busier, more well-known Tex-Mex joints because it's still a little under the radar.
3) Then there's Chuy's. This place makes a decent green chile with a satisfying amount heat, but just about everything else on the menu ruins it. Why is it that a place that is capable of making a pretty authentic, fresh tasting green chile sauce not able to keep the rest of their food from tasting like chain fare? I guess you can't hide what you really are. Too bad, because Chuy's is almost greatness in my book. They make one hell of an effort to promote their annual green chile festival and actually offer some interesting menu items during that time, it's just a shame that their green chile can't save the rest of their food from mediocrity. However, when September rolls around, unless I can make it down to Hatch, NM for the real green chile festival, I know that I'll be heading back to Chuy's because when it comes to the hot green stuff, they're the only game in town, at least as far as I know.
Someone please save me from Chuy's, Inc.! There has to be somewhere in Austin where chile heads can feed their jones!
