The Nacho Car — yes, the Nacho Car — was ready for a test drive Monday evening, when CL got a sneak peek of the first Chuy’s location in Tampa Bay.
The highly anticipated, Austin-based Tex-Mex chain’s build-your-own nacho station in the trunk of a retro ride was less impressive than expected during the VIP Charity Night benefiting Healing Horses One Child At A Time. But, hey, it’s a free amenity part of the weekday happy hour — and, luckily, the majority of what Chuy’s offers in Lutz is anything but underwhelming.
Believe the hype.
In fact, first-timers who are sorta skeptical about the buzz surrounding the new restaurant across from the Tampa Premium Outlets at 25750 Sierra Center Blvd. (like this food editor was) should start with dessert, because every bite of the strawberries-topped tres leches cake is OMG-worthy.
Chuy’s, which opened to the public at 11 a.m. Tuesday — including to the folks who popped a squat outside as early as last night to snag free food for a year — features vibrant schools of hand-carved wooden fish, metal palm trees and fresh tortillas made in-house on a traditional comal in the dining room throughout its 8,500-square-foot digs. Don’t miss the lively La Chihuahua Bar adorned with photos of local pooches or the spacious covered patio, either.
What else do diners need to know before stuffing their faces? Well, our taste test proved that you can’t go wrong with the appetizer plate of chile con queso, nachos, chicken flautas and deluxe quesadillas. The latter, BTW, are bomb AF pockets of cheese, green chiles, onion and fajita chicken.
Other highlights include the chile rellenos (good luck downing two fried Anaheim peppers stuffed with melty, delicious cheese in one sitting); Elvis Presley Memorial Combo (a more-than-generous helping of the beef, cheese ranchero and chicken tomatillo enchiladas, plus the ground sirloin taco and tostada chips dipped in chile con queso); and famous “Big As Yo’ Face” steak burrito (order it off-the-menu-style covered in the restaurant’s spicy, queso-like Boom-Boom sauce).
The house-made sangria of silver tequila, red wine, triple sec, fruit juices and blueberry syrup is also pretty dang good, as is the original Texas martini. Essentially, the Texas-tini — which isn’t really a martini since there’s no vermouth and the gin/vodka is swapped for tequila — is a mini version of the Chuy’s margaritas that our server tells us are exclusively served in, like, goblets.
Not that we have a problem with anyone who chooses to down those huge margs like a boss, of course. Just ask CL’s On the Sauce columnist, Chris Fasick.
