It’s taco season. Well, every month is taco season, but I’ve been in Texas recently, so burritos and barbecue are the main targets of opportunity. Canada still feels distant in both time and location, and of course, it is. Volunteer work takes up a lot of time, but it has been fruitful. I’ve moved a lot of old items for Motorcycle Missions, freeing up space and helping pay their operating expenses.

But RER is about food, travel, and culture. So while in Austin I’ve been trying to explore the scene, while also keeping costs down. Obviously that’s a contradiction, but I found a few things to do on the cheap. Looking for TexMex and low budget, I moved straight to a local fast food chain, Taco Casa.

Dating back to the 1970’s, they have over 100 locations and most are here in the Lone Star State. As a California native it reminds me a lot of what Taco Bell was 30-years ago. That’s mainly due to the fact that they still put sliced black olives on things. I of course went for a taco, but even though they are massively sized, I couldn’t bring myself to pay $4.59 for a fast food taco. So instead I went with the Supreme Burrito and a Chilada.

The burrito didn’t do much for me. The refried beans are really good: up to sit-down restaurant quality. The fact is, the ground beef was hard to find in there. Fortunately the Chilada was a win. I’ll call it Taco Casa’s take on Taco Bell’s Enchirito, which is just a cross between an enchilada and a burrito, which in turn is just a burrito smothered in red sauce and rolled instead of folded. That’s how Mexican food works though.

Since Taco Bell decided to discontinue the Enchirito, they fell off my fast food list, so I was happy to try — and love — the Chilada. It was hidden under a mountain of shredded cheese and the ground beef had great TexMex flavor. The one downside is Taco Casa outshines Taco Bell in their number one superpower: sending me to the toiler faster than I ate the meal. Texas Drain-O, I call it.

Chuy’s

Another chain from Texas is Chuy’s. I was introduced to them in Kentucky, where my sister had moved. She said they were the closest you could get to real Mexican food in her town. Since the chain of casual dining spots started here in Austin, I had to give them a go once more.

I went for the marquee item: Elvis’s Green Chile Fried Chicken. They swapped out “Elvis” for “King” around when Darden Restaurants acquired the chain, but I’m not trying to shield myself from lawsuits, so “the Elvis Chicken” is what I’ll call it. Every Chuy’s location has a small Elvis shrine after all. The founders had no budget to decorate their original location, so they used garbage and thrift store items, including a large velvet Elvis painting.

But this dish does have an Elvis vibe. It’s a chicken breast breaded in crushed Lay’s potato chips, fried to perfection, with a bit of green chili sauce and cheese on top. Not quite a fried banana sandwich, but it’s in the same lane: Elvis woulda tried it. And not only was it fantastic, but they also have great refried beans and good rice, which are often overlooked by chain restaurants. Even some mom-and-pop TexMex places just order #10 cans of frijoles from SysCo.

I got there just as happy hour ended and a massive deluge of Central Texas rain came bucketing down. The timing was perfect; I had my dinner and a second beer, and the rain had passed. Chuy’s for the win.

Heading Downtown

Next up I’ll be heading to Congress Ave in downtown Austin. I have a job doing and event report: the Paradise Road Show. It’s a chopper and Hot Rod show from the PNW that is going national. They chose the Austin Motel, which has an excellent vibe of the original motor hotels of the 1950’s.

That’s because it is.

Dating back to the Depression era 1930’s, the site got a major remodel in 2017. Even though it sits under the umbrella of the Hyatt group, it still vibes with an old-school feel. It’s a great spot to check out a bunch of old cars and bikes, and it’s adjacent to another vintage style diner, currently known as Joann’s Fine Foods.

There’s a tiki bar vibe in one section and a 1950’s retro vibe throughout the rest. Sounds perfect for a traditional American breakfast and coffee, then a fruity rum drink for midday.

Up on deck

I’m overdue for a deep dive. I am still very proud of my heavy lifting on the history of the taco, part 1 and part 2. I wanted to do one every 4-6 weeks though, as it’s the bread & butter that separates RER from other food blogs. Clearly though it’s going to be awhile. I have for-pay work to do, my volunteer work to finish, then the trip to Canada.

The deep dives take about a week, five-to-six hours a day, just to research and draft. Then there’s always side-stories and fact checking, expansions and revisions, and hunting down images…all before you start correcting spelling mistakes. But hey, if you are signed up to the Dispatch, you’ll be  the first to know when my next deep five is live [hint hint].

Until then, I’ll be plugging away to populate the new Map with awesome locations, fill out the Events List and Calendar, and throwing up short posts about things I find on Instagram and Facebook, so follow along there as well. Thanks for supporting me by following along and sharing, but also, if you know of an event or a location (from fast food and food trucks to Haute cuisine to old-time truck stops) that isn’t on my Map or Calendar, drop a line to info@rideeatrepeat.net.