El Chilito: Sunshine and Frozen Sangria

Oh food stands shmood shtands (jk I ruv food stands). You know who really made walking up to a window and eating outside in Austin a trend? El Chilito, my friends. The spin-off of El Chile that lures us with its yummy treats across 35 to the land of Manor. I find myself there when I am at a loss for where to eat and it always makes me happy. I refuse to ever let go of this addiction. There would be serious withdrawal.

El Chilito with it's awesomely retro sign. Wow, it's such a trendsetter. No, but really, I do like their sign.

And the window where you order from that is fly-free, yay. Not to mention their menu consists of many tasty delights which I have yet to explore. I would really like to try some of their paletas with interesting flavors ... like ... horchata, lucas (?), and pickle (?!).


Hey, but when it comes to frozen treats on a nice sunny day in Austin, TX ... it's hard to pick a paleta over El Chilito's famous frozen sangria. Yeah, this thing will last you your whole burrito and you will feel great afterward. You can also get it to go, which I feel is illegal, but ... anyway, you can get it to go.


On to the food ... I'm not the biggest fan of their salsa. It's too mole-y for me. If I want mole, I'll eat mole. But when I want salsa, I want spicy-ass salsa for my chips. But their guacamole is great. So get that instead! Unless you really like mole and want it on your chips.


Finalmente, the Tinga de Pollo. This is my favorite burrito there. I've tried some others and this one still reigns as my fav. It's described as a "braised chicken in a chipotle tomato sauce." Definitely tasted the tomato and the chipotle together which was really great. The chicken is always nicely shredded and tender so you don't have awkward chunks falling all over the place.


Lastly, as an added bonus ... if it does get cold in Austin, El Chilito offers blankets. This was taken in January '09 ... and see, I'm still drinking my frozen sangria like it's not 40 degrees. No worries.

Highly recommended if you are new to the Austin area and in search of easy-to-like-pretty-authentic Mexican. Well, no. I take that back. Highly recommended to anyone. When was the last time you went there? You should go back.

El Chilito
2219 Manor Dr. (there is also another location on Barton Springs)
Austin, TX 78722
512 382 3797
www.elchilito.com

x,

Franny

Tamale House: Recession Migas

After reading reviews on this joint via Yelp, I had to go check it out with my friend Kathryn. Someone described them as having the best migas in town ... and I had to go see for myself. Besides that, they have super super super super cheap breakfast tacos. I mean $.85 a taco. And they get them out fast.

So alas, my migas...



I call them Recession Migas because they came with 3 tortillas, and after making 3 migas tacos out of that, my plate still looked like the above pictures. I barely made a dent and I was stuffed. At first they weren't my favorite because they were a little soupy ... and I like my migas drier. I also prefer black beans to refried beans ... but those were still good. And the potatoes were nice and peppery. But after eating them as leftovers, I decided they tasted a lot better than I remembered ... not that they ever tasted bad. Maybe I was just hungrier? Or maybe it was just too hot outside? Or maybe I was just too shocked by the gargantuous amount of migas handed to me the first time around. Anyway, they are recommended. Still not my favorite ... but a great cheap filling brunch for sure.

To make the experience sweeter, this guy came up and gave Kathryn a cupcake ... thanking her for her beauty, hahaha. This wasn't a cupcake he made himself, don't worry. Tamale House sells homemade cupcakes as well, ha.

Where should I go get migas next?!

x,

Franny