Chuy's on a cold evening

I walk in, completely wrapped up in two layers of clothing, a jacket and a scarf, and I’m still freezing. I am greeted by a blast of warm air and loud conversation. I walk into a silver bust of Elvis Presley and a huge poster that says “Elvis lives”. In fact, tackiness rules the roost. The noise level matches the tackiness. Have you ever noticed how the tackier the place, the louder it is? Tackiness elicits loud, familiar conversation. A posh restaurant makes you want to behave yourself and somehow rise up to the level of the restaurant. You speak in hushed tones for fear of offending somebody.

The restaurant is very comfortable with its tackiness, with the plastic fish that adorns its walls, and its rather vivid colour combinations. In fact, the theme of the interior decoration is a cross between an aquarium and a tropical rainforest, both of which are dropped into a diner in the fifties devoted to an Elvis Presley cult. It has absolutely no pretensions to poshness. It’s tacky and it attracts people because of this. It’s a place to take friends and relatives who are visiting Austin, to give them a taste of the typical Austin flavor. The person behind me complains that his cab driver from the airport was terrible.

It’s only when a place is completely comfortable with tackiness that you know that it’s good and knows it. Moreover, it isn’t cheap. Tackiness is a value add and they work hard at maintaining it.

What is Tex Mex? It’s a made up cuisine meant to be served in restaurants. To most Americans, this is Mexican food. To Mexicans, it’s American. Neither claims it as their own. Both of them claim the other ought to claim it. The interior décor reflects this.

The adults come here for the margaritas, the kids for the colours. The place looks like a giant playpen. The margaritas too are different colours: peach and blood red and pale yellow. They match the walls.

Like Ersilia, there are invisible strings drawn across the room. The waiters serve the diners, the diners tip the waiters. The diners at a table are bound by strings of family, love, friendship; the waiters to each other by friendship and partnership. The waiters connect diners of different tables. Sometimes, waiters are connected to diners by friendship. Unlike Ersilia, the strings are complex, yet efficient. If they were inefficient, the restaurant would have closed down.

This is Chuy’s, an Austin landmark.