Isalia's - Authentic Tex Mex in Austin, TX

Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex
at UT Austin

So I was supposed to go to Houston yesterday. Keyword supposed to. Airbnb glitched out on me and cancelled my reservation so I decided to stay in Austin last night and miss my connecting flight. Buuuuut that turned into a whole other thing where Southwest just decided to cancel my flight entirely so now I have no idea how to get back to California (which is okay cuz Texas is AWESOME). But I did get the chance to walk around UT Austin and here are a few of my observations:

1. The shorts are short - for guys and girls. Most of the college age people I saw walking around were wearing shorts - whether it be boy or girl short shorts were the dress code. So short I decided to roll up my comparatively long khaki shorts.

2. Are you wearing Burnt Orange? No? Okay you're weird. Literally SO MUCH Burnt Orange clothing! (For those of you unfamiliar with college color schemes Burnt Orange is the official color of UT Austin) It's one of those things that slowly creeps into your vision, and when you start looking at people walking on the street you start to slowly see Burn Orange creep into your vision. Okay maybe it's not that bad but you couldn't walk down Speedway without seeing at least three longhorn logo or pieces of Burnt Orange.

3. Please eat Tex Mex food when you're in Texas. It's called Tex Mex for a reason - and hopefully Donald Trump doesn't take away the second part. Speaking of awesome Tex-Mex, check out Isalia's Tex-Mex when you're walking down Guadalupe!

Shady scenery at UT Austin

So I was a little suspicious walking towards Isalia from the Guadalupe side as the red and black store looked a little shady (stores like that don't have the best reputation back in San Jose). But as I started walking down the little alley toward the actual restaurant I was quite taken aback - I was met with some modern styling with a pretty nice patio with alot of seating. Inside were some walls filled with some splashes of color. I think the warm wood of the patio really helped the feel of the place, along with the massive amounts of natural light spilling in from the front windows. Going in, I was met with some of the best service I have ever received - we were served by three of the staff and all three were the warmest and most welcoming staff I have ever met (besides that absolutely wonderous time I had at Bareburger in NYC, but that's a different story).

On to the actual food - there are free chips. No. False statement. Actually, there are delicious free chips. While they gave two sauces (according to google it was salsa roja asada and tomatilla salsa verde, please feel free to correct my nonexistent Spanish language skills), the chips were more than okay by themselves. And you don't just get one basket - we got three baskets of chips before our meal came so I think it's okay to say that there are unlimited chips. Then the food came.

The meat part of my fajitas

I can't say anything about the other plates, but the Cheque's Famous Fajitas specialty dish was absolutely amazing. I hadn't seen portions that big in a while - the flour tortillas were nice and moist, the meat was still sizzling on the hot plates along with the onions, generous offerings of sour cream and guac along with wallops of salsa and bunches of shredded lettuce. It was enough to feed an entire family.

Honestly this place is one of the best Mexican spots I've ever eaten at. I think just by entering Texas and getting closer to Mexico the quality of Tex-Mex has risen to a point where I don't know if I can continue appreciating NorCal Mexican food unless some of these excellent Tex-Mex restaurants make their way to the Golden State. Please Mr. Trump - don't build that wall and you can make Tex-Mex in America even greater.

Experience 5/5
Food 4/5
Total 9/10 preeeeeetty good

Can't beat the meat in Texas

A photo posted by Ryan Chen (@stumpyeatsfood) on Oct 16, 2016 at 3:30pm PDT

You can find me on Instagram as @stumpyeatsfood and on yelp at theplumpcat.yelp.com. If you've got a restaurant recommendation or even a recipe that you think I should try, send it to me at ryanjchen2@gmail.com! Thank you for reading!