Chuy's
104 Oxmoor Court, Louisville KY
http://www.chuys.com
Cuisine: Mexican



My wife and I have been frequent visitors to Chuy's Restaurant in the last two weeks. Chuy's is a Mexican style restaurant located in the old Bahama Breeze building in the St. Matthews area of Louisville. Their menu describes the restaurant as "Fine Tex-Mex." Our first visit was on October 16th. We arrived around 7:30-8:00pm. The hostess stated there would be an hour wait. I wanted to leave because I dont like waiting, but my wife made me stay. While waiting we noticed most people waiting had chips and salsa.

So after a little investigating, I found that they have a self serve chips and salsa bar that you can help yourself to. They have two types of salsa: 1. Your traditional tomato, peppers, and onion salsa and 2. a red salsa that had a ketchup/bbq taste to it. The traditional salsa was a little spicy and the the other salsa was ok.

One of the interesting things that I noticed while waiting was the Elvis Presley shrine located on the lobby. Apparently, each Chuy's restaurant has a shrine to the King of Rock n' Roll. A picture of the shrine is shown to the left.


The Marks:

Atmosphere: The atmosphere of Chuy's is pretty awesome. I wish I had a picture to show the decor, I'll remember to take my camera along for my next Remarks. It's not one of those traditional Mexican Restaurants that we are all familiar with. At Chuy's they play up beat traditional music which gives it a different feel. The restaurant is divided into several sections. There is a indoor and outdoor bar area, as well as several dining areas. The outdoor bar area has a fireplace so that you can set around and keep warm on these cool fall nights. As for the indoor decor it has the traditional Mexican Restaurant flavor with a American twist. The noise level of the restaurant can be a loud at times, but it made for a unique experience. I would give the atmosphere 5 marks

Cost: The cost of food at Chuy's is very reasonable. The most expensive food item on the menu is the Fajitas for Two ($21.99). The average cost of an entree was around $10. During my visit I ordered the Elvis Presley Memorial Combo and it was priced at $9.99. My wife ordered a Chicken Burrito with the Deluxe Tomatillo Sauce which was priced around$8.99. I would give the cost( $10-$15 range) 3 marks.

Menu: The menu at Chuy's has a great selection of food. First thing I noticed was the homage to Elvis Presley on the Menu. They have two entrees that have Elvis in the name. the Elvis Green Chili Chicken and the Elvis Presley Memorial Combo. The menu has a good selection of appetizers to get you started, burritos as big as your head, soups, fajitas, various combos and enchiladas. They also have 8 custom sauces that you can add to most entrees, but predominantly are use on the various enchiladas. l I would give the menu 4 marks. Click here for the menu: Chuy's Menu


Quality of the Food: The quality of the food was great. Our first visit to the restaurant was extremely busy but our food came out quick and it was hot. The second time was just as good as the first. One thing that I noticed was how fresh the food was both times. The sauces on the food had rich flavors and the Mexican Rice was moist and very flavorful. I ordered the Elvis Presley Memorial Combo on both visits. This consisted of 1 beef taco, chips dipped in chili con queso, 1 beef, 1 chicken, and 1 cheese enchilada. I was able to eat out half of the entire meal and ended up taking the rest home. It was even good warmed up the next day. I would give the quality of the food 5 marks.

Service: Other than the hour wait we had the first night, I have no negative things to say about our service at Chuy's. The second visit we walked in and were seated immediately. Both visits our servers were extremely polite and helpful in choosing items and giving recommendations. During each visit our server kept our drinks and tortilla chip basket full. During the first visit the server suggested the creamy jalapeno sauce as a dipping sauce for our chips. It was a great suggestion and I would suggest it to any of my readers. Definitely try this "salsa" on your chips. Overall, based on my visits to Chuy's, I would give the service at Chuy’s 5 marks.

Overall Marks: Overall, Chuy's is by far my favorite Mexican Restaurant in Louisville, KY. I have tried El Toro, several El Nopals, and some that I can't recall and I must say that Chuy's is a step above all of these. You get great food in a great atmosphere. One thing that really stands out about this restaurant is the menu and the different sauces that you can choose for your entree. Another thing that stands out and gives this restaurant high "marks" for me is the Elvis Presley connection. Apparently, every January 8th (Elvis Presley's birthday for those non fans) they pay tribute to Elvis at every restaurant with an impersonator. Overall Chuy’s gets 4 marks.