Out and About: Lupe Tortilla

Hunk and I have been waiting for weeks for this place to open up. A friend of his swore that they have the best fajitas anywhere, and he was so excited when the Houston chain announced they would be opening not one, but TWO locations in Austin. After all of his talk, we were dying to find out what the hype was about.

Finally, they opened for business last Monday, and Cinco de Mayo seemed like an appropriate time to give Lupe Tortilla a try. So did half of Austin. Once we found parking, we were told it would be a two hour wait. No biggie- we were expecting a wait anyway. And they had a nice big bar area with reasonably priced margaritas and plenty of room for standing. The tables in the bar area are first-come, first-serve, and they also have TVs going with whatever sport happens to be on at the time. On this particular evening, they also had a band playing on the patio area outside. Nice touch!!!

They use a number card system for seating, and we were able to watch the progress on a little screen in the bar area. It only ended up taking 1.5 hours to get our table, and we were definitely hungry by then. Since 3 of the 4 of us in our group had not eaten there before, they brought us all mini-fajitas to sample. Their beef is marinated in a lime-pepper concoction for 3 days, making each bite a tangy, melt-in-your-mouth experience. Man....it was good! We barely had to look at the menu as we had pretty much all decided on fajitas. However, we were hungry, and decided to start the meal with some queso flameado. You can get it with chorizo, jalapeño sausage, or seasoned ground beef. We went with beef. But the real reason we got this was to further enhance the tortilla experience. They make them on site, and they make them bigger than my face. Thin, warm, and oh so delicious!!!

I easily could have stopped the meal there and been fine. The cheese and tortillas were filling enough. But no. Hunk and I ordered 1 pound of beef fajitas. We tried to get his friend to share with us, but he was insistent on ordering his own 1/2 lb. He just said "trust me on this". I really haven't been eating much meat since we did our plant-based diet, but I was willing to fudge for this. And I'm so glad I did. I seriously could have eaten just the meat on our sizzling platter. It was so tender, juicy, and perfectly seasoned. The hint of lime was the real kicker for me though. They didn't add a ton of peppers for filling- it really was a pound of meat and a small side of sautéed onions. And of course, I wrapped that delicious meat in yet another warm tortilla and continued to stuff my face.

We had originally planned on going to meet some friends for a birthday celebration afterwards, but none of the 4 of us could hardly walk to the car. It was such a gluttonous meal, and not even dessert or an after-dinner drink sounded appealing. I just wanted to go home, put on stretchy pants, and go to bed.

I highly encourage you to go check out Lupe Tortilla if you have a chance. Go hungry, but be prepared to wait. I don't see the lines dying down anytime soon, especially if word continues to spread about how good this place was. Don't even bother to look at the menu. Just order some beef fajitas. You'll thank me later!