El Chilito, goodness on the east side of town

A month of thanks giving: I am thankful that parts of Austin still retain its unique character, untouched by the generic commercialization that comes with urban sprawl and growth.

Thank you to our Facebook fans for suggesting some wonderful places to try on the east side of town.

Our family doesn’t make it often to the east side to dine for no other reason than it is far from where we live, though I traveled that way often during my UT days and found some great eats.  Much of the surrounding neighborhoods are experiencing revitalization (and gentrification), but not this little pocket of Manor Rd just east of IH-35 with all the restaurants.  This area, for as long as I have lived in Austin, has been a happenin’ part of town.  It looks dilapidated, but don’t let that fool you.  There are some fantastic food finds.

Not far from Hoover’s and East Side Cafe on Manor Rd is El Chilito, a taqueria with Tex-Mex and interior Mexican goodies.  It is cheap, cheap, cheap, and oh so yummy.  We easily found a parking spot which is not always the case for restaurant dining around these parts.  El Chilito is an order at the window, listen for your number, and pick up at another window type of place.  There isn’t any speaker system so you have to stand near the pick up window to hear your number getting called.

There was a good line formed already around 11 am on a Saturday morning, but the line moved pretty quickly.  It was as busy as Taco Deli but did not feel as frenzied.  We ordered 1 tomatillo pork taco ($2.49 with rice and beans for an extra $1.89), Cochinita Pibil burrito ($5.29, Yucatan style braised pork with orange and achiote), barbacoa soup ($4.49), Vegetal taco ($2.29, seasoned zuchinni, squash, mushrooms, peppers, and onions), and Pescado entortillado ($2.69, tortilla-crusted fIsh topped with baja slaw and jalapeño aioli), fresh limonada, and Topo Chico mineral water. Portion wise, that was one taco too many for family of four (two adults, two small kids).

The tomatillo pork taco was awesome. We all loved it, bold flavor, not drippy like a lot of pork tacos can be. Hubby would not give up a bite of the cochinita pibil burrito. To all of our surprise, the toddler’s favorite item was the barbacoa soup. Oh yum. I don’t think that I have ever seen barbacoa soup at any of the Tex-Mex restaurants that we frequent, and this was so good. It was a savory beef broth with cilantro, rice, shredded barbacoa, and garbanzo beans. I have yet to find a recipe online for anything similar so if anyone has a recipe, please share! We would be so grateful.

The vegetal taco was. It tasted like the way Mr. Natural on South Lamar smells. That’s not meant as a nasty statement. Mr. Natural smells like a vegetarian restaurant, and I don’t have any way of describing it other than the vegetal taco tastes “vegetarian” (I know, completely redundant), having a heavy cumin note.  For a vegan taco though, it was good.  None of us were especially impressed with the fish taco after having a tastier one at The Daily Grill not too long before this. The fish taco was more slaw and sauce than fish.  Both of these tacos weren’t bad.  They just weren’t overwhelmingly great.

There is one roofed, semi-enclosed space with picnic tables with a few other picnic tables in completely open air. We were surprised that there weren’t more flies buzzing around. The picnic tables make it difficult for small kids to sit comfortably, even on their knees. We didn’t see any high chairs, but this place is so casual that it would not matter if your kids walked around while you hand them a bite of food each time they passed you.

Expect a lot of students and locals out walking their dogs to be at El Chilito.  It was busy the entire time that we were there.  Finding a space to sit was not a problem.  At the pickup window, I saw a few mixed up orders where people did not get something in their brown bag that they ordered.  The staff were pleasant and corrected the mistakes quickly.  The experience overall was great, and the prices are easy on the wallet as well.  The building is older so just a word of warning that if you do need to go to the restroom, they are around the back of the building like the gas stations in Nowheresville that look questionable but are functional.

El Chilito | menu
219 Manor Drive
Austin, Tejas 78722
(512) 382-3797

NEW LOCATION!
1025 Barton Springs Rd.
Austin, Tejas 78704
(512) 609-8923

HOURS (BOTH LOCATIONS)
Monday thru Friday: 7am–10pm
Saturday: 8am–10pm
Sunday: 8am–9pm

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3. Casa Colombia (East Austin)
4. Blue Dahlia Bistro (East Austin)
5. Torchy’s Tacos (Spicewood Springs location)