Texas Chili Parlor Bar

2015-02 - Chili Parlor Bar: The Texas Chili Parlor Bar on Lavaca in Austin is a simple rough hewn place serving simple Tex/Mex food -- their signature dish is a “bowl of red“. It's famously mentioned in the Guy Clark song “Dublin Blues”  where he writes “I wish I was in Austin, in the Chili Parlor Bar drinking mad dog margaritas and not caring where you are“.

We've been aware of the place for years but had never stopped in. This year it became one of our “go to” places for lunch or a dinner on our way to the UT campus. Kate, as a vegetarian, was a bit leary but was pleasantly surprised by their vegetarian Chili. I mostly stuck to a spicy “bowl of red” 'cause as Tom Russell wrote “You don't put beans in chili, you don't water good wiskey down”.

We liked the place so much that we took both of our visitors. A bowl of red laced with raw onions, jalepenos and cheese with a mad dog margarita to wash it down. Yum.... Although it was hard to get a margarita without the salt.

I found their rules to live by interesting:

No Lone Star
No Checks
No Fries
No FooFoo drinks
No talking to imaginary people

I wonder what would happen if you broke the rules? I mean, after all, Lone Star beer is again made in Texas. No need to get ornery about that.