Chuys Restaurant in Austin, Travis County, United States | Restaurant

Welcome to Chuys Restaurant, Austin, Texas, United States. The Original Chuy?s can be found on Barton Springs Rd., Austin, Texas (Circa 1982). Before it was Chuys Restaurant, it was an old barbecue joint that had since shut its doors. And in 1982 when owners, Mike Young & John Zapp found it, there was seating for about sixty, a dirt parking lot, a women?s restroom the size of a broom closet & a men?s room that was, uh, outside. So they decided to turn it into a Mexican food Restaurant. Problem was, they had zero budget to get started, including the Restaurant décor. Fortunately, they didn?t let that stop them.
The décor was simple. After all, there was only $20.00 to work with. Yes, the decimal point is in the right place. So Mike headed out the door with his $20 & guaranteed John he?d be back with something. As he puts it, ?You can?t fake cheap.? It didn?t take long for him to spot a vendor selling velvet paintings on the side of the road. He bought two, Stevie Wonder & Elvis & brought back the change. Walls were done, the floor was next.
?We could never decide on a floor tile color,? says Mike ?So we chose a bunch of colors & laid them out to look like we planned it that way.? Soon after, the doors opened & their plan to serve fresh, tasty, affordably priced Tex-Mex became a reality.