2009-11-05

Visiting My Uncle's Place

UJ-SIGNA couple of weeks back, I stopped by my uncle's place.  Uncle Julio's Hacienda.  I needed to go back to the old neighborhood to swing by Victoria's Secret to pick up Sass's gift card.  As I was walking by on my way back to the "L", the smell of this restaurant pulled me in.  It was the smell of steak fajitas.  I think they pump it into the air to get you.UJ-FrontWhile a chain, Uncle Julio's isn't that wide spread, so it has the feeling of a upscale local joint, rather than Chi-Chi's.  As you can see, there's plenty of color and neon both inside and out.UJ-Inside But the decor is not the start of the show.  The food and drink are.

UJ-Marg

The first item to come out was my margarita.  It's called a "swirl" because it's layers of regular frozen and frozen strawberry margaritas.  It is their signature drink.

For a reason.

Man is it good.

While it goes down smoooooth, I stuck to only one.  But man, a second one would have been awesome.


UJ-ChipsThe chips and salsa come out next.

The salsa is nice and spicy, but I wish it was a little thicker.

But the chips?  Oh, my, the chips.  They are the thinnest little wafers of corn and grease and salt that you have ever had the pleasure of tasting.  They are simply divine. UJ-FOODThen comes the fajitas.   Sizzling seasoned steak, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomatoes, lettuce, and grilled onions.  Yummy.  But what's hiding under that napkin?  Fresh made, soft, flour tortillas.  They are made on "The Machine", which, if you ask any kid under 14 or man over 30, is the best thing in the joint.UJ-MACHINE An automated tortilla maker.  It's like a Rube Goldberg device. Except not.  It isn't over engineer and overly complicated.  In fact, it is simple in it's complexity.  Elegant in it's cogs and wheels, and spinning bits.

Lumps of dough goes in, gets flattened, cooked, flipped, cooked, flipped, and then conveyed into a basket.  And if you ask nice, they may give you a wad of dough to play with.

Uncle Julio, has never done me wrong yet.

12 comments:

Cora said...

Oh stop - now I'm hungry for fajitas and all I've got is mushed up baby food and soup! *pout*

Cool machine though. And even cooler that you lined up there with the kids to watch it! Hee hee hee! You're such a cutie!!!!

wigsf said...

I haven't been to a Chi Chi's in years. I didn't know they were still around. Are they still around? Off to Google...

I'm back. Nope, not anymore. Well, not in the US. The company left Canada years ago. Destroyed by the rise of Taco Bell.

JenJen said...

It's not lady like to drool. And I just did.

Charming.

SkylersDad said...

Yum, sounds great! And I wouldn't have been able to resist a second one of those drinks. You are strong with the force.

Moooooog35 said...

I swear I've seen that same tortilla machine in the movie 'Sweeney Todd.'

You sure that's beef in your fajita?

Ellie Mae said...

Your great pix and description succeeded in making me hungry, even though I just had a big lunch! I'll keep this place in mind the next time we are there.

Scope said...

Ellie Mae - There are also locations in Atlanta and Washington, DC, too. I know you get to there more frequently than Chicago.

Anonymous said...

Those pictures are awesome! I want a Margarita too!

The Peach Tart said...

Now you have me craving margaritas and fajitas.

~E said...

I was gonna make fun of you for the girly pink drink with the straw.

But then I saw the amount of food you had to ingest and decided to keep my mouth shut.

ShanaM said...

Sounds both yummy and fun. Like every meal should be!!

Cowguy said...

*bumps fists with Scope*

Girl drinks are awesome when you're a big enough guy to put the smackdown on the smartasses.