Chico's Tacos is a Local Phenomenon, Turned National Craze
El Paso, TX 79925
United States of America
1. The city passed a resolution for Chico's Tacos' 50th anniversary where they thanked N'Sync, Oscar de la Hoya, and other famous people for eating there.
2. My girlfriend and I returned to El Paso two years ago for my niece's graduation; our plane landed at 10:14 a.m. and we were at Chico's Tacos by 10:40 a.m., munching down a double order for breakfast. My girlfriend whined, "Why can't we figure out how to make these at home?" We are both good cooks, yet we have never been able to replicate the masterpieces of Chico's Tacos.
3. My daughter, who lives in Little Rock, ran into some friends on the boat dock who had just returned from a visit to El Paso. They were eating Chico's Tacos on the dock that they had carried back with them on the plane! My daughter screamed with amazement, "Oh my gosh - my mom is from El Paso and she loves Chico's Tacos!" Her friends replied, "We can't live without them."
4. A childhood friend threw a giant 40th birthday party for her husband. On the menu for guests - 600 Chico's Tacos complete with 100 little containers of their tongue-burning green sauce. Ed - the birthday boy, said he was going to eat one Chico's for each year he has lived. His guests could not have been happier either.
5. The ChefMoz Dining Guide on the Web is full of 5-star ratings for Chico's Tacos, with comments like "I drive 60 miles every weekend for Chico's Tacos" or, "I'm in Iraq and can't wait to get back to El Paso for my Chico's Tacos."
My favorite Chico's Tacos serves up its millions of "tacquitos" from a very old converted McDonald's building on McRae Boulevard in East El Paso. There are now five locations in the city. Every time I go back, I beg the owners to open a Chico's Tacos in whatever city I happen to be living in, since I move around a lot. They don't listen - shoot. I suppose the children of the founder, Joe Mora, have more than they can handle since taking over the business after Joe died.
It is not the deep-fried, rolled taco, filled with their secret seasoned beef recipe that people crave. It is the beef taco smothered with their special juicy red chili salsa, then loaded with tons of gooey, mild, finely shredded cheddar cheese, that completes the delicacy. If you are a real Mexican food connoisseur, then you will add the extra-hot green chili sauce to the top. Oh, I almost forgot - it MUST be a double order (six rolled tacos making the experience pure bliss.) To eat a Chico's taco, you place one prong of a fork into the end of a rolled taco, making sure you include all the toppings before you bite. Open your mouth wide - and indulge!
The ambiance is, well, fast food like an old McDonald's. They do play some really traditional Mexican music, so you feel the true cultural feeling of being across the border. They also have an old juke box in case you feel like some old-time rock-n-roll. The service is superb - it is walk-up, place your order, and in less than two minutes, you have your food. Chico's Tacos offers other food items like hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries, just in case someone in the group doesn't like tacos - (how can that be?!?) The prices range from $.99 for a single order of 3 tacos with all the toppings, to $2.49 for a double order.
Dang, I'm getting on a plane to El Paso RIGHT NOW!
Published by Aly Adair
Aly Adair is an Air Force Veteran with a career in teaching and educational publishing. Aly has an MBA and is a former small business owner. View profile
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25 Comments
Post a CommentGsan, some of your comments are exactly correct. When I first tried to make Chicos, I used 96% lean ground beef and good quality cheese. They were horrible! Now I use poor quality meat (haven't been willing to go so far as to use soy, as some suggest) and fake cheese. When I went one time to Walmart for the cheese, the guy at the deli counter actually said "You do know that is not really cheese, right?" My mom calls it government cheese. However, it is the right consistency, and melts just as you would expect. Velveeta doesn't even work as well.
I too love Chicos. If I were to take a stab at the "Why can't we replicate them" question, I would have to respond with... "Because we do care what we put in our mouths". Mystery meat, for starters, is always questionable. The sauce is mostly water and if you think you are getting "Cheddar Cheese", then you have one big surprise coming your way. It is fake cheese that is margarine based, therefore cheap to make like the rest of the meal. All you need are some tomatillos, and moms (grandmas) salsa recipe (add more water than usual), if you can't roll your own tacos, your local shopping store will have some, and get some REAL cheese. I am not joking, it took me about 3 tries and the sauce I had in the pot was pretty darn good. Nothing beats a home made meal buddy! I had not had Chicos in years and decided to try them a month ago and found out they are not the same!! They make them smaller! Oh well. If you think you can cook at home, then I suggest a trial and error challenge u
I had to move from El Paso after spending the first 38 years of my life eating Chico's, and would always bring some home on the airplane when I went for a visit, or people coming to see me would bring Chico's. Not willing to wait, I experimented over and over, and my family is now of the opinion that I have hit the recipe, dead-on! We even had some real Chico's a while back, and I made my version because we needed more, and mine were indistinguishable from the originals. I bought special dishes to replicate the shape of the paper trays, so as to maximize the amount of sauce and cheese actually sitting on top of the tacos. Now, after writing this, I am going to have to make them tonight, because I can't stand it!
i thought about opening a chico's like restaurant outside of el paso but they wont release the secret receipe. Good thing, i probably would eat it all.
ill have to disagree with all the negative comments. when i first visited ChicosTacosToGo dot com i was taken back to memory lanes. the beautifully crisp tacos covered in secret sauce and cheese. its an el paso delicacy
Sounds like a place I won't go to. You don't like gays....I don't like you.
the tacos tastes like bigotry. boycott this illegal establishment
Sorry - Look!
Hey Mick Ferreira - llok up your old friends sometime!
I grew up in El Paso, but haven't lived there for about 15 years. But you can bet, when I am there, its a bee line for Chico's and when my mom comes to visit, she's not allowed off the plane unless she's got Chico's on her person!!!(yes folks it's that serious for me) I will have my Chico's in less than a week and I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!