Austin, Texas, USA
Chili and more
Dined in March 2015
My first day visiting Austin, Texas had me wandering down town to see the amazing Capitol Building, followed by a lunch at a place my girlfriend recommended as a must for lunch in Austin. I’ve always been a fan of chili, but especially Texas Chili with no beans. After touring the Capitol building, we ate lunch with a few of her friends at the Texas Chili Parlor, a very memorable experience, even though the chili had beans.
Scroll down to read the main review
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Follow Wine, dine, and Play:
Star ratings chart:
5 stars
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Extraordinary |
| 4 stars | Outstanding |
| 3 stars | Exceeded expectations |
| 2 stars | Above average |
| 1 star | Average |
| No star rating | Basic, poor, or appalling |
Review basics:
Overall Star rating by Wine, Dine, & Play:
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3 of 5
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Quality of food:
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7 of 10
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Presentation:
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6 of 10
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Customer service:
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6 of 10
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Ambiance:
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6 of 10
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Corkage fee’s:
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American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
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Restaurant style:
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Casual
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Dress code:
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Casual, or Conservative attire
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Reservations:
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Not Required
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Walk-in:
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Accepted
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette. Hire a Babysitter. See Alinea Baby Gate, god I love Alinea. |
Cuisine style:
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Contemporary, American, Southern, & Tex-Mex
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Music styles:
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Background instrumental
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Experiences:
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Place for foodies, Hot spot, Great bar, Rustic, Hole-in-the-wall, Intimate, Tourist grabber, and a Neighborhood gem.
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Gratuities:
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Industry standard is 18-20% added to parties of 6 or more
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Payments:
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Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
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Parking:
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Street Parking
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Transport options:
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Bus, taxi, limousine, personal vehicle, and walking
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Wifi
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Medium
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Smoking:
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Nonsmoking restaurant
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Patio:
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No
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Food price per person
(Excluding tax & gratuity)
Price chart:
$£€¥ - Under 50.00
$£€¥ x 2 - Under 75.00
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00
**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**
My food bill:
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Currency:
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Price chart:
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$8.95
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$
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£6.00
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Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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£
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€8.00
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European Union (EUR)
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€
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$12.00
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$
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$12.00
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Australian Dollar (AUS)
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$
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¥55.00
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥
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To get up to date currency rates:
Scroll down below the main review to see cost of wines and tasting notes.
From restaurants home page:
Welcome to the one, the only, the original Texas Chili Parlor. An Austin institution since 1976, TCP is many things to many people. To Texas legislators, TCP is a favorite lunch spot, just up the street from the state capitol.
To University of Texas students and fans, TCP is a great sports bar, with plenty of enthusiasm for all the UT teams. To a core group of devoted regulars, TCP is that place "where everybody knows your name.” And to all of Austin, TCP has become a landmark, a not-to-be-missed bit of local color. A visit to TCP will do your spirit good—great food, full bar, lively staff, and funky atmosphere sure to spark your appetite. Great chili? That goes without saying, and there's lots more on the Menu—amazing enchiladas, big juicy burgers, sumptuous sandwiches, special salads, magnificent munchies, and terrific tacos.
Main review:
The Texas Chili Parlor is a very relaxed restaurant, and a friendly atmosphere, where the walls are covered with pictures and license plates. My girlfriend and I met with a few of her friends, some of whom were also from outside of town like me. The City of Austin was shaping up to be a fantastic place, as I had only been here for two days. Between the many things to see downtown and the restaurants, it would be an amazing week long adventure.
The menu here at the Texas Chili Parlor included a lot more than just chili of course, from a various amount of Tex-Mex style starters, salads, burgers, enchiladas, tacos, and speciality dinners ranging from pork chops, fajitas, and steaks. But of course being in Texas, I was at the chili parlor for its name sake, Texas Chili. One thing I did discover from the chili selections available, is that they all had beans, even though I had been taught long ago that traditional Texas Chili did not have beans. This didn’t take away from how good their chili was of course, it just was a minor let down. I would later discover that in Austin, it was hard to find a restaurant that did have chili without beans.
I started with a local brewed beer called the Austin Amber, a Belgian style malt that was very tasty. The group chose a variety of starters and taster bowls of chili, whereas I went with the chili sampler, 3 small cups of any choice of chili. I decided on the White Chili, Black Bean & Elgin Sausage Chili, and the XX. The white chili being my favorite of the group, but the Hot Sausage from the Elgin Sausage Company was also very tasty.
This Restaurant reminds me of:
A nice place to have a lunch that I wouldn’t mind returning to one day that also reminded me of a restaurant at the Conrad hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa called Alex Restaurant, and a nice restaurant in Dubai at the Hyatt Park Hotel that served a mixture of local and exotic foods called Café Arabesque.
Other Austin favorites:
Benji’s Cantina
Texas Chili Parlor
Home Slice Pizza
Güero's Taco Bar
Perla’s Seafood and Oyster Bar
Qui Restaurant
Other trending story’s on Wine, Dine, and Play:
Restaurant address:
1409 Lavaca Street
Austin, Texas 78701
Neighborhood:
Downtown
Cross streets:
West 14th & West 15th Streets
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: 30.276983
Longetude: -97.741940
Contact Information:
Maître d, Reservations:
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512-472-2828
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Restaurant Website:
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Email:
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Social Media:
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Hours:
Monday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Tuesday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Wednesday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Thursday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Friday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Saturday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Sunday
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11:00 am–2:00 am
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Standard Time (GMT -6:00)
Review by:
Chef Sean Overpeck (CFE)
Chef Sean cooks for soldiers in Afghanistan, 2012:
"Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well."
TTFN
