Taco Tuesdays: El Tiempo

Tuesday, August 20, 2013
It was a dark and stormy night........

Sounds like Houston these days, huh?

Also, I'd like to preface this blog post by apologizing profusely for missing out on last week's Taco Tuesday. I will do my utmost to make it to every Taco Tuesday on time.

Anyhoo, it was a dark and stormy night. My sister Emily was visiting from Austin, so our parents wanted to take us and the bf out to Local Pour for drinks and dinner.

And FYI, I've been hearing lately that it's the cool thing to hate on Local Pour, and all I've got to say about that is...

(That's my dog Newton. He's not very good at Hide-and-Seek.)
But this post isn't about my love for Local Pour (though I'm sure we will get to that). Because unfortunately due to the dark and storminess of the night, the power at Local Pour went out. Deterred but never dampened (ha), we ended up changing our plans and went to the El Tiempo on Montrose.


For a dark and stormy Friday night at a popular small restaurant in Houston's equivalent of NYC's East Village, I'm sure you can imagine what the wait was like.

It was long.

But we persevered! For an hour!


Needless to say, the second we got to our table we ordered a baller round of drinks.

I was doing my stupid "I'm not a margarita drinker" charade so I started off with a sangria.


It was okay, but nothing really to write home about.

I tasted my sister's frozen peach margarita, immediately regretted my lame decision, slurped down the 'gria, and promptly ordered a peach 'rita.


Much better.

We got the cheese queso to start (Yes, I realize I just said "We got the cheese cheese to start," but it's so nice I like to say it twice!), and it was probably a gallon of cheese. MASSIVE. Having not even looked at the menu yet, we didn't realize the cheese queso came in FOUR SIZES. So when our server said "What size would you like?" and we said "Large," we didn't realize we had ordered cheese queso roughly the size of Lake Travis. "There's no way we're going to eat all of that!"


Funny how cheese queso makes a liar out of you, because we were licking it off the skillet by the end.

Was it good? You betcha. I prefer my cheese queso with some meat in it, but someone at the table (EMILY) didn't want it with meat so I had to make a sacrifice.

I really am a selfless person.

Additionally, the chips at El Tiempo come with some sort of creamy green dipping sauce that is out of this world. It's tangy and completely addictive.


For our main course my mom, Emily, and I split a 1/2 pound of Fillet Fajitas, which are made with tenderloin beef.

Now. I know I may be guilty of saying "That was the best (insert food item) I have ever had" all-too-often, but believe me when I say those were the best fajitas I have ever had. Since it wasn't the usual flank steak, the meat was so tender, and I believe marinated in something. Something DELICIOUS. It also came with a SIDE OF MELTED BUTTER TO DIP THE FAJITA MEAT IN. I mean, that's pretty much the most brilliant thing I've ever heard/experienced.


The presentation of the fajitas was also wonderful. The 'jitas came out on top of a big metal box of magic, and it just made them look all the more incredible. These fajitas were so juicy and flavorful, I never want to go back to before. I want to eat those fajitas for every meal. I want to become best friends with those fajitas. I want to marry those fajitas.

Okay, I'll stop hitting on the fajitas.

Jason got some sort of crazy combination, and the two tacos that came with it were bigger than his head.


No, really.

So much food, so much deliciousness, and so many more things to say, but I will spare you. I'm just glad I now know what all the hubbub regarding El Tiempo is all about. It definitely lives up to its reputation. So go. Get the Fillet Fajitas.


I'll be looking for my wedding invitation in the mail.

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