After many years, I am back on the hunt for amazing chilaquiles. If you are interested in chilaquiles, the Fois Gras Hot Dog blog has been tracking the dish in my absence.
Taqueria Guadalajara (formerly Taqueria Arandinas)
6534 Burnet Road (near Yard Bar, Bufalina Due, and Jewboy Subs)
Arandinas was suggested on Reddit as a great spot for chilaquiles, but by the time I actually got around to visiting, it was now Taqueria Guadalajara. I don’t know if it’s the same owners as the other Arandinas locations around town, so I may have to stop by one of those as well.
Overall, these were classic chilaquiles and I was very satisfied. If I compare them to my all time favorites at Los Altos, they are missing the sour cream and absolutely perfect cheese that Los Altos uses. The cheese at Guadalajara was not melted until I mixed it into my chilaquiles. However, Guadalajara gets extra points for having onions and green chiles in the salsa. The onions have enough tooth in them to provide additional texture, so that you feel like you are eating a composed dish and not just salsa and chips. Unlike some chilaquiles, this one feels like more than the sum of its parts.
Guadalajara allows you to choose from several options including roja or verde and different proteins. Just for fun, here’s a picture of the Migas Supremas.
Cheesecake Factory
10000 Research Blvd Suite 4602 (The Arboretum)
One of my friends was given $200 worth of gift cards to the Cheesecake Factory so she took us for her birthday. The Cheesecake Factory is the Texas of restaurants. Everything is much larger and ostentatious than it needs to be. The ceilings are huge, the booths are huge, and the drinks are huge. I apologize in advance that I don’t remember very much about these chilaquiles as a result.
They were better than you would think but as far as chilaquiles go… they were interesting. Most of the dish was an egg and carnitas scramble. This scramble sat in a soup of tomatillo salsa along with seven chips, so it didn’t quite meet the definition of chilaquiles. There was also no cheese, but I do love a big blog of sour cream. The combination would have been flavorful, if it had a bit more salt. Unfortunately the watery salsa gave it an unpleasant texture that could have been remedied with more chips.
Taco Joint
2809 San Jacinto Blvd (North Campus)
(Sorry, I didn’t get a photo! It was after going to the gym, so my brain was mush.)
Taco Joint is my favorite place in town to get tacos. Every single one of their salsas would be in the running for my top ten salsa list. Their pecan iced coffee is so good I always manage to shotgun it before I’m done eating instead of nursing it all day long to prevent over-caffeination. Their prices are unrealistically low. I love, love, love Taco Joint.
Their chilaquiles, however, are terrible. Sorry. They don’t use tortilla chips but instead use what appear to be fried wontons. Maybe they are made from their flour tortillas. I don’t recommend them, but maybe that’s a good thing. It means the struggle over what to order is slightly easier.
Lazarus Brewing
4803 Airport Blvd
Fois Gras Hot Dog ranked Lazarus as one of their top chilaquiles in the city, whereas I am ranking it much lower. It’s a matter of taste; I prefer a big sloppy plate of melty cheese and beans. Lazarus chilaquiles are in the “fancy chilaquiles” category. They have avocado and pickled red onion and black beans, all foods that I love independently. Unfortunately, the portion size is small, the cheese is unmelted, and the chilaquiles themselves are quite dry. Notice that you can’t even see salsa in this photo, as beautiful as the bowl is.
Current Rankings
- Los Altos
- Taqueria Guadalajara
- Eldorado Cafe
- El Tacorrido
- Veracruz All Natural
- Lazarus Brewing
- Taco Joint
- Cheesecake Factory