Chuy Arzola’s

Wow! Just saw that this place has closed, good news! The old Chuy’s in Dogtown was incredibly good for drinks/​appetizers or dinner, but this place –Chuy’s in name only, was disgusting.
I went for dinner once and my refried beans still had the indented circles from where they came out of the can. The whole thing was just awful, suspect it was one of the worst places to go in St. Louis while it was open.
Good riddance!

Alright, I know this review goes against the crowd, but at least for experience i have had I have been well pleased with Chuys and for their steak fajita I am giving them 4 stars. The service has always been acceptable. I always get their steak fajitas. this dish has decent slice of a marinated steak with a slight citrus flavor. The larger slices and flavor are different than your standard fajita and the typical st. L restaurant. and very tasty.
Also, a long happy hour with cheap beer prices
Like most places free chips and salsa on seating. The salsa is just so/​so, but not bad.
I did try the jalepeno hush puppies once and they were very poor. But again, on the steak fajita, they do a good job, so if you are a fajita person, I would try them here, and hopefully the restaurant will continue to improve.

Blech. Bland food, poor service. This place would not exist if it didn’t serve cheap, filling food to college students.

If you want good, cheap drinks go here…
If you want to get wasted and by that time you won’t care what the food taste like, go here…
If you are in the area and want a cheap, quick lunch and don’t really care if the food is mediocre, go here…
The food is edible, but bland. The drinks are solid! Use Unilocal check-​in for the 15% off discount!

½ star wasn’t available. Perhaps it would have been higher, but we didn’t even make it to the table.
I have eaten here before a year or so ago, and was willing to give this place another shot.
We arrived here on a Monday evening around 730. The patio was full, so we proceeded to enter the bar area. On our way in, we passed the bartender who was outside smoking. Once inside, we waiting for five minutes before being greeted by our cigarette smoking bartender. Great start.
Two TVs in the bar. One had on Hoarders, the other football. We asked if we can put the Cardinals baseball game on (must be an odd request in STL??). The bartender replied «There is a show on at 9, and the other TV is for football.» I inquired which show, and why we couldnt watch the game for 1.5 hours. She replied, «Bad Girls Club.» Seriously?
At this point we turned right around and left. I cannot believe that this bartender was either this stuck up and was told by mgt to turn away business, or she was just a foolish college kid. I hope its not the latter, because I went to SLU and hope she isn’t representation of this fine college.
Anyway, don’t waste your time even considering this place. Read the reviews about the service. Even if the food was outstanding, the service is some of the worst I have ever experienced.

Yeah, I’m not really a fan of Chuy’s.
I came here once about a year and a half ago and ended up feeling kind of sick that night. I chalked it up to a weird dairy reaction, but didn’t care about going back. Today, though, the office was excited about the spring-​like weather and wanted to walk somewhere closeby. Cue Chuy’s.
Cue meh-​ness.
Chuy’s offered a special «rapido» lunch menu where you could get one of about 8 entrees (with beans and rice) along with a drink and dessert for $ 9.99. The rapido menu also promised that they’d bring your food out within 15 minutes within certain hours. Before I could carefully look at the rapido menu, the server took our drink orders. I uncharacteristically ordered a Sierra Mist with no ice, since it was going to be included in the menu deal.
All of that sounded good, except once I actually got to read the menu, I didn’t see a vegetarian option. I sighed and ordered chiles rellenos from the regular menu, and the menu said it came with black beans and white rice. I asked to substitute Mexican rice instead of white and was told this would be fine.
Despite not being on the rapido menu, my entrée came out at the same time as the others. Unfortunately, my soda had ice in it and my rice was white. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I just started eating. My pepper had some veggies in it — spinach, maybe some squash or zuchini — and was topped with red sauce and cheese, but it was all very bland. There was no spice, and I couldn’t tell the veggies apart. Likewise, my rice had no taste, and the black beans weren’t very good.
It came time to order dessert, and we had our choice of sheet cake or sopapilla. I chose sopapilla, though I haven’t eaten it yet as I had it immediately boxed to go.
There was a bit of an issue with the bills. About 8 of us dined, but Chuy’s insisted on putting us all on one check. Some paid with cash, but quite a few of us had to use cards. That’s all fine, but our server ended up splitting the checks evenly. For many people, this was ok — a lot of folks had the $ 9.99 special. However, some people ordered extra sour cream and guac (for an extra cost), and my entrée was supposed to be $ 1 less than the others. Again, we shrugged and paid it, but we weren’t happy.
I likely won’t be back again.

Awful food, awful service, just all around awful.
I came here for lunch one day and I ordered a margarita and a beef enchilada. The margarita was actually really good! But it was like pulling TEETH to get it. The air-​headed waitress kept bending my ID back and forth like she didn’t believe it was legit. OK I get that out of state IDs look suspicious but wtf? The restaurant is pretty much across the street from a COLLEGE. Derp derp. Not everyone who attends SLU is from Missouri or Illinois! I mean, if I get pulled over, THAT is what I am going to show the officer, d’oh. And really? Me using a fake ID to buy ONE margarita during THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY? Come on, now. Seriously. She must have been bored.
The food was… should I even call it food? Might as well be dog food. The enchilada was bland and lacking in flavor. The meat was not ground beef how I like my enchilada meat, but rather tough and stringy «steak.» Or something. The rice and beans were an utter disgrace to Mexican food everywhere. I get that it’s supposed to be «Tex-​Mex» but if you want GOOD Tex-​Mex, go to Manchester and hit up Atomic Cowboy. Seriously. =(It tastes like they went to Schnuck’s and grabbed the first can of rice and beans they saw on the shelf and opened it up and poured it all over the enchilada. No flavor. No nothing. It was even kinda watery. Ugh. I couldn’t even finish my meal. Even Iggy’s was better than this place. At least the staff at Iggy’s were all pretty much Hispanic and seemed to know how to take care of their customers — Chuy’s is far less hospitable and now Iggy’s is closed, so if you want Mexican, and you are a college kid without a car… yeah. Well, there’s also Salsarita’s in the student center but yeah, uh, ’nuff said. Or Del Taco. ‘Nuff said again.
I might be willing to give Chuy’s another try for happy hour margaritas since they were pretty much the only redeeming aspect of my first trip there… and maybe if they had appetizers for less money during said happy hour, then yes. I might try it again. Might. Oh and by the way the guy who owns Chuy’s also owns Café Ventana and it is pretty much understood that he only hires girls who are «pretty» or «sexy» for waitstaff jobs from what I have heard from a friend who used to work for him. Yeah. Ugh. Wtf. At least Ventana has better food than Chuy’s, lol, and the staff there seem to be more hipster and less sorority bimbos.

Boyfriend and I tried this place out before going to the Moolah for a late-​night movie… Eh, I won’t be going back.
I am guessing it’s a SLU bar and it would be ok for some cheap beers ($ 2 buds Wednesday night, and other specials other nights I think) before going out… but the food was not very good.
I had the taco salad and boyfriend had the chicken and spinach quesadillas. To me, the food was like ordering off a menu’s Mexican section of a bar that does not specialize in any type of food besides mediocre bar food that sorta tastes good when you’re drunk. Does that make sense? The salsa was not good either.
Las Palmas is still our favorite mexican place in town… be going there next time!

What can I say other than bland food, expensive prices, and bad service? Oh yeah, the unholiest of insults to a Mexican food establishment: a weak margarita.
Now its been awhile since I have been here so I give it the two stars based on the idea that maybe it could get better. I doubt it.
When this placed moved to the Coronado, I heard rave reviews, «The best Mexican in St. Louis is back!» I was ecstatic also due to the fact that it was in walking distance from my boyfriend’s apartment. Perfect storm for a margarita marathon
Awful would describe the cheese dip that cost $ 8 dollars! I like Velveeta as much as the next guy but for eight dollars I could have made about 20 pounds of queso of that quality.
All in all, there are so many delicious Mexican restaurants in the area that its horribly disheartening to waste time, money, and calories on mediocrity.

I love a good happy hour place and Chuy’s is no exception to that. $ 3 appetizers (chicken nachos, hush puppies, cheese quesadillas, and more!) and $ 2 domestics equals a good and cheap time.
Word of caution: the food isn’t great but it is filling so if you’re looking for a place to meet up with friends while having some munchies and a few drinks without putting a dent in your wallet, then this is definitely the place to go!

ATMOSPHERE = 1 stars
Room was echo-​ey, very loud with not that many people there. No music or anything inside, just a lot of noise. Decorations were not so great. Staff not very friendly.
FOOD = 2 Stars
Went with the $ 20 for appetizer, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert deal for 2.
Appetizer = Chips and Queso… and salsa. The Salsa was so-​so, the queso was not so great, it was lacking flavor though. It tasted like a cheap brand that you could just throw in the microwave after buying from the grocery store.
Entrée #1 = Veggie Enchiladas, so so, not very flavorful, overcooked veggies
Entrée #2 = The Austin, was like a mexican egg roll enchilada but with mostly chicken inside & guacamole on top. It tasted good, the sides were good as well but I didn’t feel so great afterwards.
Dessert = Sopapillas, basically just a fried tortilla with cinnamon and honey on top of it, but not sure if that’s how it normally is… should have gone with the fried ice cream.
Probably won’t be returning

We went here on Saturday night after the movie at the Moolah.
There were four of us and only one of us liked the food. The thumbs up went to the corn and poblano chowder. The others did not finish their entrees and did not bother to take the leftovers home.
A live band started playing. Not overbearing loud, but loud enough to make conversation difficult.

The set up here is very nice. Located by SLU in a beautifully renovated historic building, they have a great patio and nice décor.
Too bad the food is bad. Very bland, unexciting, and rich. We ordered a sampler of several items and couldn’t eat most of it. I would compare it to Casa Gallardo. If you like Casa Gallardo, you will probably like this. I can’t eat food like that and I will usually eat anything.
If it weren’t for the location, it would get one star from me.

I attended a birthday party here last weekend and the only thing positive to report was that it was a gorgeous day and we got to sit outside. That’s about it.
Even the free chips and salsa were disappointing. The chips lacked salt in a big way and the salsa was beyond hot. A couple orders of queso landed on our table and immediately solidified in that Velveeta-​esque way (I don’t remember the queso being like this in the old Dogtown spot). My baja fish tacos were lacking the fish and accompanied by some undercooked beans and rice. Blah.
Nice space, but pretty awful food. I’ll stick to Mi Ranchito when the night calls for Mexican food.

I literally thought I was going to vomit when I saw the mound of cheese ladled onto my plate of food, as well as my boyfriend’s. Grossss…
The salsa was more like a heavy gazpacho, and the service wasn’t the best. The menu is also very limited.

Boy, I really loved this place when it was in dog town. This new location was a shock for me. I ordered fajitas and not only was in not served on a hot plate the dish was actually cold!
My friend ordered fish taco’s which were boring and bland and the margaritas were just OK. I won’t be back soon.

I like Mexican food, but this stuff is only so-​so. It can hit spot if you’re hungry, but the variety of dishes I’ve tried here are kind of bland, especially for the price.
Caveats to the above: Chuy’s has a solid happy hour, generally good service, and the patio is excellent. If you go for happy hour though, beware: although ads for happy hour are laid on every table, the specials only apply to people sitting in certain areas. This rule is mercilessly enforced, so double check with your server before you launch into the $ 1 tacos and cheap drinks.

Wow, I was surprised to see so many low ratings on here.
I’m not the biggest fan of Mexican (my gf is), but I do love Tex-​Mex and Chuy’s rocks.
The patio is amazing on a nice night and they have live music playing a lot of times on the weekend.
Now, I do say this and I have only had the same dish every time, but for the four times I have been there, the fajitas have been amazing. I have had fajitas all over the world and these are the best I have ever had. The meat is actually barbequed and tastes amazing.(someone mentioned no sizzling plate, there’s no need for a sizzling plate if it’s not cooked on there). You can tell the beef and chicken have been marinated.
Great chips and salsa and some great micro-​brews.

There was a time when I really enjoyed Chuy’s. When it first opened in its new location on Lindell, I loved it. The food was good, the menu selection vast, and the margaritas (house, frozen) were fantastic! Two and I was tipsy to the point of needing to be driven home by my hubby. Well, fast forward a few months to this past weekend. Things have changed, and not for the better.
This past Saturday (October 17, 2009), I went to Chuy’s with my husband and in-​laws, expecting more of what I received upon visiting around the time of their grand opening. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that. Let me tell you what I (and the rest of my party) did get, instead.
First, let’s address food. My in-​laws ordered the steak fajitas for two, and while they were good enough tasting, they were not delivered on a sizzling platter. Isn’t this a must for good fajitas in a Tex Mex or Mexican restaurant? I always thought so. That’s part of the fajita’s charm. Granted, my in-​laws had no complaints about the fajitas, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen fajitas served this way.
As for me, I ordered the pork carnitas chimichanga, expecting something crisp, delicious, and filled with shredded pork, similar to what I’ve ordered in other Mexican establishments. Sadly, what I got was a less than crisp fried burrito of sorts, filled with a small bit of pork, lots of onions, and lots of shredded green veggies of some sort, which by the way were not tasty. On top, it was slathered with salsa of some sort, which only served to make the already less than crisp chimichanga shell, even soggier. Why not cheese on top? Why not just good, seasoned pork in the middle as filling? Why was it so bland? I was very disappointed.
My husband ordered the fish tacos, which were spicy and crisp, made with tilapia, and he seemed to like them well enough, though we both had complaints about the beans and rice served with our entrees, both of which were void of flavor. I dont’ remember either side dish being so bland when I first visited Chuy’s. This was a disappointment.
The highlight of the meal for all parties involved was the fried ice cream dessert and the queso dip. I give kudos to both items. The queso was creamy and had a good flavor, and the ice cream used in the fried ice cream dessert was very smooth on the tongue. We all agreed it was a winner.
On the other hand, one thing that wasn’t a winner was the Chuy’s margarita. As I mentioned before, when I first visited Chuy’s I fell in love with their house, frozen margarita. Made in a machine, it was super cold, and near perfect in flavor, texture, and amount of tequila. However, that’s not the case now that the frozen machine is no longer a fixture in the restaurant (which our waiter explained). The margarita I received was made in a blender. Lots of ice chunks that didn’t get blended well, and it wasn’t all that great tasting. It was also very low on alcohol. Chuy’s uses Juarez tequila, which is one of the most inexpensive tequilas you can buy. Seems like they could spring for at least a full shot in their margaritas?
All in all, I was very unhappy after this visit, especially considering I liked it so much the first time I went. I remember telling the manager I was pleased that day during their grand opening, but Saturday, had I seen the manager at that point, I’d have told him the opposite. Maybe it will get better, maybe not, but if that’s going to happen things need to go back to the way they were when they first opened. I won’t be back until then.

Oh man. Chuy, Chuy, Chuy.
We all need a get wasted/​Americana-​TexMex place from time to time. No matter how much alcohol you drink to dull your palette here, the food flat-​out sucks. Big time.
There’s a degree of acceptability that is simply not met here and it’s worsened by the prices. As mentioned in other reviews, the quality really is astonishingly like that of Taco Bell – just double or triple the price you pay at TB. Tortillas, cheese, meat… everything. No difference!
I also happen to love the freak-​of-​nature Amerexican concoction called Fried Ice Cream. Here, they just roll ice cream in Cinnamon Toast Crunch and charge you $ 5 for it! Absurd.