Texas Chili Parlor
Cooter Brown
Used to go there about once a month for 3 years when I worked nearby.
What happened to that place? The large bowl of XX had 4 huge chunks of
steak and some smaller pieces in a watery brown gravy. Absolutely zero
heat and the bowl was luke warm. My wife and I thought we were served
a bad bowl of carne guisada instead. Definitely not how I remembered
their famous chili.
Albert Nurick
Famous it may be, but delicious it is not. When I moved from Austin in
2000, it hadn't been actually good in a decade.
Shady Grove is where I go in Austin for chili.
--
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Chris
"Cooter Brown" <acht...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1139766567.7...@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I haven't been in a few months but I would suggest trying again. I've never
had watery chili like you've described so maybe they were having an off
night? Just a thought. Granted, I agree that the taste has gone downhill
from where it used to be but I just thought it was just in my head.
Cheers,
Chris
motorblade
opened TCP ...he went on to run La Zona Rosa as well i believe
He is long gone from TCP
Like many restaurants (Threadgills, Chilis(originally from Dallas)
Texas Chili Parlor, Texas french Bread, Kerbey) they start with very
high standards, gain a reputation and then run on rep after that,
despite changes in ownership, menu , management etc....that result in
profound changes to the product. I think its like listening to country
music through a crappy radio....its sometmes just the memory that
counts.
lizy
Your memory is bad. Gordons father "Wic" originated 3 alarm chili.
Gordon Fowler did not open the chili parlor. He may have never been there.
The last owner sold out about 6 years ago. It is amazing to see all you
wannabe locals who move here from Arkansas..spew such bull shit.
lizzy
motorblade
Lizzy dear....i have been here almost 30 years...moved here from Dallas
when I was 17
worked at the original Raw Deal on sabine....helped open the Theadgills
on North lamar and have met Gordon and Wic
sorry i got my facts wrong...
" He may have never been there" sounds like you don't really "know"
either
take a big breath and remember i started with "if memory serves me"
Mike Wilhite developed the recipe and has no relation to the restaurant
anymore
I just called a friend (Tim the roller derby announcer) who is a waiter
there to find out
fritz
Thomas Seay
Wic. My late father-in-law owned the building where Wick Fowler's Chili
was manufactured. It was on Barton Springs Road but I don't remember the
street address. I guess my memory's bad, too.
Tom
In article <pan.2006.02.15....@youknow.com>,
motorblade
Chris
news:pan.2006.02.15....@youknow.com...
>It is amazing to see all you
> wannabe locals who move here from Arkansas..spew such bull shit.
What the hell, lizy? Why was this last statement necessary? You made your
point but you felt the need to be a jackass... why? motorblade was
graciously trying to respond to my post with information - adding value to
the net. You, too, added value but then felt the need to be unnecessarily
mean for some unknown reason. Why?
What ever happened to being nice? What ever happened to being helpful or
informative or RESPECTFUL?
Do you feel empowered? Do you feel like you've done any good what so ever
by adding that last statement? Why can't everyone just be nice?
Chris
Jeremy
Chris wrote:
>
> "lizy" <liz...@youknow.com> wrote in message
> news:pan.2006.02.15....@youknow.com...
> >It is amazing to see all you
> > wannabe locals who move here from Arkansas..spew such bull shit.
>
>
>
> Do you feel empowered? Do you feel like you've done any good what so ever
> by adding that last statement? Why can't everyone just be nice?
>
> Chris
Probably insecure due to being the tattooed and pierced daughter of a
couple of yankees :-)
JJ (the brit)
mcar...@austin.rr.com
86 till Aug 05. Here's the REAL history of the parlor. TCP was owned
by Mike Wilhite until 2000. Originally, Wilhite had other partners,
but he bought them out. Tom Chase then bought the restaurant and things
went downhill quickly. I worked as a line cook, prep cook and manager.
When Wilhite sold, I fought tooth and nail to preserve the spirit of
the joint. Eventually, I left due to Chase's incompetence. About 1 1/2
years later, Chase lost the bar when it was seized by the state for
non-payment of taxes. Long-time bar patron Scott Zublin rescued the
TCP and I came back as prep cook. While i worked there, I made the
majority of the chili. I also developed the recipes for the Habanero,
Black Bean and Sausage, and Vegetarian chilis. The recipe for the
regular chili is no secret, and Whilihite used to make chili kits for
people to make their own at home. What has changed is the quality of
the meat used. For years we used Texas Meat Purveyors. They were
bought by Sysco and the quality of the product suffrered. We could no
longer get FRESH meat, it was all frozen, cryo-vacced (sp?) and gassed.
We then used Longhorn Meat until the price was just too high. Due to
the crazy costs of beef, we then used a frozen product that came from
Houston. I fought for using local, fresh meat, but the economics
prevailed and compromises were made. The size of the stew meat was
different and the "chili-grind" was also a different consistancey.
That's where it was when I left to pursue a different carreer.
As a side note, the original post was about the XXX chili. There are a
lot of factors as to why the XXX could be "off". XXX is the least sold
of the three varities, therefore it sits the longest. The longer it
sits, the more it breaks down due to heat and the large amount of chili
spice. Often times, A pot of XXX would sit on the line for the most of
the day. Water is added periodically to peserve it's consisitancey.
Sometimes, it would have to be thrown out due to it's braking down over
time. Not to make excuses, but it sound like thats what. Go back and
try it again. If you get another bad bowl, bring it to their attention
and let them have a chance to make it right. The TCP is an icon for
the more laid-back, easy times of "old Austin". Unfortunately, things
can't always stay the same as much as we would like them to. I think
my dates are all correct, but sometimes my memory is a little hazy.
Afterall, I worked at the TCP fro nearly 20 years.
Chris
news:1140379730.7...@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> My name is Rick Carney and I worked at the Texas Chili Parlor from Aug
Rick-
Thanks for taking the time to post this. I've always wanted to know more
about the TCP.
Cheers,
Chris
motorblade
Now THERE is some information
thanks
motorblade
Steve Wertz wrote:
> On 19 Feb 2006 12:28:28 -0800, "motorblade" <motor...@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Now THERE is some information
>
>
> -sw
apparently some lurk and wait for people to make obvious gaffs(i am
talking about me)
perhaps if we make more unsubstantiated claims we will bring out the
actual working chefs
fritz
David RL Gärtner, RMT
choked out these words:
>perhaps if we make more unsubstantiated claims we will bring out the
>actual working chefs
hey, that sounds like an excellent idea!
i know for a fact that in many Austin restaurants, elephant meat
is substituted for beef without the consumer's knowledge. it's
true. just ask any chef working in Austin today.
david
--
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Frank Mancuso
I believe Gordon Fowler is married to Marcia Ball.
motorblade
So she is Marcia Ball-Fowler.....good thing she doesn't play baseball
so what did they eat at their wedding? (just trying to find the
relation to food here , since i completely missed that boat)
the wharf rat
David RL Gärtner, RMT <derba...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>i know for a fact that in many Austin restaurants, elephant meat
>is substituted for beef without the consumer's knowledge. it's
>true. just ask any chef working in Austin today.
>
Only for certain cuts. For instance, trunk is much less
expensive than canadian bacon so it shows up on pizzas.
Lizzy
> On 19 Feb 2006 12:28:28 -0800, "motorblade" <motor...@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
>>Now THERE is some information
>
> I wish we had more people here that work in the industry.
>
> -sw
You are a BUSBOY. WTF do you know about de INDUSTry???????
harriswest
Long hours, shit work, watching the head and sous barking orders like
their shit don't stink, feeling like you been run through the meat
grinder by two or three in the AM when the shift ends, the pans have
stopped clanging, everythings gleaming stainless again and the only
sound is the hum of the refrigerators...
Yeah. That Spermwad character is obviously ignorant. F*** him and his
opinions, f***ing busboy. He doesn't have a clue like you dining staff
do. Just look at the quality of his posts compared to yours, for god's
sake.
BTW, did the syphilis you contracted from the Maitre'd ever clear up? I
heard he originally got it from his dog. If his intent was to f*** your
brains out, he missed his chance - someone beat him to it.
--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX
harriswest
> hearts at Fiesta. Usually you can only find the more mature beef
> hearts. Anybody seen lamb hearts anywhere?
>
> -sw
Michoacana on 7th, not regularly. When they have em, they have em, when
they don't, they don't - as my loving bride enjoys saying. You could
get 'em from SA but you'd have to order a case. I'm in....
Jeremy
Steve Wertz wrote:
>
> ObFood: Sliced calves-heart sandwich for lunch. They had calves
> hearts at Fiesta. Usually you can only find the more mature beef
> hearts. Anybody seen lamb hearts anywhere?
>
> -sw
Try the halal butchers.
JJ
Jeremy
Steve Wertz wrote:
> >
> >Try the halal butchers.
>
> I thought about that but I figured they were prohibited. Googling
> says otherwise. There's even such a thing as Kosher hearts.
>
> Is that Halal butcher still on Lamar between Peyton Gin and
> Rundberg? Last I heard MGM moved to Burnet and it turned into
> something else (also mid-eastern).
>
> -sw
If they will not sell them to you, ask what time they throw them out :-)
\
JJ
the wharf rat
Steve Wertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:
>
>There's even such a thing as Kosher hearts.
>
Oy, he may be a goyim but he has a Kosher heart...
eln...@gmail.com
corear...@gmail.com
Any chance you could share the habanero chili recipe?
Thank you