Off the hook...

Phil loves the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network. If you haven’t seen it, the host, Guy Fieri, travels around the country, visiting off the wall eateries. If you don’t know who he is, he’s the guy on the T.G.I.Friday’s commercials. Big guy with spiky bleached blonde hair and a little beard. He says ‘off the hook’ a lot in the show and wears sunglasses. He’s very cute… but then again, I think I might have a penchant for big guys with blonde hair… ;)

Anyway, last week we happened to be watching it and Guy was in Austin. The theme that week was ‘Spicy burgers’ or some such thing. So, I’ll just say… the Linsons love some spice. The spicier the better. Even the kids eat salsa and that spicy jalapeno ranch dip like it’s going out of style. And when I say ‘salsa’, I mean chunky pico de gallo with onions and jalapenos… not that namby-pamby tomato sauce crap that our neighbors to the north call ‘salsa’.

Guy was at a place on Sixth Street called ‘Casino el Camino’, which of course, we had to go to for lunch yesterday. It certainly wasn’t a diner, nor was it a drive-in. That leaves us with… yes, my friends… it was a ‘dive’.

A dark, dingy little bar situated between two tattoo places. Of course, the kids were all clamoring that they wanted to go in and get a tattoo. Until I explained that THESE tattoos weren’t of the ‘wet the back with a sponge and peel off’ variety.

I almost went back to the car when we first walked in. It smelled smoky and was very dark, even at noon. I thought, “McDonald’s, here we come.”

But imagine my surprise to discover that they had a beautiful little enclosed patio, painted to look like Mayan ruins, with iron patio tables and chairs, and a little fountain. The weather was beautiful and the patio quickly filled with that eclectic sampling of people that you only get in Austin, Texas. Families, college kids recovering from their Halloween weekend with the ‘hair of the dog’ (bet they just loved my kids! Haha!), a few older folks…

And the food? Yummy. And spicy, as promised by Guy. Phil and I ordered the two recommendations they had featured on the show. The Buffalo Burger and the Amarillo Burger, both of which we cut in half and swapped. And of course, no visit to a ‘dive’ is complete without a basket of chili cheese fries (yes, I'll be eating salads the rest of the week!) Which were so super good, that Libby threw a fit because everyone was eating ‘her’ French fries. (Once again, I just know those kids with hangovers were re-thinking their lunch establishment choice…)

So, I have to give the Casino el Camino a thumbs-up… their ambience is a little questionable, and our waitress was a bit surly (maybe she had a hangover, too? And that lip ring had to hurt.), but the patio and food made up for it. Guy was right… it’s ‘off the hook'.

Oh, and if you order the Amarillo Burger, I HIGHLY recommend scraping off the serrano peppers before you take your first bite! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…