Un Rincon México Taqueria Credit: Photo By John Anderson

El Regio

1928 Riverside, 326-1888

6615 Berkman, 933-9557

9437 N. I-35, 836-5892

700 E. William Cannon, 422-0765

Monday-Thursday, 10am-10pm, Friday-Saturday, 10am-11pm
Summer is upon us in its usual aggressive manner. Already, front lawns are crisping under the relentless sun. Air-conditioning units run night and day. And we all slither indoors hoping for relief from the nuclear heat. So for many folks the thought of firing up the stove for the nightly feeding ritual is about as appealing as a rattlesnake bite. If cooking is not what you crave out of summer, then try takeout. Specifically, try El Regio. This little drive-through joint does one thing only — pollos asados — and they’ve managed to make an art of it. For those not familiar with traditional Mexican pollo asado (grilled chicken for us non-Spanish-speaking folks, though it is also a song title by the indie band Ween), it’s a fairly common snack prepared through most of Mexico. El Regio, from the Spanish term Regio Montanos, meaning the mountainous region around Monterrey, refers to the area where pollo asado is particularly popular, and where one of the owners grew up. El Regio is also a colloquial term for “quality.” The prototype for the restaurant (if it can be called that) originates with the ubiquitous snack stands that appear on just about every street corner, gas station, or bus stop around Monterrey. Like its Mexican counterparts, the Austin version evolved from a movable snack truck to a more permanent roadside shack with a convenient drive-through window.

El Regio’s pollo asado is served with the standard accompaniments — borracho beans, tortillas, grilled onions, tomato salsa, and lime wedges. Each order of a half ($6) or whole chicken ($10) comes with all these, plus a scrumptious green avocado salsa, fiery and creamy all at once. I was tempted to drink it, were it not so perilously spicy. Chickens are marinated, then grilled. El Regio’s marinade is a secret recipe, though I suspect that it has something to do with achiote and onions, which would account for the slightly tangy flavor and orange tint of the meat. All of the sides are fresh and homemade, including the generally well-salted beans and the tomato salsa. The tomato salsa is not quite as peppery as the avocado salsa but can be mildly dangerous in large quantities. The grilled white onions are charred black on the outside, mild and sweet on the inside. Tasty, convenient, and inexpensive, El Regio’s pollo asado is really an ideal take-home treat for scorching summer afternoons.

This article appears in June 13 • 2003.

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Mick Vann is a retired Austin chef who is a food writer and restaurant critic, cookbook author, restaurant consultant, and recipe developer. He moonlights as a University of Texas horticulturist with a propensity for ethnic eats and international food, particularly of the Asian persuasion, but he also knows his way around a plate of soul food or barbecue.

Rachel Feit is an archaeologist by trade who worked her way through college in kitchens in Chicago and Austin before discovering that dishing up words was more satisfying that dishing up meals. She has been writing about food and restaurants for The Austin Chronicle for more than a decade, but still loves to cook.