Chuy’s Tex-Mex replaces Macaroni Grill in Woodbridge

Think of it like a Mexican diner.

Chuy’s will open in the old Romano’s Macaroni Grill on Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge. Construction crews since last week have been working on getting rid of the makings of the old Italian restaurant to make way for the new Tex-Mex eatery.

Coined from a nickname people use for Jesus, the Austin, Texas-based Chuy’s has been opening new restaurants across the east cost. They opened their first one in Austin in 1982. The company opened its first Chuy’s outside Texas in 2009 and has been expanding ever since.
The company is expanding in Northern Virginia.

“We opened two restaurants, one in Fairfax and the other in Springfield, and they’re doing very well,” said Kianne Hilburn, a company spokeswoman. “Woodbridge was the obvious next step.”

The restaurant prides itself on using fresh, never frozen ingredients. The prices are more like something you would find in a traditional diner, said Hilburn. The most expensive item on the menu is the fajitas for about $15.

Patrons will also find silverware rolls, and funky wall decorations, much like you would find in a diner, when Chuy’s opens, said Hilburn.

The new Chuy’s in Woodbridge will open next door to another already popular chain Mexican restaurant — On the Border. On many nights when Macaroni Grill was still open, the parking lot at On the Border was packed with cars while fewer cars were parked outside the Italian joint.

“We consider ourselves to be different from On the Border simply because we are authentic tex-mex,” said Hilburn.

Chuy’s gets all of its recipes from border towns along the Rio Grande River between Texas and Mexico. It’s not clear when the new eatery will open, but the company hopes to open its doors before the end of 2015, said Hilburn.