The Arlington Highlands complex at Interstate 20 and Matlock Road has two dozen restaurants and counting, which is a whole lot of places competing for customers. But one restaurant need not worry: the latest branch of Chuy&rsquo;s, the Austin-bred Tex-Mex chain.</p><p>No matter where a Chuy&rsquo;s opens, crowds seem to form, and that&rsquo;s the case at this newest outlet in Arlington, too. Even at 3:30 on a recent Sunday afternoon, when you might expect a lull between lunch and dinner, the wait for a table ran 25 minutes.</p><p>Part of the appeal can be attributed to the local appetite for Tex-Mex. But Chuy&rsquo;s has a few extra perks, beginning with its Austin-bred mystique. Anything from Austin has cachet, particularly for those relocated University of Texas grads who nostalgically recall the weather-beaten original they visited during their carefree college days.</p><p>The Arlington location duplicates the casual vibe of the original: Mexican tile, painted cement floors and distressed wood paneling painted in neon greens, pinks and oranges. Recurring elements include a shrine to Elvis Presley, a school of wooden fish hanging from the ceiling and a self-serve salsa bar set up in the hull of an old Chevy. There is always a patio, and the Arlington branch has two, one with a massive thatched roof and parrot-themed light fixtures (made from recycled tires) that set a beachy tone.</p><p>Most of the entrees are priced below $10, and they&rsquo;re served on massive oval platters that make the portions look extra-big. Signature items include the Elvis Presley Memorial combo ($9.79) with a trio of enchiladas, a crispy taco and chile con carne, and the Chuy&rsquo;s special ($8.79), a stacked dish with blue corn tortillas, roasted chicken, cheese and tomatillo sauce.</p><p>Any vegetarian would appreciate the veggie enchiladas ($7.99). Slightly thick blue corn tortillas enclosed a filling that was colorful and delicious: fresh spinach, corn, tomatillos, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, serranos, mushrooms, potatoes and cheese with ranchero sauce. The addition of heat from the serranos was inspired. Many restaurants take a half-hearted approach to vegetarian dishes, but this went above and beyond.</p><p>Chuy&rsquo;s definitely has dishes you don&rsquo;t find at other Tex-Mex joints, such as Elvis green chile fried chicken ($8.49). It breaded a chicken breast with crushed potato chips, then deep-fried it and topped it with green chile sauce. The potato chips formed a thick, crunchy, salty crust, which was just starting to soak up the spicy green chile sauce as it arrived at the table.</p><p>The chicken was supposed to come with green chile rice and refried beans, but someone accidentally added regular red Mexican rice instead. The waiter tried to brush it off, claiming that the two rices were basically the same. When he finally brought a side of the green chile rice, its pale color and spicy heat made it obvious that they weren&rsquo;t similar at all.</p><p>The same waiter also brought out our two entrees before delivering the appetizer of special nachos ($6.99), which he did without a word, as if hoping we might not notice. The nachos could easily serve as a full meal. Chuy&rsquo;s makes its own tortillas, so the chips were cut into massive halves &mdash; which made eating these nachos so much easier than the usual assortment of small chips. These came topped with refried beans, melted cheese and thick rings of jalape&ntilde;o.</p><p>All you need to top it off is a Father Agave margarita ($8.25), made with top-shelf tequila and served on the rocks.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">Chuy&rsquo;s Arlington </span></strong><br /> 4001 Bagpiper Way, Suite 199, Arlington (in Arlington Highlands)</p><p>817-557-2489</p><p><strong>Hours: </strong>11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday</p><p><strong>Cuisine: </strong>Tex-Mex</p><p><strong>Signature dish: </strong>Elvis combination plate</p><p><strong>Entree cost: </strong>$9.95-$15.95</p><p><strong>Essentials: </strong>Major credit cards; full bar; smoke-free; wheelchair-accessible; no reservations</p><p><strong>Good to know: </strong>You can eat in the bar.</p><p><strong>Recommended for: </strong>Tex-Mex fans</p><p></div>