TLO Restaurant Review: Crudoolandia (on S.W. 29th)

9:11 AM EDT on April 9, 2019

If the constant stream of memes on your parent’s Facebook page hasn’t clued you in, the weather in Oklahoma has been an Irwin Allen-style stream of extremes as of late, from pipe-freezing cold temps or slanted rain with surprise bits of hail being the most prevalent, leaving many of the local meteorologists to hurl their sparkly ties at the green-screen in disgust.

But this past weekend…well, this past weekend was magnífico. I’m not educated enough to know when the first day of spring “officially” is, but can we say that Saturday afternoon was at least an introductory welcome to the vernal season, whenever it may start?

I borrowed a friend’s blue hybrid and cruised around Oklahoma City for a couple of hours, ending up on S.W. 29th and simply longing for my first Chuvi Duvi of the year from Crudoolandia; I had images of getting relajándose with this tropically fruity mix in my hand, the windows down, the sun-roof open and, hopefully, bumping a bit of Los Fugitivos on Exitos 96.5 FM.

A few errant streaks of sunlight were still shining through the increased cloud cover as I pulled into the fenced-in parking lot at 641 S.W. 29th—usually people use the drive-through of this former garage to order, but I parked off to the front and walked up to building, nervously ordering a Chuvi Duvi ($6.99) from one of Crudoolandia’s notably atractiva servers.

Pretty much the only place in Oklahoma City to get puro Mexican beach food and drink right, this tangy fruit beverage, the Chuvi Duvi, has practically become Crudoolandia’s trademark; mainly a bit of low-key pineapple-flavored Smirnoff Ice with plenty of chunks of chilled pineapple, mango and strawberries languishing about, served beautifully in a 12 oz. cup with a chamoy rim and a spicy straw.

Overflowing with these lustful fruits, I sat on one of the picnic tables off to the side and carefully sipped a bit off the top for a few minutes as I talked to a guy selling paletas from his bicycle-cart; sadly, as the last bit of daylight disappeared and the air started to smell more like rain, we parted ways as he went right and I took off going left on 29th.

Besides, of course, the Chuvi Duvis, Crudoolandia also offers other playa drinks like la Rockera, la Ranchera and a wide variety of tempting Michelada concoctions, as well as fuerte snacks like Coctel de Camarón, Tostada de Ceviche and the cacahuate-heavy Pepinazo. But that’s more of a summer thing, really, and worthy of a visit to their sit-down N. MacArthur location.

As a wall of black clouds started to roll in fast, I sighed heavily—I guess this beautiful day couldn’t last forever. I pulled over into an abandoned lot downtown and sat on the hood of the car, the rest of my Chuvi Duvi firmly in my hand. Watching the free show as lightning danced from cloud to cloud, I delicately chewed on the soaked fruit pieces and smiled as a raindrop hit my face. Cómpralo ya!