Nostalgia is a moron.

The Statesman reports that the Jorge’s on Hancock Drive is closing on December 22nd.

I feel kind of bad and sad about this. When I was a college student (the first time around), Jorge’s was a regular spot. You could get a good plate of enchiladas for an affordable price.

Sometime in the late 80s/early 90s, though, it started going downhill. There was a bankruptcy, a sale, and one thing and another and…well…I haven’t been there for years. I think we may have done a dining conspiracy there at one time, but I can’t find any evidence of it (which means either it fell into the gap, or we ate there pre-1996).

Anyway, it sounds like they’re going to replace Jorge’s with a new TexMex place:

“It’s a great neighborhood, it’s a great property, and we wanted to keep it Austintatious,” Muntz said. “Jorge’s has been Austintatious, and we love that about Jorge’s. We want to support the neighborhood with another great Tex-Mex restaurant.”

I’m already skeptical. The new people seem to be more concerned with keeping “Austintatious”, “blending in with the neighborhood”, and hiring a prominent architect to redesign the place, than, you know, actually serving good food. Maybe I’m wrong, and I’m willing to give them a fair chance.

And what of the current owner and staff?

Veloz, meanwhile, will carry on the Jorge’s tradition as she teams with two of her longtime employees to start the new concepts. One will be a couple of small restaurants, Jorgitos, that would serve burritos and tacos and have a full bar, to keep Jorge’s loyal cantina following happy. The other will be several small-scale, higher-end Jorge’s restaurants that will serve a more specialized menu with Veloz’s recipes, with an even greater emphasis on the organic ingredients she now uses.

Not much of a fan of “high-end” TexMex, either, but I like the idea of a place where I can go to get some decent tacos that’s close to my home.