Jamestown Revival Partners with Comal Fajita House

What’s the best thing about Austin, the fantastic food or the amazing music? The answer, of course, is both.

Jamestown Revival, the folk duo from the Heart of Texas, are well known for their collections of songs on the critically acclaimed albums Utah, The Education Of A Wandering Man, San Isabel and Fireside With Louis L’Amour, as well as iconic performances at music festivals like ACL, Coachella and Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic.

Now the bandmates, Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay, are cooking up something else: fajitas.

They may not be actually cooking, but they are teaming up with Comal Fajita House, which was founded by chef Breck McBride right here in Austin, for a fresh idea for flavorful at-home dinners and backyard get-togethers centered around a delicious Tex-Mex staple.

“Breck truly makes insanely good fajitas,” Clay says in a press release about the partnership. “Music and good food have always paired well together, and this was a very natural progression for us.”

Clay and Chance are helping build the brand that offers premium fajita fixings that have been cooked over a live fire and then vacuum sealed for freshness. The bags are shipped to customers’ homes, where they can heat up the fajita meat by boiling it in the bag for 15 minutes and then serve it with tortillas, salsa, guacamole, sour cream or anything else their hearts desire.

McBride is a restaurant industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience. Last year, he hoped to open a restaurant that served fajitas cooked over live fire. But in 2020, that was not in the cards. So, Comal Fajita House adopted a new model for dishing up one of Austin’s most popular foods.

“I believe cooking with fire can be an empowering experience, and I wanted to find a way to share that,” McBride says. “I began cooking as much as I could (and building lots of fires in my backyard), then began vacuum-packing the meats I’d cook to have quick meals ready for the week. I soon realized that this could be useful to others and got the idea of providing a product that evokes the feeling of food cooked over fire, without the time that goes into cooking.”

The chef selects meats that are free of hormones and antibiotics from farms where animals are raised humanely. USDA Choice black angus, bavette and organic heirloom chicken breasts are seasoned with McBride’s house-made dry rub, smoked over post oak wood for hours before getting seared on a hot steel plancha to give the meat the perfect, flavorful char. Bell peppers are also charred and added to the bags before they’re shipped off to hungry fajita lovers who are ready for a tasty, quick and convenient meal.

The packs of fajitas are sold by the half pound of steak or chicken for $13 or in combo packs for $27. They ship across the state, and locals can pick up orders at Comal headquarters in East Austin. They also sell flour tortillas, a grain-free version by Siete Foods and salsas (red or green) on the Comal Fajita House website.

So, how did McBride get Jamestown Revival on board? “I got connected to Jonathan and Zach and we just hit it off and quickly became good friends — we’re all Texas boys, so we love good food and live music,” McBride says. “It just made sense, not only because of our shared Texas roots, but mostly because their music just goes perfectly with the Comal experience.”

If you’re interested in Comal Fajita House, visit their site for more info and to place an order, follow on Instagram (@comalatx) and keep an eye out for pop-ups at Dia’s Market, Arbor Food Park and Twisted X Brewing.

“It’s easy to want to get behind a company when you sincerely believe in what the founders are doing,” Chance says of pairing Jamestown Revival with Comal Fajita House. “The more we’ve gotten to know Breck, the more inspired we’ve become by the passion he puts into his food.”