Chuck’s great grandfather, Prof Charles Barkley esq, had spent his time at the University of San Antonio studying human behaviour around baked goods and pastries.  He had developed a pattern of choices that people had when faced with a variety of tasty treats.  People in Charlotte North Carolina would retain their link to the colonial Europeans with a love of custard, Texans would prefer the drier, spicier cinnamon flavours. 

It was family folklore that Professor Barkley invented the San Antonio churro but the truth was probably nearer that he had got lost in Northern Mexico, found a churro shop near the border and persuaded the owner to relocate.

Charles’ great grandson had maintained the Barkley love of churros and so following the runaway success of the churro shack in Evelina’s Philadelphia, location two would be the grimier streets of Detroit.  There was a clamour building in the other cities for this:

Churros this good should be available in every city, especially Seattle - West
Churros in Chicago would explode - Grin-07
Some say, the English ones are the best all we know, is that churros need to be in Vegas - Clarkson

The right shop was quite easy to find, located within the café area it had been remodelled to look like a massive churro sticking up in the air with a couple of pots of dips either side.

The blackboard at the door listed the offerings available based on Professor’s studies:

Churro Clasico – Freshly fried churro dipped in cinnamon and sugar

Churro Sifilis – Freshly fried churro dipped in locally sourced chocolate sauce

Churro Holandes – Freshly fried churro filled with lumpy Dutch custard

Churro Ingles – Freshly fried churro dipped in smooth English custard

Chuckster hovered inside, maybe more loomed than hovered, but was inside waiting to greet every new customer.

There was an old run down shack located near the city's cafe which had recently been torn down. Teach was pleasantly surprised at the discovery, but even more pleased to see that a new business had taken it's place. Teach walked over in curiosity to find an amazing smell coming from the new place. He looked up and read the sign on the place, and scratched his head.

"What the hell is a churro." He said to himself.

If it tasted anywhere as good as it smelled Teach wanted some. He stepped inside and at the menu. He waited for someone to ask for his order. He would most certainly try the classic before going for anything. He believed in trying the original in most food before alterations. 

Chuckster was hot off the plane touring new locations for the churro but all the churro thoughts had his stomach growling so he went in to the churro delight.  

At the counter, he saw the rugged shape of the guy he thought of as Blackbeard. EdwardTeach looked unsure what was going on so Chuck donned an apron to help serve.

“Here Edward...”

Chuck took a couple of fresh churros out of the frier and shook the excess oil off. He tossed them into cinnamon sugar and gave the container a shake, then handed one to EdwardTeach before taking the other for himself. 

In between bites he checked in with Edward. 

 “What do you reckon?”

Teach smiled at Chuck as he made the churros. It didn't seem like there was much to it, but it was friend dough dipped in sugar. How could this possibly turn out anything less than amazing. He took the churro, it was hot to the touch.

"Hey Chuck, this smells great!"

He took a bite of the doughy sugary goodness and smiled.

"I have to say, I've never had one of these before, but I do believe this will become a regular snack for me in the future. Thanks a lot!"

It's been a while since Mel last had some churros. She even forgot how they taste since she never saw them being sold in the shops she visited in the last few years.

Seeing the sign of the shop, "Chuck's Churro Delight" she feels nostalgic and hungry. She enters the shop to find a familiar looking man. 

"Did I see him before?" She thinks.

Mel takes a seat and takes a look at the menu. 

"....custard? That's right!" She remembers that she had eaten at his custard restaurant earlier. Remembering the taste of the custard, she picks the Churro Ingles to order.

Business at the Churro Delight was going like a fair.  The opening in Detroit was a masterstroke, between it and Chicago the hub-like nature meant folks from the East and West found themselves milling about town.  Even Evelina might find time in her busy schedule of country crossing to pop in.  She’d probably make it there in June or July, it was just finding the right time.

Chuck glanced up when Meliodass came in.  

“…custard?  That’s right!”

Chuck smiled.  

“Yes.  It’s the great bringer-together.  It goes with almost anything sweet and everyone with any sense loves it.”

He brought her the churro ingles, with a small dipping bowl of fresh warm custard.  He picked up another bowl…

“One bowl or two?”

“Aaaaah Zahara.  Welcome to my humble churro establishment.  We do the greatest fried choux paste this side of the Rio Grande.  Even Guillermo the local Mexican fruit picker feels it’s just like being at home but with less cacti.”

Chuck pulled a couple of churros out of the frier and sprinkled them liberally with the cinnamon sugar before walking them over to Zahara’s table.  He found her looking at a picture the local gutter press had taken.  

“Damn paparazzi.  I tell you!  A bona fide legend like me should never be hounded like this.  You should read a better newspaper than that!”

It was the smell that hit her first. The unmistakable aroma of fresh dough and the sweetness of chocolate and cinnamon filled the air from a block away. It didn't take long for Taiga to see the huge building that stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to the older brick buildings surrounding it -- it had been designed to resemble the merchandise being sold inside: churros.

Walking inside, her mouth was watering as she saw other patrons happily chow down on their pastries of choice. Looking at the menu, she tilted her head in confusion as she read one of the items: Churro Sifilis. Now Taiga was no doctor, but that sounded like a bad STD. "Sifilis... where did that name come from?" She asked the man running the store politely, genuinely curious. Not wanting to experiment with the Sifilis, she decided she'd get something more custardy. "I'll have an order of Churro Ingles though, please!" 

"One bowl or two?" Chuck asked Mel, referring to the bowl of custard.

"Two is always better than one when it comes to food," Mel answers. 

She takes a churro and dips it into the cutard before biting into it. The custard complemented the churro, which is crunchy outside and soft inside. "Love it!"

Chuckster picked up on Taiga’s reluctance and took a look at the menu.

I think there’s been a misunderstanding and mistranslation. It should be Sisyphus, you know, for the chocolate sauce he provides. Just cannot get the printing staff these days. Anyway, I can absolutely recommend the Ingles, we have custardologists constantly striving for custard perfection.

He pointed over to Meliodass’s table and two empty custard bowls.

Meliodass enjoys the custard here and at La Crme Anglaise in Seattle  

A grin and a look of clarity spread on Taiga's face as she heard Charles_Barkley 's explanation. "Oh," she said with a small relieved smile, "that makes more sense." She looked at where the man was pointing and nodded her head seeing Meliodass extremely impressed with her order. 

"I see. Well, you've got me sold. I'll take two orders of Ingles, and throw in an order of.. err... Churro Sifiis... or Sisyphus as well." Taiga said as she put in her order politely. She stood at the side as she patiently waited for her order, making small talk with other patrons before she was given a steaming bag full of delicious desserts. "Thank you, Sir. I'll make sure to drop by your branch in Seattle -- these are amazing!"

In a past life, while living away from Detroit, Dreamcatcher had frequented the La Creme Anglais eatery regularly and had developed somewhat of an unhealthy addiction for the delightful sweet treats that Charles_Barkley provided. He'd passed Chuck's Churro Delight on a number of occasions since his relocation to Detroit and it often found him left shaking in a cold sweat.

Today had been particularly hard and DC was craving something sugary to give him the boost he needed to get him through the rest of the day.

DC approached the entrance and flashbacks began running through his mind. He saw himself hiding from Charlotte so he could eat instead of protest, sitting in the back of the store so not to be found and the days he would gingerly approach the counter to place his order. He took a deep breath, composed himself and though "It's just going to be one thing to eat, grab the sugar fix I need and then out." - he entered the building.

He approached the counter with haste, nervous that if he stayed in the building longer than he had too he could fall back into old habits. "Churro Classic, Churro Classic, brown bagged and please, for the love of god please; be quick. It smells so good in here".

Seeing his customer’s happy faces as he stuffed them full of his fantastic fried choux paste made Chuck’s decision to commission MobGov and canvas the location of the next churro stand seem like a master stroke.  Taiga’s pleasure at her bag of sifilis/Sisyphus and ingles meant a lot to him. 

“Come again signora, I look forward to welcoming you to La Crme Anglaise. No churros just custard and obviously, come again here.’

As Taiga left, a familiar face came staggering through the door.  He had a shambling look like a desperate junky looking for the next fix.  The dude had an electric look about the eyes but was a man with a lot of mojo but mumbling...

”Churro classic, churro classic...”

Chuck recognised the look, he’d seen the same look on those leaving his other places...desperate for the next fix of sweet, sweet goodness.  Bungle the on-site churrologist tapped Chuckster on the shoulder. 

”This dude is Dreamcatcher.  I’ve seen him around, he’ll be a good customer.”

”Get him some churro clasico while I head out for a coffee.”

After having spent the best part of the day wandering around the streets of Detroit, Mezz had worked up an appetite and what with the few purses he had managed to pilfer along the way, he had amassed enough coin to ensure he could eat wherever he chose... Stumbling across some unusually familiar signage he realised THIS WAS IT!

This was the place he had heard so many rumours about and his boss Charles_Barkley had recommended not too long ago! He had found it hard to keep himself from drooling as the smell of fresh Churro's wafted through the air.... For now, there was no thought of cheesy crumpets.

Glancing down the menu his finger moving down, tracing each option as he took in the choices suddenly stopped... 

"Hollandaise"

Mezz exclaimed! not realising this was out-loud, I mean,  who in there Right mind would want lumpy custard....

"Sacrilege!" He mumbled under his breath.

For him there was no choice required, it had and always would be the same order

"Excuse me, my dear friend, please can I get a portion of  Churro Clasico & another portion of Churro Sifilis"

Mezz sat down, eagerly awaiting the meal he had been dreaming of.

Detroit!  Finally, like an opera singer on a long tour, Chuckster had made it back to oversee part of his churro empire.  He had recommended to Right that he should pop in and try the Churro Holandes but it appeared that despite the fact Right was known to do pretty much fuck all, that fuck all also meant that he didn’t go out to eat.

So it was nice to see that Chuck’s newest right hand guru MezzaninE had taken up Chuck’s recommendation to pop in while visiting.  The man looked like he’d been hanging around for a while though, probably because business was evidently booming!

"Good afternoon Mezz, has service been a bit slow?  Let me see what the hold up is."

He wandered over to the serving hatch and looked at the orders; clasico and sifilis.  Chuck stuck his head in the hatch.

“Oi dummies, a serving of clasico and another of sifilis.  Chop chop!”

There was a clattering of dishes and the sudden sizzling of oil.

“Coming up Mezz, best fried choux paste in all the land!”

The sizzling stopped and a plate slid out.  This was the clasico.  Chuck popped it onto a tray and waited patiently.  The sauce from Sisyphus’ chocolate shop needed to be at just the right temperature to flow in a thick, gloopy ribbon so it took a few seconds, then whsssh…the second plate came out.  Chuck put it on the tray and headed over to Mezz’s table.

“One clasico and one sifilis.  Enjoy!”

Fair Kruppe was lying low in Detroit due to the pending sexual harassment suit against his fine self back in Philadelphia. In retrospect Kruppe was aware asking a waitress in his employ if she wanted to go home with him & smash his balls around was not the most sensible way to propose a game of pool.

Whilst walking in Detroit Kruppe smells heaven. Following his nose Kruppe is aware the heavenly smell is coming from a Churro café. A large gentleman is leaning in the doorway. Kruppe immediately smells danger as well as sugar. As he walks closer he recognizes @Charles_Barkey.

"The round mound of rebound himself! Kruppe exclaims. He tries to block out the memories of his humiliation when trying to play basketball & focus on the positives like his decimation of Chuck at his pool hall.

"Great to see you my friend. Everything smells delicious. What do you recommend?"

an old and agitated squirrel walks warily by, nuts clearly visible through his saggy old squirrel skin and a tail, now droopy and withered with age, unlike the bushy, proud and erect tail of his youth.

feeling peckish and having run out of squerthers originals, Foamy pops his head into the shop.

I WANT ONE WITH ACORNS! LEST I INFECT THIS PLACE WITH SQUIRREL PLAGUE!

oh, and how about that whether huh?

"Hmmm... what do I want to eat now?"

vGoddess is not hungry, but she is definitely craving something. She just can't decide what exactly she is craving. She wanders the streets without having any destination in mind. Suddenly she spots a huge churro sticking up with two pots of dips on either sides of it. 

"Churros? When was the last time I had some?"

Now she knows what she wants to eat. She enters the shop and reads the menu.

"Umm hello I would like Churro Sifilis. If possible I'd like some extra chocolate dip."