Los Cuates

Rating: 3

Cost: ~ $8.25

Location: Albuquerque (Multiple)

Customized: Yes (added Lettuce)

Website

This Nacho was so big that it comes in two seperate “to go” containers. Tomatoes and lettuce are in a separate container.

One of the most popular restaurants in the Albuquerque area, Los Cuates has been setting a standard for New Mexican Food. Both the menu and portions are large, and most of the items are inexpensive. Though most people choose other restaurants as their favorite supplier of New Mexican cuisine, I have yet to find someone who doesn’t think Los Cuates is excellent. One of their trademarks is their unique salsa, which tastes very similar to a BBQ sauce. The inner ambiance is nice, and the service is often fast and excellent. They also make orders to go (serviced via a separate area of the restaurant) which is where I usually get my food.

As expected, Los Cuates offers two separate types of nachos: A Basic Nacho, and the Nachos Grande. Naturally, my overly large appetite demanded the largest and most complex of the nacho options. The Nachos Grande is a bed of chips, topped with beans, a choice of beef or chicken, melted cheese, jalapenos (pickled), guacamole, sour cream, tomatoes, and olives.

It must first be mentioned that for the price, these nachos are gigantic. In fact, it spanned two whole “to go” boxes. First impressions are good: they are attractive and heavy nachos. The toppings are distributed nicely, and their are plenty of crispy chips to grab and get my Nacho on. All of the components taste great on their own. The beef is flavorful, the cheese is melted to perfection, and the chips are fantastic. The olives are a nice addition, one that I wish was more common in Nachos. However, I can’t deny that the beans are very overpowering. The chips are covered in an excessive amount of beans, which was initially hidden by the cheese. Sadly, this means that the other great flavors are often overwhelmed by the beans, which is a tragedy. My other major complaint is that despite the generous portion of Nachos, the sour cream and guacamole are extremely scant. Though it is probably the best guac I have tasted from a restaurant yet, you only have a small plastic cups worth, which is over before the nachos are even dented. I applaud Los Cuates for their generous proportions and quality selection of toppings. However, the portions are hard to enjoy over the excessive presence of beans and lack of sour cream and guac. Were these remedied, they would easily earn a high 4 for this nacho.