Posts tagged albuquerque

Baileys on the Beach

Rating: 2

Cost: $6.25-9.25

Location: Albuquerque (Monte Vista and Gerard)

Customized: Yes, added Carne Adovada

Website

Just across from UNM, on Monte Vista lies a new restaurant called Baileys on the beach. This swanky eatery tries to recreate a beach like environment and offer a variety of sea food and pacific style cuisine. Although I was hesitant from the outer design of the place, I have to admit the inside looks rather fantastic. Their theme succeeds rather well and I feel as though it is the closest an Albuquerque restaurant has come to feeling like San Diego. The best part about visiting Baileys is the kind and knowledgeable staff. They want repeat customers, and they are working hard. The Menu is long and varied, and includes such items as Mahi Mahi Kabob, baked clams, and fish tacos. The food here is different, but In a really good way. It was only a matter of time before I ventured to try their Nacho stylings.

Baileys offers one form of Nacho: The Tsunami Nachos. These nachos are a body of chips covered in “Tsunami Queso”. This is covered with lettuce and tomatoes and comes with sides of guac, sour cream, and salsa. For a $3 additional charge you can add your choice of chicken, steak, carne adovada, or mahi mahi.

When the nachos arrive you will be greeted with an attractive arangement of colors and textures, but you will also notice that the nacho suffers from some serious drawbacks as well. For $9.25 this Nacho is small compared to other Nachos in the $10 price range. Many of the chips have little if any cheese on them at all. The lettuce and tomato portions are so small that they probobally shouldn’t have bothered puting them on the nacho. Most upsettingly, however, is that the carne adovada that I payed $3 extra for is in exremly short supply. I shared this nacho with my friends and found I only had a few bites of meat myself. What made this more sad is that the Meat was without a doubt, the best part of this nacho. The Carne Adovada was amazing! In fact, its some of the best I have had in years. It worked fantastically with the Nacho, atleast the small parts of the nacho that had it. The guacamole and sour cream and salsa were also tasty, and worked well with the nacho. As most of you know, I prefer shredded cheese on my Nacho, but I am always willing to give a fair shake to the liquid variety. The Tsunami Queso on the nachos is made from a double roasted green chile. Sadly, I didn’t really taste the chile in it to much. Rather, I only tasted a strong Velveta-esque flavor. Its unfortunate that these nachos weren’t much better, because Baileys has some amazing things on their menu. Their meat is amazing, and their burgers are fantastic. I highly recomend people try this place out, just not the Nachos. There other food is where its at. 

Serafin’s Chile Hut

Rating: 3

Cost: $5.25-5.75

Location: Albuquerque (Central and Solano)

Customized: Yes, added ground beef

Website

Located in the eastern area of Nob hill is a new little restaurant known as Serafins Chile Hut. This eatery is easy to find thanks to an attractive Zia sign angled over the edge of Central Ave. When you walk inside you will find a quaint little establishment with attractive wall paintings, nice tables, and an excellent ambiance. The menu is small, but well crafted, and includes the majority of New Mexican classics, all at fantastic prices. The staff is one of the nicest I have ever ran into, its obvious they love this restaurant. I myself have had several of their menu items, and I must say they are delicious, particularly the enchiladas and sopapillas. This is one of the most comfortable restaurants I have ever been in, and I plan on becoming a regular.

Serafins offers one form of nacho, which is a standard body of chips covered in liquid cheese and covered in pickled jalapenos. They were kind enough, upon my request to cover these nachos with a generous helping of their ground beef.

For the incredible price of $5.25 i was expecting a tiny snack sized Nacho, intended as a brief appetizer for their other dishes. However, when it came I was shocked at how massive this dish was. Although not the biggest, it is definitely amongst the larger Nachos I have had. I wasn’t sure if it was liquid or shredded cheese when I ordered, and I have to admit I was disappointed to find that it was the liquid variety. As you all know, I prefer shredded cheese a thousand times over. Apart from the ground beef I requested, this nacho looked like a Ballpark style nacho, which wasn’t surprising considering all the Time magazine’s featuring baseball covers adorning the back wall of the Hut. I also noticed that the jalapenos, which were thankfully pickled, were also diced, and spread more evenly amongst the nacho. I had never had diced jalapenos on a nacho before, only cut. I Have to admit I really enjoyed them. They allowed me to enjoy them without them overpowering each bite due to their minute size. The liquid cheese is better than most that I have had in my day, and it penetrated all the way to even the deepest of the chips. The chips themselves were of excellent quality, also better than most other places offer. The real strength lied in the meat. Serafins has some of the best ground beef I have had at a restaurant, and they complimented the nacho perfectly. It was fine and crumbly and spread across the entire nacho. In the end, the Nacho was balanced, layered well, and every chip had every topping on it. For those that don’t like complex nachos, this is the Nacho for you. As I said earlier, its a ballpark style nacho… but to be fair, I wish ballpark Nachos were as good as the one from Serafins. I really enjoyed this, and It stands as a great example of how to make a tasty straight forward Nacho. These are worth eating, but I must first recommend some of their other platters, like the combo plates or the enchiladas, because they will knock your socks off.

El Patio

Rating: 1

Cost: ~ $5

Location: Albuquerque (Harvard and Silver)

Customized: No

Website

El Patio is a bizarre looking hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant right next to the University of New Mexico. Next to its more contemporary looking neighbors, its easy to overlook El Patio and its bright blue fence. The menu is interesting, and the atmosphere screams college dive. They are known for their fish tacos, which I will say I enjoy (as far as Albuquerque fish taco’s are concerned). There prices are relatively cheap, but I must warn all of you, they don’t take credit card. This is quite stupid to do in a University area, and I personally find it unacceptable. We found no signs warning us of this, and even though they do offer an ATM in the back, it has heavy service charges. This alone will keep most people from coming here. No one wants to pull out a $20 to pay for a $5 meal.

El Patio offers one form of nachos on the menu. It is a basic nacho, consisting of a bed of chips, covered in refried beans, grated cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, and a side of salsa and sour cream. There is no meat offered.

When the nachos arrived I was disappointed at how flat they were. There just weren’t that many chips on the plate. The lettuce and tomatoes are attractive, but the Sour cream is clotted looking. I also noticed that the chips were burnt black. After my first bite it became apparent that the chips were way to heavy on the presence of beans. They overpowered the other flavors of the nacho. It is hard to tell whether the cheese was any good because there wasn’t much of it, and its flavors were more mild. The chips tasted burnt and stale, and the sour cream was pretty sub par. The only saving grace of this nacho was the salsa, which I found tasty and rewarding. I only wish I had ordered chips and salsa instead. This nacho was disappointing in its size, presentation, and quality. Avoid the nachos here, and because of the cash only policy, I would recommend avoiding the place entirely.

Hurricanes Restaurant

Rating: 3

Cost: ~ $7

Location: Albuquerque (Lomas & Washington)

Customized: No

Urban Spoon Entry

Hurricane’s Restaurant is a retro style hole in the wall located on the outskirts of the Nob Hill area. At all times of day it seems to have a fair number of customers dining inside. The interior feels like any diner that is trying to recreate the 50’s style (and only come off as being cheesy). The wait staff is responsive and the food is always cooked very quickly. Their food is classic New Mexican fair with a special consideration paid towards breakfast dishes.

Hurricanes offers two nachos, a small appetizer, and a full meal helping called Nachos Grande. The Nachos Grande is comprised of a body of chips covered in ground beef, beans, green chili sauce, shredded cheese, Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Sour cream w/ guac. Despite the smaller nacho containing Jalapenos, they are strangely absent on the large Nacho.

The first thing you will notice when you receive these nachos is that they are very large. For $7, the serving size is better than most restaurants. All of the toppings are what I like to see on my Nachos, except for the strangely absent Jalapenos. The first few bites are fantastic. Each chip is covered in toppings and is extremely flavorful. I have to say I am always pleased to find green chilie on Nachos in New Mexico. All of the toppings are good, but not fantastic. I can’t think of anything in particular that stood out as being phenomenal. Don’t get me wrong though, they are all very much worth eating. My main complaint with these nachos has to do with the liquidity of the toppings. Though each chip is covered with toppings, the lower chips are completely soaked. After a few minutes these nachos will require a fork for consumption because the chips have liquefied. As I have mentioned before, layering nachos is a complex problem. Although most tend to have too many chips and few toppings, Hurricanes nachos are quite the opposite. I enjoyed these nachos, but I’d prefer it if I didn’t need a fork to eat most of them.

The Firehouse

Rating: 4

Cost: ~ $12.00

Location: San Diego (Pacific Beach)

Customized: Yes (Its a secret menu item)

Website

The buffalo Chicken adds a unique red glow about the nachos!

One of the more expensive restaurants in the pacific beach area, The Firehouse provides a swanky-ish atmosphere with a rooftop dining experience. The menu is interesting, but the prices are high. The quality of the food is good, and the house brewed beer is worth trying. What I find most interesting about this place, and this was what sold me on trying it is the secret “hangover” menu. Similar to In-N-Out burger, the secret menu rewards fans and regulars with the best the restaurant has to offer. The Firehouse has a secret nacho made with buffalo chicken that is similar to the other nachos, but infinitely better. I can say that this is one of the more unique nachos that I have ever had.

The Firehouse offers two variations of their nachos openly, and one secretly. The standard nachos are either a shrimp or chicken affair with all the regular fixings. However, the secret nacho is what I was after. The secret nacho is chips covered in cheddar and jack cheese, covered in tomatoes, beans, buffalo chicken, grilled jalapenos, guacamole, and sour cream.

This nacho looks amazing because it looks so different. The Red in the buffalo chicken really offsets the other elements of the nacho in an appealing way. It is also a very large nacho, I couldn’t finish it in one sitting. It would be a good meal for two to share with beers. Like Taco surf, the guacamole and sour cream portions are much better than those back in Albuquerque. The guacamole and sour cream are both delicious, not quite as good as taco surf, but great none-the-less. The chicken is absolutely amazing. It is definitely the best chicken I have ever had on a Nacho yet! I can’t describe how awesome the vinegar mixed with the guacamole, sour cream, and other fixings. This is a definite must for more restaurants to mimic. The Jalapenos are a rather interesting situation with this nachos. As my readers know, I prefer pickled jalapenos to raw jalapenos on my nachos. However, this nacho has neither. It actually has grilled jalapenos that offer the texture of pickled, but the flavors of raw (but milder). This was another awesome first for me, and I give it serious Kudos! The mix of flavors definitely makes this nacho unique, and worth trying. This nacho was not perfect however. It has two glaring flaws. 1, there isn’t much cheese on this nacho. It feels a little more like eating buffalo chicken with chips than it does nachos. Many of the lower chips are plain, and the getting cheese on them is impossible. Being that cheese is my favorite part, this is problematic. 2, The nacho is pretty damn expensive. I have had larger nachos for far less money, so the question is does the quality match? This is hard to answer, but after much deliberation I would say no. The price is fine for the first time you have this nacho, but I can honestly say the main reason I wouldn’t eat this nacho weekly is that it costs over double what most other nachos do.  Were it not for the price, this nacho would have secured a perfect 5.

The Frontier

Rating: 2

Cost: $6.39

Location: Albuquerque UNM area

Customized:No

Website

Look how Tiny This little Nacho is…. Are they Serious?!?

If you are a College student in Albuquerque, you have eaten at The Frontier. A long standing staple of the UNM diet, the Frontier is famous far and wide. The menu is as diverse as any respectable New Mexican restaurant, containing burgers, enchiladas, and omelets. One of its most appealing aspects is that it is open late, but not like a drive through. It actually has places to sit inside after midnight! I enjoy Frontier food for what it is: quick and cheap college grub. Its rather delicious, and well priced. When I learned that they had Nachos, it was a quick decision to go and give them a try!

The Frontier offers a single Nacho on their menu available in two sizes: half and full. These Nachos are a bed of chips with Chicken, Beans, Cheese, Jalapenos, lettuce and Tomatoes. I obviously ordered the largest Nacho they offered.

As if the picture didn’t already demonstrate, The nacho offered by the Frontier is very small. It is the smallest nacho I have reviewed to date, and even though the price is also less than most of the other Nachos I have reviewed, it is not comparably less. My first impression of this nacho was one of disappointment. It’s minute size was emphasized by the fact that most of the visible chips had absolutely no toppings on them. This nacho also had two other major disadvantages. First, even though I enjoy chicken nachos, I prefer Beef. Frontier not offering a beef nacho alternative is rather laughable. The second issue was the presence of raw jalapenos. Although a major debate amongst nacho eaters, I still prefer pickled to raw. It’s easy to see that the Frontier’s nachos were not off to a good start. But, being an optimist I pressed on. When I was able to find a chip with toppings I was treated to a rather pleasant taste experience. This is mostly due to the fact that the Frontier’s chicken is phenomenal. The other toppings were standard fair, no complaints. The chicken though, really made those few bites pop. Too bad most of the chips were as dry and Barron as the new Mexico wilderness. Were it not for the chicken, I would consider this an abysmal nacho. Perhaps mine was just made badly, but I don’t like spending roughly $7 for a midget sized portion of chips, a few of which happen to have toppings on them. I know the frontier can do better than this… Stick with their enchiladas, cause it has their awesome chicken, as well as a million other good things!  

El Taco Tote

Rating: 1

Cost: ~ $6

Location: Albuquerque (Multiple)

Customized: No

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This nacho is not very attractive… and yet still manages to taste even worse.

Although El Taco Tote has been around for some time, I never really made an effort to try them out. In its vacinity their are numerous quality restraunts, each diserving of your patronage. After checking out their menu online, I figured it was worth a go to sample their take on Nachos. It seems as though the restraunts focus is primarily meat. They have several different types of meat, and your dish is based on that choice. This seemed to me to be a rather intriuging choice, since I was no longer choosing between beef or chicken, I was choosing between different types of beef.

I’m not sure why, but El Taco Tote decided not to call their nacho a nacho. No, they decided that it was called Panchos. Make no mistake, it is definatley a Nacho, just with a stupid name. The Pancho is a layer of chips covered in beans, cheese, guacamole and your choice of meat. For this tasting I chose the Sirloin steak.

Before i go into my review, I feel inclined to mention that these Nachos did not set well with me, in fact, I would say they made me ill. No vomiting, just a whole lot of cramps and nausia (let it also be known that I do not have a weak stomach). This alone makes me say that no one should ever visit this place. Their are too many quality restraunts (especially in albuquerque) to waste time on restraunts that can’t make quality food. That being said, I didn’t feel nacious untill just after eating… So I can still comment on their Nacho. First they are not very attractive. As the picture demonstrates, the toppings are not well balanced. Some areas are exccessivley coated with certain toppings, while others have nothing at all. These nachos are also very small compared to most that I have reviewed. This isn’t too problematic, considering they were only 6 and change. The meat, which seems to be such a major component of their menu was extremly dissapoinging. The steak was chewy and unflavorful, not to mention the excessive amounts of grissle. The beans, which were overwhelming on some chips tasted rather funny to me. I definitley did not enjoy it. The jalapenos were standard fair, nothing really to say other than they were few and far between. The cheese was a rather weird issue on this Nacho. It had two seperate cheeses, a very light sprinkling of liquid cheese and large chunks of mostly unmelted white cheese (both of which were poorly distributed). The largest insult of this Nacho came with the Sour Cream. Inside the bag was a small tube of Daisy sour cream, you know, like ketchup packets. This is a mexican restraunt… yet they don’t seem to have any sour cream. If this isn’t odd to you, stop eating taco bell and go to a real restraunt. In the end I have only one good thing to say about this travesty of a Nacho. At least the Guacamole was alright, and their was a fair amount too. I Never eat at a restraunt that makes me sick, so El Taco Tote died on its first chance. Even if it didn’t make me sick, the Nachos sucked. If you want some mexican food and your near the Central El Taco Tote, go 50 feet East to Guichos and get a REAL mexican meal that tastes great!

Mario’s Pizza

Rating: 3

Cost: ~ $7

Location: Albuquerque (Multiple)

Customized: No

Website

Behold, an Italian Nacho?!?!

I was probably as surprised as you when I found out that an Italian restaurant offered a form of Nachos. Being Italian myself, I was ecstatic to sample these unique forms of my favorite food. Marios is a long standing pizza shop that has recently opened multiple locations. Though not for everyone, Marios offers a rather large array of menu items at decent prices. It has some pretty devout supporters, but most people agree that Mario’s appeal isn’t in any particular item, but rather in its variety. The San Pedro location is a quaint little mom and pop shop that always seems to have a fair number of customers. The staff is attentive and friendly, but the food often takes quite a while to arrive. It is also common for the food to arrive in separate segments.

Unlike most italian restaurants, Marios actually offers a form of nacho that they have affectionately dubbed the Goumba Nacho. This nacho is comprised of a bed of tortilla chips covered in a green Chile cream sauce, roasted peppers, various cheeses, jalapenos, lettuce, and tomatoes.

I truly applaud their attempt to diversify by not only carrying nachos, but giving them a unique twist. The nachos are a decent size, easily filling a single consumer, or providing adequate snacks for 4 people. They are also a rather attractive nacho; the peppers and cream sauce give it a unique look. The green chili cream sauce is rather amazing, and provides a definitive identity to this Nacho. The roasted peppers prove to be a valuable asset in this dish, but I will admit I think they would be out of place without the cream sauce. The other toppings are standard fair. The Jalapenos served on my nacho were rather stale and dry. I’m not sure if they use a weird brand of if the jalapenos had gone off. Either way it stood as a pretty detrimental aspect, since I consider jalapenos pivotal. The unique flavors made this nacho stand out, and I highly recommend them to anyone. However, due to this unique nature, it is also a Nacho that requires a specific mood and can’t always be enjoyed. I would also like to point out that there is no meat within this Nacho. I would have gladly payed additional for some chicken, which is weird cause I always choose beef. The peppers and sauce within the nacho are begging for a chicken addition. The stale jalapenos definitely hurt the Nachos since they are such a fundamental element.

Cesar’s Mexican and Greek

Rating: 4

Cost: ~ $9

Location: Albuquerque (North East)

Customized: Yes (with Carne Asada)

UrbanSpoon Entry

This Nacho is a veritable Meat Mountain!

Cesars is a very unique restaurant located in Albuquerque’s North East side. It is a Mexican and Greek restaurant that is open 24 hours. I can’t stress how neat it is to be able to get a Gyro and Torta at 2am after the bars close. Their menu is large and varied, and despite the look of the restaurants exterior, it has one of the cleanest kitchens i have ever seen. The food quality is excellent, but it is also very polarizing. People either love it, or they hate it.

Cesars offers Nachos based on a variety of Meats: Chicken, or Carne Asada. Since I have an affinity for Carne Asada, this is the Nacho of choice for me. This Nacho comes with a liberal portion of Carne Asada and shredded Chedder piled on freshly cooked chips. It also comes with Guacamole, Sour Cream, and pico de gaio. All of these toppings are segregated into different areas of the plate on top of the chips.

Let it be known that these are very different Nachos. Even though I gave them a really High rating, they are definitely not for everyone. The Meat that Cesar’s uses is some of my favorite. It is thin sliced tender steak that is flavorful. I can say with confidence that the meat is everyone’s favorite part of this Nacho. I can’t stress how important that is. The chips are freshly cooked in house, and are very crunchy. The pico de gaio is a very welcome oddity to the standard nacho recipe, and is probably one of the reasons this Nacho will be polarizing. If you order a side of Jalapenos, you get a dish of pickled carrots, and 2 large uncut jalapenos. Pickled carrots are an interesting pairing with Nachos, something that will also be polarizing. There are only two major problems I have with this nacho. The First problem is the guacamole. As excited as I am for the presence of Guacamole at no extra cost, this Guacamole isn’t very good at all. Its over processed, bland, and awkward tasting. Others disagree with me, but I don’t enjoy the flavor of this guacamole much. The other major problem I have with these nachos is that the cheese is very rarely melted throughout. Its common for at least half the chips to have unmelted cheese present. Although both of these are problems, they don’t ruin the nacho. In the end it is a tasty treat I recommend to most people, Especially the late night crowd. If you want Nacho’s at 2am, stay away from taco bell, go to Cesars and get a real Nacho!

Marble Brewery

Rating: 4

Cost: $7.50

Location: Albuquerque (Downtown)

Customized:No

Website

In recent years the micro-brew scene in Albuquerque has grown exponentially into something locals can be truly proud of. One of the finer breweries to have emerged is Marble Brewery. Marble is what Albuquerque had been missing all these years: A remote location, a long list of high quality beers, and quality customers. I tend to recommend Marble as one of the best places to go for out-of-towners, and beer connoisseurs alike. The only real problem I have noticed with Marble is that it has developed too large of a following recently. On Fridays and Saturdays the establishment is often so overfilled that finding a place to sit is impossible. If your like me, you prefer a moderately populated bar that has a relaxed atmosphere. If you agree, I recommend stopping by late on a Monday or Tuesday (around 9ish) to avoid the crowd. Although Marble isn’t a restaurant by any means, they do serve a few munchies that are perfect after your 3rd or fourth 22 ouncer.  All of these consumables are made possible by the cooks over at the Chama River restaurant. You can assume since I am talking about them that one of these tasty treats is Nachos. And since I’m a simple man, Nachos make this already fine establishment just that much more amazing!

Marble offers a very basic Nacho, which has been predictably dubbed the ‘Marble Nacho.” This nacho is comprised of a layer of tortilla chips, covered in Chama chili and a layer of liquid queso (cheese). Now, this Chama Chili is made of pinto Beans, red chili, and Cubed Sirloin.

Even though my reviews have demonstrated that i tend to prefer nachos with real cheese and a plethora of toppings, I would like to state that i love all Nachos. Be They simple, complex, hot, cold, a Nacho is synonymous with Desire. Marble Nachos are closer to baseball nachos then the type i have been reviewing lately, which makes them a nice change of pace. The best way to describe the nachos from Marble are Tex Mex style Nachos. The Chama chili, although made from local red, has a very Texas style flavor. Let it also be said that even though Texas chili isn’t a common ingredient in Nachos, if its gonna be used this is definitely the Chili to use. The most obvious thing to note is that the meat is amazing. Its tender, flavorful, and addictive. The rest of the chili permeates within the liquid queso keeping it from getting monotonous. This is a surprisingly easy nacho to eat, and even though its messy, it comes with forks to make the task even easier. This Nacho also compliments beer very well, and works as a great drunk food for a group of 2-4 people, depending on appetite. Due to its lack of complexity, I can’t see this being a good Nacho in place of a proper meal. This Nacho has all the staples of a fantastic snack, and should be approached as such. As a full blown meal it will likely fall short. Not only do I highly recommend Marble as a great place to grab some craft beer, but getting their Nachos are a great way to round out the night.