Posts tagged avoid

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.