Polly's Nachos (South County YMCA, RI)

It's been a little while...I've been busy. So, I KNOW this post should have been the first on the list, but, I'm not too organized and I never read the Nacho blog for Dummies handbook, so I've been pretty all over the place with this thing. But, the other night I was at my good family friend's house and I ran into someone I hadn't seen in years, my friend, Polly. I used to be on the swim team at the local YMCA and I have to admit one of the highlights of the 8-hour long Saturday afternoon swim meets was the concession stand. Polly volunteered at the concession and knew exactly what snacks we would be craving after hanging around the South County Y all day-hot dogs, bagels, popcorn, candy, sodas (the real nutritional stuff that makes you swim fast) and my good ol' friend Mr. Nachos himself. Now, I know what you're thinking round tortilla chips with fake cheese from a machine that's served at most concession stands. Nope, Polly's nachos were different. They had a real kick to them, I believe it was jalapeños. She always told me she bought the cheese at Sam's Club and that it comes in a big can. I've never been able to find this magical canned cheese myself, so I always relied on Polly to have it at every home swim meet. This was one of my first encounters with nachos and it was love at first bite. Polly knew how I liked my nachos (cheesy), she always added an extra ladle full to mine and any time I walked up to the concession stand she knew exactly what I'd be ordering. The cheese smothered the chips, but in a good way..my favorite are the ones at the bottom of the bowl that you can barely recognize as chips because the cheese has melted them down. Even though Polly's nachos only came with cheese, they were delicious and tasted so great before/after a race. Thank you Polly for introducing us. Because they're a classic I give them an 8.2/10. Picture -closest I could find to what they used to look like, but still doesn't do them justice.

Brick Alley Pub (Newport, RI)

Order the Texas Chili nachos. There are many mouthwatering nacho options on the menu and it can be quite overwhelming. I don't want you to be confused about the ones I'm writing about. The Brick Alley Pub has to be one of my favorite restaurants in RI as I have celebrated many a birthday there. The ranch dressing is one of the best I have ever tasted, it's rich, creamy, and buttermilky. Just the way I like! So, I recommend your ordering goes a bit like this. "Hi, I'd like a pina colada, the Texas chili nachos and the salad bar." Just a recommendation, but honestly how could you go wrong with that combination? So, back to the nachos, they're served in a heap-Australian for pile, it's a term I picked up, topped with chili, cheddar cheese, guacamole (if asked, it was alright, didn't seem that fresh), jalapeños, and about 18 dollops of Daisy. If you're not a sour cream lover I would totally recommend asking for the sour cream on the side. They must use a shovel to put that stuff on and in my opinion too much sour cream can sometimes be a bad thing-now notice my use of sometimes, in onion dip (a personal favorite) sour cream is absolutely amazing, but as a nacho smotherer it can bad. The nachos were great! The chili had a nice kick and the salsa was flavorful.

I give them a 7.9/10 (because of the sour cream situation).

J. Paul's (Georgetown, DC)

Well, this post may get a little bit nasty. But, honestly J. Paul's serves a plate of nachos that are a disgrace to all nacho lovers out there. My roommate and I stopped into J. Paul's about three weeks ago on a Thursday afternoon while shopping for our Halloween costumes. It must have been our lucky day because we were seated right by the open air window, the perfect people watching spot. This table can also a little bit dangerous when the pepper falls right out the window haha..some nice Russian tourists scooped it up for me. Anyways, once again it was lunch time and we were only planning on having a light meal-maybe a sandwich or a salad. But, I peruse menu and guess who staring back at me under the Starters section, I'll give you a hint it wasn't the hummus and pita platter. So I look up at my roommate, we lock eyes, and she immediately knows what I'm about to ask. "Yes, Katie I'll eat some of the nachos with you," she says. Then, I throw out some bs about how I'm really just ordering them all the time to serve blog purposes. So, the nachos arrive shortly after and man I'm at a loss for words. Now, nachos are not classy, they never have been and never will be so don't ever try and plate nachos sophisticatedly, it's embarrassing for them, they're meant to be served in a disorderly pile and sloppily eaten. This chef must have been new in the nacho business or something. So I'll try and paint the picture for you. Thin chips come out on a shiny white plate, in the middle is a bowl of melted cheese and on the side is three smaller ramekins filled with sour cream, salsa and guacamole. Let's get to the biggest problem-the cheese. Now, don't get me wrong I would not have been apposed to a nice bowl of smooth, creamy queso to dip my chips in. But, this cheese was not smooth or creamy, it was dry and hard. The melted cheese concoction was just melted shredded cheddar cheese with some salsa mixed in. If, you don't understand what I'm saying go melt a bowl of shredded cheddar cheese and try to dip a chip in. Most likely the chip will break on first contact with the cheese. That's exactly what happened here, we ended up having to scoop the cheese out with a spoon and place it on our chips, scooping with a spoon was hard enough, never mind attempting a chip. Note to the chef-try some of the plates you serve.

I give them a 4.2/10-simply because the window table was great and the Shirley temples made up for the nachos.

Old Glory (Georgetown, DC)

Recently visited this little BBQ gem while shopping in Georgetown. I'm all about trying new places..so when I discovered that this was one of the only restaurants on M st. that I had not dined at I decided I should give it a try. It was a beautiful day in October, almost 75 degrees, so we sat outside on their deck. While looking over the menu I had decided on the pulled pork sandwich (makes sense to try it at a BBQ joint known for their pulled pork). I saw nachos on the menu, but was honestly trying to resist. It was lunch time and I usually feel guilty/fat getting appetizers at lunch on a college student's budget. I was ready to order and had convinced myself that the pulled pork sandwich would be enough for me today. Then, the waiter comes over to our table and asks if we'll be starting with any appetizers "The nachos are great!" he says. In my mind I was thinking "Now, why did you have to go and say that I had just spent the last 5 minutes trying to convince myself that an appetizer was not necessary today?" So, then I asked the waiter "Honestly, how good?" and he replied "Honestly, they're excellent!" I looked at my two friends sitting at the table with me who are obviously tired of me ordering nachos at every meal we ate together. But, they knew my mind had already been made. I said, "We'll have the pulled pork nachos, please." The waiter was back within minutes with our order. Now, I've never had pork on nachos before I'm sort of a beef or chicken kind of girl but, tucked beneath the layers of cheddar cheese the pulled pork was so tender and sweet. The usual suspects were also piled on-guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and jalapeños. They were great! My only critique of Old Glory's nachos is that the chips are a bit too thin to manage the pork, otherwise I think they're a savory plate of goodness that I recommend everyone trying at least once. I give them an 8.1/10.

Nachos for Breakfast (Sydney, Australia)

This post is going international. Last year I spent about five months gallivanting around Sydney, Australia while "studying" abroad ha. Now, unfortunately I did not realize how few nacho spots there would be until I actually thought about Australia's proximity to Mexico. But, I was determined to try every plate of nachos in the area. By the end of the semester my friends knew the first food that I would be requesting on my arrival home. Anyways, I could literally count on three fingers the number of Mexican restaurants in a 30 mile radius of my apartment. However, the restaurant where I found my favorite plate of nachos in Sydney was not Mexican. So here's the story :
It was your average Sunday morning abroad, rolled over around 2:00pm said to myself "I can't believe I slept until 2:00pm again" called around to recap the events of the evening and all decided where the best place to absorb some of last nights beverages would be. We decided to start with breakfast food. Pancakes on the Rocks is one of the most notorious restaurants in Sydney, lines are out the door nearly everyday of the week at almost any time of day. Their pancakes are absolutely out of this world. You can have them topped with bananas, apples, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, chocolate chips, or ice cream. So we arrive to the restaurant around 2:30pm, all sporting water bottles (hydrating) and take a browse at the menu. The options look tantalizing and it wasn't 30 seconds before looking over the menu that I spotted my favorite friendly snack. Now, who ever said nachos for breakfast was outrageous, (god, would who ever say that?) are wrong. I proceeded to order myself some blueberry pancakes with ice cream and chocolate sauce (study abroad is not for the weak stomached-that goes for food and libation) and a side of nachos. The pancakes were delicious-rich, fluffy, and absolutely mouth watering with the fresh blueberries and ice cream. The nachos came as dessert (Australia doesn't quite have their restaurant skills down yet, often times appetizers arrive after the meal). The nachos were smothered in cheese, chili, guacamole, sour cream and jalapenos-my five essential ingredients. They were delicious, a real pallet cleanser, after gorging my heap of pancakes. They were just the right amount for dessert, not too big, not too small. Nothing like nachos to start the day off right.
I give them a 7.8/10.

Guapos (Tenleytown, DC)

Well, let's start off with one of the most legendary places that I have visited while attending American University, a rather sophisticated restaurant with ambiance and class...what am I saying..its Sloppy Guaps. Whether you've been there to dine with a large group and found yourselves polishing off 12 pitchers of Matrimonios and too many baskets of chips to count... I have to admit the food is delicious. The beverages are strong and the upstairs parties are messy. The nachos ain't too bad either. Now, I would not say that Guapo's nachos are my favorite, but they have a unique style that finds me ordering them nearly every time I'm at the place. The nachos are aligned in a circle, not my ideal arrangement, (I prefer piles) with each chip covered in cheese, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream and jalapeños. Now, one of the reasons Guapos wouldn't make my top 10 list is because of the way in which the chips are arranged...you can probably count the number of chips on the plate and that is never a good sign. However, the guacamole is absolutely delicious and the refried beans add a unique touch. The chips are sturdy, unlike some other chips I have come across, which were too weak to hold all of the toppings I threw at them (never good). All in all, Guapos is definitely a great restaurant and after a few pitchers of margs I probably think the nachos taste out of this world. I would recommend the chile con carne instead of the nachos-it's absolutely delicious. For now, I'm giving them a 7.4/10.

A Hunt for the Best Nachos

I have decided to embark on an appetizing adventure to search for the cheesiest, greasiest, most delicious nachos that I can find. I tend to order nachos at any restaurant that offers them and at this point in time I would consider myself somewhat of a nacho connoisseur. I have no prejudices when it comes to nachos..I like them with beef, with chicken, pork, loaded with sour cream, guacamole or jalapeños, but I must admit I am quite a sucker for some topped with delicious Texas chili. I will be reporting back on my nacho experiences to offer some advice as to where the best nachos are being served. Each post will describe the size, style, and overall taste of my favorite appetizer. Currently residing in the Northwest area of Washington, DC, I will be writing about local restaurants here in the city and back home in Rhode Island. I will also be commenting on any nachos I stumble upon along the way. Drooling already.