"Irish Nachos" District 2 (Van Ness, DC)

So, I thought it was about time that I added a little variety to this page. I realize that I have an awful lots of posts about chili nachos and when I set out on this nacho adventure I was hoping to embark on all kinds of interesting nacho dishes. However, I tend to only come across pretty standard nacho platters and I'm afraid my posts might be becoming a bit monotonous. So, I saw that District 2 had Irish nachos which used kettle potato chips as the base instead of the standard tortilla chip- I thought this would be a great chance to mix it up a bit, man what a disappointment.

A few friends and I hiked it up to District 2 last week, purely because I had been wanting to try these nachos for a while now. I really appreciate my friends and their patience. When we arrived we immediately ordered some drinks and the Irish nachos. The waitress said that they no longer served them on the kettle chips and that they've now converted to the tortilla. Man, was I bummed. I hesitated for a minute as she asked if that was okay...she seemed to think it was absolutely fine. I on the other hand was completely disappointed. I sat there pouting for a a few minutes and then agreed that I would still have them. I had been so excited to try the Irish nachos and add something a little different to my resume as nacho connoisseur. The nachos came out a few minutes later and they looked sad and I was sad. They were just blah-white corn chips with a cheese fondue sauce scattered on top of them. The sour cream was chunky. The guacamole had little flavor and the salsa was eh. I mean I ate them of course, but was not pleased with them. The chips had no flavor, no salt, no crunch and the cheese probably only covered 50% of them. I was not happy, so I was forced to order another drink. So I would say skip the nachos at District 2, but the fried pickles are a MUST! I promise I was skeptical too, just try them and you'll die.

I give the nachos a 2.2/10 and the pickles a 9.3/10 for my girl Snooki.

Clyde's "St. Patrick's Day Nachos" (Chinatown, DC)

Last Thursday happened to be one of my favorite holidays of the year, behind my birthday that is. It was St. Patrick's Day, I had just purchased some ridiculous 2 foot green and orange Dr. Seuss style hat off the street and been spray painted green by a homeless man so I decided it was time for dinner. My friend Maria gets to have the pleasure of celebrating this fine holiday along side her own birthday. She's one lucky girl. We had planned on going to an Irish pub for dinner, seeing as it only seemed right to have corn beef and green beer to celebrate March 17th, but of course there was a four hour wait and we were starved. We made our way over to Clyde's in Chinatown-it's a great restaurant, lots of options, nothing spectacular, but good ol' American food. There was a large group of us out that night and we decided appetizers would be too difficult/expensive to share amongst everyone. Well they decided. I had made up my mind-it was my second favorite holiday of the year and ninth down on the list of Starters was Chili Nachos and I was getting them. When it was my turn to order I think I turned some heads, as no one was expecting to have any appetizers that evening. But, when they arrived no one seemed hysterical that I had ordered them, after all how many pieces of bread can you have to trick yourself into thinking you're not starving. Mhmmm and they were great! Nice big pile of fresh, crunchy chips layered with a sweet, meaty chili, cheese, salsa, sliced jalapeños and sour cream. Now, the one thing I truly loved about these nachos was their size and the flavor of the chili. The nachos were big enough to allow everyone at our table of 10 quite a healthy sampling. The chili was wonderful, sweet and spicy at the same time. It's listed as ground beef on the menu, but it was definitely an authentic chili with beans. It's always a problem at the end when there are too many chips and not enough toppings, I never seem to mind it when the scenario is the opposite. This plate offered an overload of toppings, but they don't give you forks for nothing. So scoop it all up and enjoy. Definitely a great night out and that was only the appetizer. I give them a 8.3/10.

Lucky Horseshoe Steakhouse (Worthings, Barbados)

So, I just got back from my last spring break trip to Barbados last night. Man am I bummed to have to be back at school today. First of all I recommend Barbados to everyone-it is an amazing island with amazing people, awesome nightlife, beautiful beaches, delicious restaurants and NACHOS. I of course had been doing a little research before I left for Barbados to look for some restaurants that served nachos. Unfortunately, the only Mexican restaurant on the island was closed down because of a fire it had last fall. It was supposed to open last week, but the opening was postponed till today, so I missed it-now forcing me to book a return trip to the island.

But, luckily on our drive home from the beach one day in a van/bus I was hanging out the window and happened to catch a glance at a restaurant menu while at a red light. I swore I thought I saw nacho platter, but wasn't quite sure. So, later that night I decided to go on a nacho hunt. Couldn't quite remember where the restaurant was, but I was willing to do whatever it took to find some nachos. It was day four on my trip and I was desperate for the savory snack. Luckily the restaurant I had driven by earlier in the day wasn't too far from our hotel-only a 20 minute walk on a sketchy, unlit street (gotta do what ya gotta do). But, there it was The Lucky Horseshoe Steakhouse (it was exactly like it sounds) tacky. I immediately ran up to the menu out in front of the restaurant and nearly teared up when I realized I had been right. There it was under starters-Americano Nacho Platter. I was ready. Realizing by the decor of the restaurant these wouldn't be the best nachos I had ever tasted, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The nachos came out quite quickly considering we were dining in the Caribbean (very laid back, service is pretty slow). They were a colorful batch- red, black and yellow chips covered in cheddar cheese (Barbados cheddar is sharper, but it was good), chicken, jalapeños, sour cream and a delicious homemade salsa. The nachos weren't great, they were good. I would say their presentation and the fact they were probably the only ones I could find on the island made them seem a whole lot better. I enjoyed every bite. My favorite thing about them would definitely have to be the homemade salsa, it was delicious. The sour cream had a weird consistency I tried to steer clear of that and the chicken was distributed quite sparsely. But, I wasn't expecting much so I was satisfied. I was so happy that I had found them. So if you're ever desperately craving nachos while on a trip to Barbados I would recommend the Lucky Horseshoe-it served its purpose. I would give them a 6.4/10. I would give Barbados a 47/10.

Chadwicks (Friendship Heights, DC)

MMMMhhmmmmm....so the other night I was in the mood for something a little salty. My friends and I had been talking about going out to dinner after work. I obviously looked some restaurant options up online..drooled over different menus (something I do often) and threw the idea of Chadwicks out there, well, because they had nachos. I didn't really mention the reasoning for my choice to my friends, because I honestly think they're pretty unappreciative of a good plate of nachos. So, we ended up at Chadwicks after work and we were starving. I think we ordered four appetizers..and yes if you're wondering nachos was one of them. The nachos arrived and my mouth literally watered, pouring. There they were...the chips piled high with chili, diced tomatoes, sour cream, jalepenos, guacamole, and of course melted cheddar cheese. The nachos were delicious..wish they were a bit warmer though as lukewarm (never knew that was one word) cheese and chili can oversog any chip. The serving was large..my party of 5 polished them off quite quickly, but were left satisfied. I'd ask for the sour cream on the side as it slightly overtook the dish. Right now I'm considering Chadwick's as one of my top 3 nacho spots in DC so far. I'm giving them an 8.7/10.

Happy Australia Day! Colin's Nachos (105/104B Brook St. Coogee, Australia)

So, as previously mentioned last year I was studying abroad living in a little beach town right outside of Sydney known as Coogee. It was beautiful place where I met a whole bunch of amazing people. Today is Australia Day in the states and I decided to celebrate with a post about one of my greatest memories of Australia-Morganne's fake birthday party. Now, this was a party consisting of some Mexican favorites that we hadn't been able to find yet in Sydney- nachos, tacos, and.... .....margaritas!!!! (of course). So what is a fake birthday you may ask? Well, its when people don't know each other too well and communication is lacking and we think we're celebrating a birthday..and the half way through the night when everyone becomes extremely intoxicated you realize it's really no one's birthday at all..but continue celebrating anyways. My fake birthday was first and after the excellent time we had we decided to throw Morgs one too. Now, at my party only beverages were served, but we decided to class it up a bit for Morganne's. Colin decided he was going to make his famous nachos and I was excited that I had found someone thousands of miles away who shared my love for them. So Colin prepared the nachos..laid down the tin foil on a baking sheet, laid out the chips and placed cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes, jalapeños, and diced peppers on every layer (Colin was great about layering the chips, making sure each layer had the perfect proportion of toppings). He baked the nachos in the oven for about 10 minutes and served with salsa and sour cream. They were delicious and I was so glad Colin had made them. Everyone enjoyed the nachos-they disappeared in 5 minutes. Dieting is something we all cared a lot about. Now, delicious homemade nachos aren't difficult to prepare, but Colin has them perfected. Thanks Col, miss you!

I give them an 8.3/10.

Rhody Joe's (Wakefield, RI)

Had been to Rhody Joe's a couple Wednesday nights while home for Christmas break. Nothing too special-cheap beer and the possibility of running into everybody you went to high school with. Then, I stopped in for lunch one day. Rhody Joe's used to be a Chelo's so unfortunately the stench of nursing home has remained its signature scent as Chelo's was often frequented by 70 somethings for "early bird specials" such as the Sunday night meatloaf. Must say however, I was quite impressed by the nachos. Great presentation. Thick, crispy chips stacked high with chili, cheese, jalapeños, and tomatoes served with sides of salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Now, one great thing about these nachos was how the chili and cheese was distributed equally over every chip. Nicely proportioned. Must be part of the no chip left behind act. The cheese was melted beautifully and laid properly on every layer of the nachos. Sometimes you run into trouble when the cheese doesn't seem to be thoroughly melted, but these nachos were great! They're certainly up there on my list so far. I say 8.4/10.

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.