beer « El Tour Del Nacho

Tag Archives: beer

Rock Bottom Brewery: We’ve Hit That

If you’re a chain restaurant/brewery (and there are a lot of you), then you’ve got to do something to stand out from the crowd. For the Rock Bottom Brewery, originality comes in the form of forgoing dishware altogether. From what we witnessed, the pretzels and beer flights come out in wire carriers with handles, and our nachos arrived not on a plat but on a raised metal stand with a tray on top. They may have been trying to stun us with their presentation, but a word of advice: we aren’t super short ladies, but we found this towering display too high to get proper perspective on chip selection, and exceptionally messy to eat from. There is also the lurking danger of dropping a topping off of the plate or on your chip into your beer.

Appearance: (7) Once again, flat nachos! What they lacked in a 3rd dimension they definitely made up for with the other two, as these elicited gasps of surprise as they graced the table. Twin scoops of guacamole elegantly framed a languid pool of salsa.
Quality of Ingredients: (5) “Greasy” is one of the first words that comes to mind. Ground beef was the topping on these nachos, and it definitely suffused the plate in fatty residue, compounded by the already somewhat greasy chips. While the beef was moderately unflavored, taco seasoning made it’s appearance on the black beans. We did enjoy the just-right jalapenos, and the guacamole was excellent. Still, a little too heavy to really devour.
Distribution of Toppings: (7) Despite the low profile, the cheese didn’t make it everywhere it was supposed to; slightly hardened cheese and greasy chips only made it stick less. Salsa and guacamole were well-placed, allowing for sampling but not getting in the way.
Price: (6) With the add-ons of meat and guacamole, these were up there in price. Large for sure, but not entirely worth it.
Overall: 25/40. A mediocre nacho on an unusual serving vessel is still just a mediocre nacho.

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Nacho Reviews

The Asheville Brewing Company

26 Oct

Today’s nacho review takes us far, far away from the cold, Bud Light-drenched land of Boston to the warm, welcoming bosom of Western North Carolina. There, the beers are locally brewed (and cheap!), the hippies run wild, and it’s still out-door dining weather. We found all three of these things in our recent trip to Asheville at the Asheville Brewing Company, a converted bus station turned brewpub/movie theater. The covered outdoor patio resembled a less dodgy and much better ventilated version of Our House West, with a rack of board games (including a giant custom-made Jenga set) and a corn hole game. Were the nachos too a step up? Here, we were confronted with two options: one nacho plate with corn tortilla chips (Nacho Mama), and one with flour (Nacho Daddy). We went with the flour chip offering with chicken, in hopes it would be the most original.

Appearance: (7) Did we order pizza? These nachos blew Uno’s out of the water in the “Flattest Nacho” competition; and the finely-chopped toppings did nothing to dispel their pizza-like image.
Quality of Ingredients: (6) The chips were bizarre, like nothing we’d ever tasted on nachos but at the same time familiar. It took a few bites but we narrowed it down– they tasted exactly like the wrappers on crab rangoon. Interesting, but a bit too heavy after a few bites. The chicken was in tiny pieces and rather dry; black beans and some veggies were a nice touch. The salsa was pretty tasty, too bad it was on the side in a tiny container!
Distribution of Toppings: (7) It’s hard to mess up distribution when your nachos are at max two chips deep. However, these still could have used a little more viscous ingredients.
Price: (7) At $7.50, great for Boston, just OK for the boondocks.
Overall: 28/40. While tasty, these nachos suffered a bit of an identity crisis. Pizza? Chinese food? Or ‘chos? Until they make up their mind, unless you are really jonesing for some nachos you are better off looking elsewhere on the menu.

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Nacho Reviews

Charlie’s Beer Garden: When it Rains Bad Nachos, it Pours

18 Jul

Final Jeopardy: Where in Boston can you both drink Harpoon Rasberry UFO on tap in the outdoors AND wait in the world’s longest line for the world’s dirtiest bathroom? Why, at Charlie’s Beer Garden in Harvard Square, of course! Run by the fine folks behind Charlie’s Kitchen right next door, the beer garden is a godsend during the summer, when alfresco drinking opportunities are few and far between. We love the burgers here, and were very excited when nachos made a debut on their summer menu. Do they earn their place in the permanent rotation? Let’s find out!

Appearance: (6) Flat, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Decidedly cheesy to the naked eye, which is decidedly a good thing.
Quality of Ingredients: (5) Decent chips, though definitely not homemade. The guacamole was gluey enough to be decidedly from a bag, but still appreciated. The cheese was quite melty and delicious. And then….we come to the chili. At first bite it seemed innocently tasty. Kidney beans and meatball-sized chunks of ground beef were pleasant surprised. But then, we realized that something with the chili was terribly, terribly wrong. It didn’t seem at all more watery than usual, but for some bizarre reason any chip that touched it became immediately soaked. And not soaked in a good way, with a thick, flavorful gravy– more like sodden.
Distribution of Toppings: (4) While there were significant amounts of cheese and chili, because of the aforementioned chili situation, this in the end rendered the topping-covered chips nearly inedible. We picked at the edge and used forks to whittle away at the toppings, but in the end, we were left with this sizeable inedible remainder:

Now that’s just depressing.

Price: (2) We can’t remember how much they cost and they aren’t listed on the online menu. Whatever it was, they weren’t worth it.
Overall:17/40. Looks like the Otherside Cafe has some competition for the worst nachos served to you in the company of fixed-gear bike riding hipsters.

It was fitting, nay, even poetic that after these soggy nachos, God saw fit to open up the skies for a surprise downpour and soak them even more.