Fajitas and Ritas

Welcome Back Nacho Enthusiasts!

Mr. J here. We're in a bit of a mid-week backup in our blog posts, but they should be coming out to you guys hot and fast - much like a good plate of nachos. So without further ado (just a fancy word for "Things are about to get serious"), here is our most recent review on Fajitas and Ritas.

So fun fact: Rita is not the name of the person who owns or established "Fajitas and Ritas". Another thing to note: If you wonder aloud about why "Rita" wouldn't put her name before her product on the restaurant sign, your friends will laugh at you...a lot. For those of you who are just as confused as I was, it stands for MargaRITAS - an abbrev. I wasn't familiar with until last night. Aside from the establishments misnomer, there are a lot of things to be said about the nachos at F&R's -- unfortunately not all of them are very good.

Service, for starters, was extremely slow especially for a Tuesday night where more than half of the tables were empty. Maybe our waitress was just giving us time to enjoy the complimentary chips and salsa which I can only assume were born from the Great Alpha Nacho - a God comprised solely of pure nacho bliss, unconditional love and corn tortilla. If you're feeling depressed or sad with your life, there isn't a healthier way to self-medicate than with these warm chips and homemade salsa perfection, except maybe an SSRI, but I digress (just a fancy word for "She was just terrible at her job, time to move on to the nachos").

Sigh. If only the nachos themselves were as good as the appetizer. I'm not even sure where to begin with this train wreck posing as delicious nachos. I suppose the first things to be said about Rita's is that everything is customizable, including the nachos, and this isn't necessarily where they got it wrong. In fact, this is a great idea. Love yourself some cheese, order extra. Jalapenos make you sad, well your wrong but I guess you wouldn't have to order them if you didn't want to. It's a concept that, you would think, would limit the sting of my review. Afterall, if I don't like my nachos it's my own fault, right? Well, you're obviously wrong.

We put in two orders of nachos after the waitress gave us a sketchy answer about how much came on a plate. We found out quickly that the answer was "not a lot". Not only was the plate itself small, but there were hardly any chips! I repeat, almost NO CHIPS! It was like trying to play Jenga without bottom bricks. Like applying makeup to someone without a head. Like trying to make nachos with a limited supply of chips! Let's take a moment and be real here, Mrs. Rita. We all know that nachos are life, but they are also art...and you know, food. But right now they are like art, and you can't paint the Mona Lisa without a canvas no matter how many brushes you have. That was the main problem with Rita's failed attempt at art. It was all toppings and no base level, all paint and no canvas.

You know someone once threw acid on the Mona Lisa after being denied French citizenship and I'm only now starting to understand that persons frustration.

I do have to admit, however, that the toppings were fairly impressive. The jalapenos were bountiful, the guacamole was fresh and the salsa (served on the side) was a great touch. We added chicken to one order which was grilled well and added something to keep me occupied with as I searched for more chips to no avail. I will also complain that the lettuce wasn't shredded which was a little off-putting to me. If you can't fit an ingredient on a chip then it shouldn't be on the plate. However, I would think that our chunks of lettuce were a good indicator of the freshness of ingredient.

Yet, at then end of the day I was just disappointed with my meal and was forced to drown my sorrows in Raspberry Rita (Again, short for Margarita. Not an actual woman).

Nacho-meter: 3/10

Over and Out,
Mr. Jalapeno

*****************************************************

Ah, Mr. Jalapeno loves the metaphors and symbolism, I like. His review has inspired me -- eat nachos while painting. Although may painting my not turn out like the Mona Lisa (especially if I am drinking a raspberry 'rita) it'll still be a fun time.

I  hope you all laughed at him when you read that he thought Rita was the owner...HA! This was the highlight of my day.

Miss Nacho: I think I'm going to get a margarita
Mr. Jalapeno: OH! That's what that means! I thought Rita was the person who owned it and wondered why it wasn't Ritas and Fajitas!
Me: *birds chirping and blank stare* WHAT?!?!!? *uncontrollable laughter*

That about sums that up.

I have to say, he really hit the nail on the head. So the whole premise of building your nachos is a great idea. If you have a large group you can order several plates and experiment with different toppings, etc. or if people dislike certain things you can custom make several orders. So, the idea is good but the result is not so good.

Mr. J is right about the slow service. We got there and started munching on chips and salsa (which by the way are definitely not home made chips but were still good) and the waitress came over. We told her we needed a few minutes...not 10 minutes! So, finally she took our sheet of paper w/our order (you check off on a sheet of paper what you'd like to eat/drink) and off she went. We also ordered a pitcher (~$14) of frozen raspberry margarita's - DELICIOUS. They have cheap, good 'ritas (but they better since it is in the name of the restaurant). So, service wasn't great but oh well.

We ordered two diff plates of chips: One vegetarian and one w/chicken. You have several options for nachos. Chips & cheese start at $3.50 and every topping after is an additional charge (ranging from about $.47 to 2.00+). Our two plates were about $9.00 each - not bad. We ordered them w - refried beans (the only bean option listed - negative points. Where are the black and pinto?!), guac, sour cream, lettuce, salsa and jalapenos. Add chicken to second order and scratch the lettuce (they put it anyway which is fine).

The result: Not so good. Also, there was not good consistency between the two plates. Plate 1 (vegetarian): Good amount of chips and toppings. Plate 2 (chicken): Not enough chips and a lot of toppings. Now, I love a lot of toppings and will say they do not skimp on toppings. They were very generous on the guac ($1.67 extra) but we had to dig for chips! I felt like I was conducting an archeological search for dinosaur fossils...I mean tortilla chips. The result was probably how most archeologists feel after a long day at work: unrewarding given the lack of fossils aka chips in this case. Do I have to work 10 years just to dig up one small chip?

Now, let's discuss toppings. I hate jalapenos but as a good matriarch of the Nacho Family I decided to go w/the 'penos for my comrades. THERE WERE SO MANY! Get these things away from my chips. Jalapeno lovers this is your place. The tortilla chips weren't that great because def. were not homemade but they weren't soggy either. The aethetics of the nachos was disappointing. The salsa came on the side (maybe good for some but not for me) so they didn't have the red to add to the pop of colors. So, we dumped it all over and prettied them up.

Overall, I wasn't thrilled...I felt like the nachos were severely lacking and the portion wasn't great. I wouldn't go back again for the nachos but I would for the drinks.

Xo,

Miss Nacho

Nach-o-meter: 4/10

Check out the menu at: Fajitas N Ritas