Yard House

Writing a bad review is easy. Bad reviews are the result of bad nachos, and bad nachos fill me with indigestion and hate. Together, these fuel my fingers and I type ferociously in hopes that you, the reader, will be protected from sub-par nachos.

On the other hand, great nachos speak for themselves and typically don't need advocates. But I'll take up the charge anyway, because these nachos were fantastic.

We went to Yard House in Fenway area, and I've got to say that I was immediately impressed. This is a somewhat upscale place with a massive beer list that is only matched by the size of the drinks. I got a Circus Boy served to me in a "Half Yard" (AKA: 32oz) (AKA: 2.9 standard drinks) (AKA: one way ticket to buzzed-ville). Service was great, our waitress brought me a sample of what she called a "Fruity Pebbles tasting beer" that actually tasted like the kids cereal. Didn't end up ordering it, but it brought me back to my footie-pajama wearing, Saturday morning cartoon watching, Fruity Pebbles beer drinking days.

PROLOGUE: For those not in the know, Yard House has a secret menu which we were all really tempted to order from, because secrets are generally cooler or better tasting (i.e. secret agents vs regular agents, secret sauce vs. regular sauce, secret ingredients vs regular ingredients, you get the point). The secret nachos, however, are covered in steak and were twice the money of regular chicken nachos so for the non-meat eaters and the budget conscious in the group, we decided it would be better to go with the standard chicken.


It would be hard to recommend these enough. The nachos were spread out, ensuring that all every chip had some coverage, the ingredients were fresh, the chips warm and crispy. It was an excellent plate of nachos that left me wanting way more than they gave me.

Not only were these tasty, but they were really nice to look at too. Beans and cheese blanketed and tucked in my precious 'chos. I imagine the chef in the kitchen reading my 'chos a bedtime story and telling them that they will grow up to be President of the United States, or at least some imaginary country like The Barba-'chos, The Cheese Republic, or Canada. Sprinkled atop the chips were little cilantro pieces and pieces of chicken that were just the right size. Generous, but not overwhelming, dollops of sour cream and guacamole also finished off this masterpiece.

My two complaints that really stopped this from being a perfect score.
1) No jalapenos - come on guys, this is a KEY ingredient.
2) More chips - maybe I was just starving or maybe these were just too good to stop eating, but I would have liked to see another small handfull of chips here. 

Can't decide if it's a good sign or a bad sign when you finish an entire plate of 'chos.

Nach-o-meter: 8.5/10

Over and Out,
Mr. J

Globe

Globe, Globe, Globe. Why the burnt cheese??! I had these nachos the other day at an event and was so excited to see them come out. I had high hopes! A new nacho place?! Fantastic! Whomp whomp...

Well, the nachos were relatively simple but that's okay (sour cream, cheese, salsa...not much else) but the issue was the cheese and the layering. The chips were good and a little toasted in some places which I love. But, the cheese was so caked on it was hard and not stretchy and it made it tough to pull apart the nachos so when I went to get some nachos I was pulling nacho chunks! Also, a lot of the chips didn't have anything on them. I will say this may not be representative of their nachos given they were served for an event so perhaps they were rushed but they were sort of a hot mess. I wish the layering  was better and the cheese wasn't so crusty. Who wants crusty cheese?! not this chick.

I will say this - Globe was a new place to go and seems good to grab a drink. The nachos? Maybe not so much. The wings were good though!

Nach-o-meter: 4/10

Xo,

Miss Nacho

La Verdad

La Verdad is Ken Oringer's mexican restaurant so I had high hopes and big expectations. However, I was disappointed.

La Verdad absolutely takes the cake w/aesthetics -- these were some handsome nachos. The presentation was great - so great that you almost didn't want to eat them! Who cares if they look good though if they don't taste good. The taste? Meh.

We ordered the nachos w/no meat to switch it up. It said they had a spicy sauce but it really actually wasn't very spicy, which I was happy about. However, I felt like the nachos were bland and lacked a lot of flavor. They used black beans but I feel like black beans themselves don't have a tone of flavor so you'd think the other ingredients would make up for this. For whatever reason (which I still cannot pinpoint), I just wasn't loving these nachos and didn't want to keep going back for me. I felt incomplete. I never feel incomplete after nachos! How dramatic of me.

Would I go back for these? Probably not.

Sigh...life shall go on.

Nach-o-meter: 5/10

Xo,

Miss Nacho

Boston Beer Works

Give it up for BBW!! A colleague had recommended I try BBW for their nachos and I wasn't sure what to expect because I had never been to BBW for food. Let me tell you, these nachos are amazing. These are def. some of the best nachos in Boston! I am a roll lately between BBW and 21st Amendment, I love finding gems.

So, myself and Mamacita Chili showed up and of course wanted to get a drink to go w/our nachos. What better than beer when you're at Boston Beer Works. Well, ironically enough I don't really like beer (part of the reason I never go here). The bartender Matt was fantastic -- he is like a baby Teddy Kennedy. I am a high maintenance beer drinker because I don't really drink it so I have no idea what I like and usually I end up hating them all! I warned him about this and he was a great sport. I tried about 5 beers and wasn't crazy about most of them but I did really like 2 of them and ended up mixing them together. I got the blueberry mixed with their Irish cream stout and it was great! Props to Matt for being patient! Thanks for helping me find something I'd actually drink.

So, one thing that immediately impressed me w BBW is that they do their market research. Matt told us that they used to serve the nachos in a big bowl but that meant that the cheese didn't always melt in the middle, etc. Well, they fixed the problem by now serving the nachos on a square flat plate and don't pile them very high. I LOVE A GREATER SURFACE AREA! It is really the best thing you can do for nachos. I really respect that BBW noticed a weakness in their menu and fixed it and improved it. That impresses me.

The nachos were amazeballs. We ordered the nachos w/chili. The layering on the nachos was phenomenal! Every nacho had toppings on it and I didn't have to construct my own nachos thank goodness. I hate having to do work when I am eating! Call me lazy. However, some of the chips had a little too many toppings that it made a few chips soggy -- but not to the point where it was the majority or detracted from my nacho experience. I found myself saying "these are so good!" several times. The tortilla chips were pretty good -- couldn't decide if they were homemade or not. They also serve them w/guac, lettuce, diced tomatoes and sour cream all on the side. All of the ingredients seem fresh. The cheese was great and there was a lot of it. There was no salsa, just fresh tomatoes (not pico de gallo). Also, the presentation was nice because they served it on a white square (I like!) plate that looked really nice. They topped them w/scallions which I find to be a nice addition to nachos. Also, they served them w/olives which hasn't been too common in my nacho hunting. The ratio of toppings was good and I didn't feel like one ingredient overwhelmed the rest and none of them were lacking.

It was $9 to start and w/the chili it was $12 (you can also do chicken for the same price). The portion is either a meal for 2 or an appetizer for 3. If 3 people shared them, you wouldn't be full.

These are now some of my favorite nachos!

High five to BBW!

Nach-o-meter: 8/10

Check out the menu: Boston Beer Works

21st Amendment

Bow chicka wow wow! These nachos are tasty! I had been craving nachos all day and couldn't stop thinking about them. All I wanted was to indulge in a large pile of nacho goodness. Ultimately, I ended up at 21 Amendment, a pub in Beacon Hill. I love Beacon Hill and I love nachos, so what more could I ask for on a Saturday afternoon? Given it was St. Patty's Day weekend the bar was packed and I was overwhelmed with green beads, green wigs, green beers and green nachos. Okay, I am just joking about the nachos because the only thing that should be green on your nachos is guacamole or else we may have a problem.

I was eager to start scarfing down these nachos! The nachos come w/3 choices of meat -- chili (my fave) chicken or buffalo chicken. Buffalo chicken? Oh, now that is interesting. I am not a fan of really spicy foods but I'd be willing to try these bad boys sometimes if the rest of my nacho family wanted to. I ordered a plate of the chili nachos for $11. The guacamole is $2 to add. I decided to skip it today and then quickly regretted that decision. Amateur move on my part. My bad.

The nachos were relatively quick despite it being busy and probably came out within 15 minutes. When they arrived on my table I was very pleased! These nachos are pretty. It is a little weird to be calling nachos pretty because I am not trying to hit on them or anything but they are aesthetically pleasing. What did we immediately notice? THE CHEESE! There was so much cheese it would be a nightmare for someone with lactose intolerance.  The nachos were thoroughly covered with melted cheese and it was piled on there VERY nicely. This was some dense cheese -- def. not skimping. The best part about the cheese? It was so stretchy! I went to grab my first nacho and it was so stretchy! Oh it really is the little things in life.

Now to get to the specifics! Well, these nachos are big. I did have Mama Chili with me but she was just hanging out and providing me with moral support today (although she did sample so she could give a critique too!). Three to four adults could easily share these nachos for an appetizer and two people could definitely get a meal of these. The portion was great so definitely worth the price.

Aside from the size of the nachos, the distribution of toppings was great! The chili was spread throughout the nachos, cheese was everywhere, pico de gallo was in sight, LOTS of sour cream and scallions on top. Also, I should say I passed on the jalapenos so if I hadn't have done that then there would have been some of those too. Holy moly there was a lot of sour cream! If they give you as much guac as sour cream then this a good sign (darn, should have ordered that guac!). Also, they were not flat or too high but instead they were layered well and equally because they weren't piled too high but given that they weren't flat either there were plenty to go around.

The chili was good! It is a little spicy but not too much. It had black beans in it and lots of meat and was tasty. The scallions were a nice addition too. The pico de gallo was fresh and was really good. I will say these nachos don't have any other salsa other than the pico de gallo. The chips were noticeably salty -- not sure if this is good or bad but probably depends on your salty preference. I don't think these chips were homemade but they were still good. Also, the sour cream tasted fresh.

I really couldn't find much wrong w/these nachos. I mean I love when people automatically give you guac rather than having an up-charge but I can't hold that against the quality of the nachos. The saltiness of the chips could be a turnoff for some but didn't detract from the overall experience. Homemade chips would have been great but they were still good. Other than that, the nachos were awesome. They were NOT soggy -- Colonel Crunchy would approve! As Colonel Crunchy would say, "I like soggy nachos as much as I like wet socks -- stay crunchy!".

Overall, these are some of the best nachos in Boston and it was hard to find stuff to complain about. The pros far out way the cons. I really enjoyed these and I was stuffed when I was done and there were plenty left. Who wants some 'chos?!

Good job 21st Amendment!

Xo,

Miss Nacho

Nach-o-meter: 8/10

Check out their menu at: 21st Amendment

Nacho Family Birth

Greetings from the Nacho Family! Today the family welcomes the birth of a Nacho Family member, Colonel Crunchy.

Stay tuned for his spicy reviews!

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

Interesting Nachos

Apparently we aren't the only people in Boston who love nachos. We found this cool article on Boston.com that highlights some of the most interesting and unique nachos in the city.

So, you tell us...are you a fan of interesting nachos (e.g., fried clams) or more traditional (e.g., chicken and chili)?

Check it out -- http://www.boston.com/thingstodo/gallery/uniquenachos/