Mexico Lindo (San Jose, CA) : Nachos with Chicken

Here's what this giant plate of nachos looked like when it first arrived at the table:

Pretty drab, eh?  Here's what they looked like after I spruced 'em up a bit:

Much better!

So, to answer your first question, yes, I should only be eating nachos once a week.
To answer your second question, no, I didn't eat this entire enormous plate of nachos, otherwise I'd probably  have had a heart attack on the spot or at least on the way home and wouldn't be writing this right now.
To answer your third question, no, the nachos weren't very good.
To answer your fourth question (why are you asking me so many questions?), it was because the chicken wasn't very flavorful and there were waaaayyy too many refried beans underneath, turning the chips into a big soggy mess before I even had a chance to eat a few of them.
To answer your fifth question (another one?), the chips were ok, but the freebie "ROI" chips that we munched on before we got our entrees were great.  They were the thin type and almost as good as the ones at Chevy's
To answer your sixth question (seriously, all these questions are getting out of hand!), if I came back to this restaurant, which is part of a 6 restaurant bay area chain, I'd skip the nachos and go with something more along the lines of the delicious-looking chicken fajita salad that my friend ordered.
To answer your seventh question (that's it - I'm done - here's the damn rating already!)…
Rating: 2½ out of 5
Rating Notes: No rating notes for you!  You asked me too many damn questions!
Map to location: http://mapq.st/AtGcH2

Adelita's Taqueria (San Jose, CA): Super Nachos with Chicken

Oh, Adelita's, why do you toy with my emotions?  I walk into your clean, modern dining room with it's sparkly black marble tables and light wood counters and chairs and across the way, I see a hip, open kitchen with cooks hustling here and there.  You even have a well-produced menu board and a dish called "Sky's special burrito".  I'm getting excited now…
Your little light-up "order ready" buzzer/coasters are a first for any taqueria I've been to and remind me of hip bar & grill.  Should I be nervous that you are a hit-and-miss, overly Californified taqueria where I'll get some "creative" cook's idea of a new twist on Nachos?  Puhleez no!
I sit down and sip my Coke until the buzzer signals the end of my above average-length wait and I walk up to the counter to retrieve my highly anticipated plate of nachos…

 

Not much to look at, are they?  The emotional roller coaster goes downhill.  Check out that wormy-looking squirt of sour cream and all of those chips with nothing on them.  Are you kidding me?  Maybe they'd look better with…

 …some jalapeños, onions, and a generous helping of your yummy "orange sauce"?

That's more like it.  I’m almost happy again…

Munching my way through the plate, I'm fairly satisfied because I'm so hungry and every bite has a bunch of tangy sauce on it.  Only after about 5 bites do I discover the real strength of these nachos: the generous chunks of juicy, flaky, shredded white meat chicken hiding under the sour cream worm and bland pico de gallo.  The more I eat, the more I find.  This definitely helps, but I must tell you, Adelita's, I'm not as excited as when I first walked in with a wallet that was almost $10 heavier than it is now!  I don't know if I'll ever come back to you...

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes: Despite the completeness of the ingredients list, one of the ugliest plates of nachos I've seen, at least before I added the orange sauce.  Lame, store-bought chips and coule you have also put a little effort into squishing the avocado and cutting up the olives or is this minimalist approach your attempt and trying to add a "California Cuisine" touch?).  Creepy looking sour cream worm.  Excellent, all white meat chicken keeps these from dropping below 3½ stars.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/ychgOc

Alicia's Cafe (San Jose, CA): Large Supreme Nachos with Chicken

Sigh.  Looking at this plate of nachos, I thought to my self, "Wow!  Those are going to be great!"

Nope.

These nachos had the ingredients and presentation to bring in a great score, but they were kind of like British cars: the looks and all of the cool features are there at first, but living with them doesn't leave the best taste in your mouth, you wonder why you paid so much, and you'll likely never buy one again. 

The good:

All standard ingredients accounted for:

- Warm, crispy chips

- Refried beans

- Shredded chicken

- Generous portions of guacamole and sour cream

- Pico de Gallo

Less common ingredient accounted for:

- Olives (always a nice touch!)

Really big portion (they weren't kidding - these are "Large")

The Bad:

-Flavorless, "Blando Calrissian" chicken

-Cheese sprinkled on top of guacamole and sour cream = no melting - what the hell?

-$9.50 plus tax and tip

A Tip:

I'm quickly learning that except in extreme cases (like Taco Bell), price has nothing to do with how good a plate of nachos tastes.  When you go to a sit-down-get-served restaurant, you pay more, but with the exception of Angel's Rock House, the taste and quality of the nachos is usually equal or inferior to what you find in many hole-in-the-wall taquerias for a lot less money.

Rating: 2½ out of 5

Rating Notes: See above

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/ySIdOB

Tacos Mexico (San Jose, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Is there anything good about the startling number of hideous strip malls in the greater Campbell/South San Jose area?  Yes - the endless supply of taquerias.  Tacos Mexico, on what I'd call the "wrong side of the tracks" (read: the same side as The Pink Poodle) on Bascom Avenue is a funky little cash-only taqueria that has a surprisingly large crowd at lunch time.  If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time I've actually been worried about finding a table at a taqueria (we sat outside and the wind wasn't exactly balmy).

They have one kind of nachos: Super Nachos.  Are they super?  Only if your idea of super includes "plastic" cheese.  However, the shredded chicken was definitely on par with most places I've been that use real cheese on their nachos.  Also, just look at the picture:  all ingredients are present and accounted for, including the sometimes elusive pico de gallo and jalapeños.  Instead of "super" let's call these "muy bien".

Rating: 3 out of 5

Rating Notes: For just over $6, these were fairly priced and I have to admit I cleared my "plate".  Had there been real melted cheese, at least one more point would have been added to the score.

Bonus:  I'm a total gearhead, so I dug their tables, almost all of which had pictures of nice old cars on them.

Factoid: Tacos Mexico is the "sister" taqueria to Ricos Tacos on Winchester in Campbell.  Here you'll find much the same menu and good, reasonably-priced food, but an even better presentation for their nachos.

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/AmvXcK

Freedom Burrito (Santa Clara, CA): Chicken Nachos

Freedom Burrito!  I love the name of this taqueria.  It makes me think of either having the freedom to order my food any crazy way I want it or of a super hero burrito wearing a cape who delivers Mexican food to hungry children around the world!  Of course, Freedom Burrito the super hero would have remembered that in order to make a well-rounded plate of nachos you need to throw some pico de gallo and some jalapeños on top, and if you're really going for perfection, use thick, crispy, home-made, deep-fried tortilla chips…

In any case, these were pretty darn good.  Nice, tender, flavorful chicken and plenty of it, and although the chips weren’t the thick, home-made kind, they were far from subpar.  Very generous on the guacamole, too!

Rating: 3½ out of 5 stars

Rating Notes: Generous portion, good price, just lacking a few things like pico de gallo and jalapeños.  The refried beans were a nice touch that some people wouldn't like, but I do!

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/zJ5ttz

Nacho Apology

Yes, it's been over a month since my last nacho blog post.  The 2011 holidays were quite a distraction from my quest for the perfect nachos.  Sure, a positive distraction, but that's no excuse!  Therefore, I offer this picture from Nacho Libre as an effigy of what I deserve for making you all wait!  More "real" posts coming soon!

For those of you who have not seen Nacho Libre (gasp of disbelief!), this is a scene where Nacho (Jack Black) and his sidekick Esquelito (Héctor Jiménez) are doing some ridiculous training for their wrestling career and Esquelito launches a cantaloupe at Nacho with a slingshot, presumably to toughen him up.  Awesome!

Interesting fact: Nacho Libre was loosely based on the story of Fray Tormenta ("Friar Storm"), aka Rev. Sergio Gutiérrez Benítez, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who had a 23-year career as a masked luchador (wrestler)!

I hope all of you had a great Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Pagan Ceremony/etc... and that your new year has been prosperous and happy so far!
-Skye

Taqueria El Dorado (San Jose, CA): Chicken Nachos

Ordinarily, if a food is fluorescent orange, I get a little nervous (ok - Cheetos are an exception, even though I probably should get nervous when I eat Cheetos).  The chicken on these nachos glowed just like it does in the pictures.  Maybe it was because after the nice lady behind the counter who was also the cashier built up this tasty concoction, she microwaved it to melt the cheese (a practice I'm learning is common to most taquerias - what ever happened to the "Salamander"?  If you don't know what I mean by that, see my post about the origin of nachos)  I may never know why the chicken looked like that, but it doesn't matter.  This was a good, solid plate of my favorite Mexican food.  Great salsa at the table, too!
 

Rating: 3½ out of 5

Rating Notes: The chips weren't the best, and the ones in the freebie, "ROI" basket they give you while you wait for your order were clearly stale.  Microwaving helped.

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/ugMTXn

Chapala Mexica Bistro (Campbell, CA): Pork Nachos

There were 2 good things about these nachos:
1. Great, homemade tortilla chips
2. The sunlight coming through the blinds next to our table that allowed me to snap this "artsy" nacho still life photo
Other than that, all I can say is that these were pork nachos.  I'm not even going to call it Carnitas.   It was just that, shredded pork, and it tasted just like it sounds.  No extra seasonings that I could discern, no kick, just pork, with all the barnyard connotations that it implies.  Was that fat or was that melted monterey jack cheese?  The world may never know.  Harsh?  Maybe, but I was so disappointed that in this recently remodeled taqueria (now a sit-down-get-served "bistro") with its nice looking menus and pleasant atmosphere (modern ceiling fans, even!), I got such poorly executed pork, one of the mainstays of most taquerias.  I'll leave it at that, rate these, and move on to my next review...

Rating: 2½ out of 5
Rating Notes: Oink

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/uIQYAQ

Viva Taqueria (San Jose, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Word.  Live on, Viva Taqueria!
I wish I could say that the reason it's been over a month since I posted my last nacho review was because I was occupying Wall Street or finding a cure for cancer, but it's actually because I've been spending my lunch hours at work Making sure everyone on Facebook knows that I "Like" their posts and knows what I'm listening to on Spotify.  For shame...
In any case, I'm getting back into letting the world know how much I like chips, cheese, and meat with some of the best nachos I've ever had!
Viva Taqueria is where you should go if you break into a cold sweat when thinking about shopping at Westfield Mall (Valley Fair?) and also having to brave the crowded, overpriced food court during the Christmas shopping season.  It's just a hop, skip, and a jump down Winchester and serves great food.  Get some fresh air and walk to it between buying hipster clothing at Hot Topic and laughing at the prices of the products at the Apple Store.  Nothing is really special about these, mind you, but I scarfed down these shredded chicken nachos and left nary (yes, "nary" - good word - use it, you'll like it) a scrap on the plate.  Excellent, tender shredded chicken in every bite down to the last chip(!), jack cheese, and just the right amounts of guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo.  Simple formula, simply awesome.

Rating: 4½ out of 5

Rating Notes: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/saoUJJ

Taqueria La Taquiza (San Jose, CA): Nachos Con Carne w/Chicken

Impatience, I thank you for the discovery of this nice little taqueria!  The other day, I was Skype-ing with my nacho "wing-woman" about where we should go to get nachos this time.  In my hungry haste, I got tired of waiting for her to point us in a specific direction (what can I say - I'm a big dumb man when thinking with my stomach), so I went on Yelp and looked up 'Taquieria - Campbell, CA'.  This place had 4½ out of 5 stars, so we decided it would be a good bet.  We were right.  Given its Yelp rating and its location (Willow Glen area), I was really expecting it to be packed when we arrived there at noon.  No such issue - there was only one other diner when we arrived.  This is usually a warning sign to me, but hey, we were already there and I was hungry.  We were definitely satisfied with the meal and I'd most likely return to this place, especially since they have a wider-than-average selection of dishes on their menu.

Overall a very good plate of nachos.  The portion was just right, with a generous pile of seasoned, shredded chicken atop a pile of nice crispy chips.  All the required items were there (chips, refries, cheese, shredded chicken, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and a healthy side of jalapeños), but this is one rare instance where I would have liked more cheese*.  This place was lacking a salsa bar (gasp!), and I must say that these nachos could have used a sprinkle of some good red or green sauce to punch things up.

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  Chicken had great texture, but was deceptively bland considering the amount of seasoning that appeared to be on it.  I also found one "Chicken McKnuckle™", which is never a pleasant experience.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/vhM0fv

*I have a feeling that I'm going to start seeing skimpier helpings of cheese on my nachos.  Has anyone else noticed how expensive cheese has gotten?  The regular price of a 1 lb block of Lucerne brand cheddar at Safeway is 9 bucks!  For that price, I want Tillamook, damn it!