REPEAT VISIT: Andale (Los Gatos, CA): Nachos with Carnitas

A beautiful Friday Afternoon, a new friend, a great plate of nachos.  It doesn't get much better than that.  I'd been to Andale before, but it had been awhile and I'm glad I came back!  The previous time, my boss, who I'd come here with insisted that we should not only get chicken nachos, but order some of their famous, mouth-watering roasted chicken to throw on top.  Tasted great, but we had a lot of leftovers, and nachos make terrible, soggy-chipped leftovers.

This time, I stuck to my current groove and went with carnitas.  Great choice!  I can honestly say that Andale's Carnitas are in my top 3 of all time, right along side Los Pericos in Santa Cruz (review coming soon) and Tacos Al Pastor 2 in San Jose's Willow Glen area.  It's amazing how well-prepared meat can make you (or me, at least) eat WAY too many nachos.  I left with a stuffed belly, but went for a nice little walk on the Los Gatos Creek Trail afterward to get the digestion going!  The rest of the ingredients were simply ok, but well-proportioned and well-chosen.  If the chips had been of the homemade, deep-fried tortilla type, we'd have been looking at a contender for the best nachos I've had.

Rating: 4½ out of 5

Rating Notes: Carnitas that would stand on their own as a great meal, good overall mix of ingredients, light on the cheese.

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/1p35dk4​

El Pollo Loco (Multiple Locations): Chicken Nachos

I have my aging memory (or lack thereof) for landing at El Pollo Loco for my latest nacho review.  Visiting a bike shop in the same strip mall, I thought I'd suddenly found a new, charming little taqueria off of Meridian about a mile from my work called Neighborhood Taqueria.  But: (1) they were closed on the day that I went there and (2) I'd already blogged their nachos a couple years ago (click here for that post).  During my shameful, famished​ drive back to the office, I happened upon an El Pollo Loco and it occurred to me that they might have nachos.  If nothing else, maybe I could get some tasty chicken?

Upon examining the menu abo​ve their counter and double-checking on my iPhone, I didn't see nachos listed anywhere,  but I decided to just ask if they had them.  Turns out they do!  However, I wish the dining experience had been as exciting as discovering a "hidden" menu item, feeling like I did the first time I ordered an 'Animal Style' cheeseburger at In 'N Out.  Nope.

Although the El Pollo Loco gang are supposed experts with chicken, the meat was simply OK and the matched the mediocre presentation you may see in the photo above.  Up sides?  The chips were light and crispy and the 4 types of salsa were pretty decent.  I do like that they went light on the cheese, but it was unevenly applied like the rest of the ingredients, making it a difficult task to put together a bite with all of the ingredients working together to tempt my tastebuds.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Rating Notes:  Decent chicken for being grilled, good guacamole.  Thin on overall flavor and poor presentation made them difficult to fully enjoy.
Map to Location: http://www.elpolloloco.com

La Victoria Taqueria (San Jose, CA): Nacho Cheese Fries (with Al Pastor)

I've previously reviewed nachos from "La Vic" before and go there at least once a week for a taco or two, but the other day I noticed a sign on the wall for "Nacho Cheese Fries".  To use a nerdy analogy, nacho fries, with their use of french fries in place of chips, are to regular nachos what the original Star Wars movies are to the prequels: if you take them all in, the nacho fries, like the original movies, will stick inside you and make you remember them, for better or for worse, for a lot longer time.  Of course I had to try 'em and see how they stack up to Iguanas' Nacho Fries!

To mix things up a bit, my meat of choice was Al Pastor (marinated pork).  The first thing I noticed when eagerly grabbing my order from the counter was the heft of this carbo-blasted basket of goodness.  Literally the weight of a brick - no joke!  Intimidating, yes, but I was really hungry, so I poured on some of La Vic's famous "Orange Sauce" and went to town.

The al pastor was a good choice of meat from a texture, if not flavor standpoint: about 5 minutes in, when everything started to mix together, the suacy meat and the fries assumed the perfect texture to be eaten in gluttonous bites with a fork (I don't recommend eating these with your fingers unless you want to look like a sloppy, ravenous heathen).  The flavor of the Al Pastor, which I love in La Vic's super tacos just didn't mesh with everything else well.  In the end, the sheer density of the concoction forced me to throw in the towel with half of the food still in the basket.

Rating: 3½​ out of 5

Rating Notes: Nacho Fries are awesome, but will never score as high as real nachos.  Good meat, just not right for nacho fries.  Guacamole with low avocado content, but tasted great paired with the sour cream, orange sauce, and pico de gallo.

Map to Location: (Multiple Locations) http://www.lavicsj.com

Smoke 'N Wings (San Jose, CA): Pulled Pork Nachos

I don't ordinarily seek out nachos at barbecue joints, but an engineer at work tipped me off to these and since Smoke 'N Wings is but 10 minutes from the office, I had to do it.  Good decision!  Mostly...
Barbecue pulled pork doesn't come to mind as the perfect meat for a plate of nachos, but here it works.  Sweet, savory barbecue sauce over tender, generous quantities of pulled pork shoulder.  And well played S-'N-W for using plastic cheese sauce instead of real melted cheese.  Not sure whether it was a cost decision or a purposeful stroke of genius, but the way that the barbecue sauce and cheese sauce mixed together to form a cheesy barbecue infusion (almost a BB/Cheese Aoli?) was almost magical.  Now, if they could have made a better choice on the chips (the giant Costco bag variety which I've fortunately only encountered on one other location at the mediocre Fiesta Taqueria)we'd have had something amazing.

Side note:  A coworker who came along ordered some of their exceptional wings.  The crisp texture of the skin and tenderness of the meat made for some of the best wings I've ever had - highly recommended!

Rating: 4 out of 5
Rating Notes:  Generous helping for just $6.95.  Jalapeños blended beautifully with overall flavor.  Scored bonus points for originality and generosity or would've been a 3 or 3½ at most.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/SHVVAP

Señor Taco (San Jose, CA): Super Nachos with Carnitas

Working further south in San Jose nowadays, I have the chance to visit some taquerias that weren't on my radar before.  Senor Taco is a new one for me and is pretty close to work.  I'd actually found this one before, but skipped over it in the Yelp results because I thought it was a fast food joint!  Wasn't there a 'Senor Taco' fast food chain at one time?  Like so many taquerias, it's shoved into an anonymous strip mall next to nail salons, liquor stores, fitness clubs, etc...

The Super Nachos were good.  Nothing special, but they did certain key things right:

• Pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, all present and accounted for
• Generous helping of carnitas
• Not too much cheese
• Deep-fried, home-made tortilla chips

The meat was so-so.  They should have seasoned them more because there was just a hint of that "plain pork" taste that grosses me out a little because it reminds me of a petting zoo.  This hurt what could have otherwise been a higher score.

One standout item:  The salsa bar is epic!!

Such variety and unique salsas.  I absolutely loved their creamy chipotle salsa and ate a bunch of it with my nachos, burning the you-know-what out of my tongue because it was a tad too spicy, but loving every minute of it!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Rating Notes: Would have been a 3½ but that salsa bar was good for ½​ a point bonus.  Carnitas were some of the weaker ones I've ever tasted.

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/UoH28c​

Iguana's (South San Jose): Nacho Fries with Carnitas

This must be what they serve at baseball stadiums in Mexico!  Wait, do they have baseball stadiums in Mexico?  I don't know for sure but what I do know is that this was one tasty pile of calorie-ridden goodness that would go great with a $14 (182.51 pesos at the time of this writing) cup of beer!  Fries instead of chips, a pile of tender Carnitas, plenty of warm, gooey "plastic cheese sauce", way more sour cream and anyone should ingest at one sitting, and an entire container of Iguana's famous orange sauce on top!  I still prefer home-made tortilla chips as the "bed" but this is a great change of pace for the nacho-phile who may be getting a little jaded.  Make sure you bring a healthy appetite, though (or your teenage son) because these are super filling - I shamefully didn't get all the way through the serving...

Bonus:  Check out the goofy (and kinda creepy?) iguana artwork they had up on the walls!

Rating: 4 out of 5

Rating Notes: Can't rate these as highly as "Real" nachos, but the good carnitas and tasty orange sauce gave them a boost!

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/1eVyxtQ

Carl's Jr. / The Green Burrito (San Jose, CA): Super Nachos w/Charbroiled Chicken

Back in the early 90's during my time at UCLA, there was a 'Green Burrito' tacqueria on the way from school back to my apartment off of Wilshire Blvd.  I used to stop there and get chicken nachos from time to time and they were great, with their big portion, lots of chicken and plenty of cheese and sour cream, especially for a hungry college student.  It was also the first place I ever tasted green tomatillo salsa.  However, The Green Burrito is quite a different place now, most likely due to its getting purchased by Carl's Junior...

This time, I was actually on my way to La Victoria, where I'd been before, but wanted to try a different meat selection on my nachos (I was also thinking about that delicious "orange sauce").  Sitting at a stop light on Almaden, I noticed a 'Carl's junior/Green Burrito' restaurant and decided that it was time to see if The Green Burrito's current cuisine could bring me some college-days nostalgia.
Kind of strange to be standing into a restaurant that has food that's blatantly American on one side of the menu and food that's reminiscent of Taco Bell on the other...  I ordered the "Super Nachos" with "Charbroiled Chicken" and grabbed a table.  When the nachos arrived, 2 thoughts went through my head.  The first?  When did they switch to plastic cheese sauce?Second?  When will I ever learn that you shouldn't, under any circumstances, order chicken on your nachos at a fast food restaurant?  I could tell just by looking at the chicken that this was going to be Del Taco all over again.  Sure enough, the chicken was chewy, soft, and too salty.  My first bite with a bit of everything (Chip, chicken, "cheese", guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo) told me that this was going to be a disappointing lunch.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the salsa bar, and not a moment too soon.  With the ingredients from there (red salsa, more pico de gallo, minced onions, sliced jalapeños, and minced cilantro)...

...I was able to make my plate of nachos look like this...

...and the taste improved a lot!  But  there's an expression, "You can never go back".  So true this time.  Green burrito, I'll try to forget this experience and remember you from my college days instead.

Rating: 2½ out of 5
Rating Notes: Would've been a 1½ if not for the items from the salsa bar that I piled on top of these disappointing nachos.
Map to Location: http://www.carlsjr.com/greenburrito

Fiesta Del Mar (Mountain View, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Wait, I had nachos for lunch?  Where did that picture come from?  Yes, that's how bland these were. 

Gonna keep this short since these nachos don't deserve a lot of creative writing energy.  In a nutshell, they looked nice and filled my stomach, but were far overshadowed by the fun conversation with old friends about pheromones, using dirty sweat socks as a handkerchief, Halloween in 'Vegas, and explaining to my un-hip ass what "bottle service" is (here's a link to the wikipedia article on it in case you're as un-hip as I am!)

So glad to have seen you all - you know who you are!  Maybe next time we can go after work and sample some of their extensive tequila selection?  I'd like to try some different food, too since everyone else's looked much tastier.

Conclusion?  Great lunch with great people, not so great nachos.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Rating notes: Would've been a 2½ if not for the extra ½ point I awarded for how perfectly cooked and moist the chicken was.  Now if they just could've given it or at least the refried beans some flavor...
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/190d6hH

Chili's (San Jose, CA): Classic Nachos with Chicken

Alright.  How many nachos do you see in the picture above (my picture)?  I see 7...

How many do you see in the picture below (Chili's official menu picture)?  I see what must be at least a dozen!

Maybe they shouldn't have served these as the lovely, individually-built style of nacho if they were going to gyp me out of at least 5 nachos (the pile-o-chips variety would've hidden a quantity deficit better)?  "But wait," you may say:  "mine came with guacamole!"  But I say "Nay!  The guacamole is an extra cost add-on!"

Aside from the dubious serving practices, this plate of nachos was pretty darn tasty.  I do love a restaurant-style plate of individually constructed nachos, after all, especially when they broil them instead of microwaving.  The combination of authentic chips, beans, tenderly grilled chicken, and a lovingly placed jalapeño slice in every bite made for a delectable flavor explosion, especially after I applied an equal dollop of sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo to each one.

By the way, that beer glass and bottle are empty because it took forever to get the food out to our party of 16 who invaded the local Chili's for "Bosses' Day".  We all had plenty of time to guzzle our drinks while we were waiting.

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  I have a feeling that someday, that magical 5 out of 5 rating that I haven't bestowed upon a plate of nachos yet will be given to a plate of individually-built nachos, but it wasn't these.  Grilled chicken will never be number one (I vastly prefer the shredded, marinated variety because it has so much more/better flavor) and I'm still on the fence about whether beans belong on nachos.  Extra ½ point awarded for these being individually prepared nachos.
Map to Location:  http://www.chilis.com/EN/Pages/locationsearch.aspx

BONUS POST: "Pega-Nacho-Corn!"

We'll, there you go.  In every man's life, there comes a time when it happens: he turns 40.  On October 12, 2013, it happened to me, and my lovely wife, who forever entertains and surprises me, chose to throw a party with a magical Unicorn theme.

As you may have suspected, this precipitated a flood of wacky gift giving, including stuffed unicorns, unicorn stickers, an inflatable, wearable unicorn horn, a 'My Little Pony' Unicorn lunch box, and this shirt, which at first I thought that my friend had custom made for me.  Not true.  You can actually buy this online!  It's up for debate, but I'm convinced that some person, whom I don't know, but must have been watching me over the last couple years, knows 2 of the signature interests in my life (the other one is nachos, of course).  Not only did they take their obsession to the next level by creating a shirt, but instead of putting a unicorn on it, they put that even more mystical creature on it, the Pegacorn!

Bask in its majesty... BASK, I SAY!

P.S.  You may want to know how I became so exceedingly associated with unicorns?  Let's just say it involved an evening of hanging out with friends and drinking, plus a private screening of 'Despicable Me'.  We'll leave it at that...

Rating: How do you rate something this magical?
Rating notes:  Hey!  I don't see you basking yet!
Map to location:  Fly towards the rainbow, turn right at the fairy princess's castle, then straight on 'til morning...