Ruby's Taqueria (Sunnyvale, CA): Nachos con Carne - Al Pastor

That last post took a lot out of me, even though it was super cheesy, so I'm just cranking this one out to get caught up! ;-)

We had to travel a bit further than usual to get to Ruby's, but any lunch is better and totally worth it when you go and hang out with an old friend you haven't seen in awhile.  He only had to walk a few blocks to get there, though - lucky mofo!

After looking behind the counter and seeing all kinds of activity with different meats and such, I decided to go for something other than chicken this time.  Al Pastor!  And no beans, please!

I gotta stop doing this - just stick with shredded chicken...

Don't get me wrong, the Al Pastor was ok.  Good flavor, just kind of chewy with lots of fat that I had to discretely spit into napkins.  My friend had some of their spicy shredded chicken and said it was awesome (doh!), so I'll likely get that next time we go here.

As far as the other ingredients, I was surprised to see my old friend, Queso Plastico (plastic cheese suace), which in this case actually went fine with the meat and generous portions of jalapenos, guacamole, and sour cream.  Overall, a decent lunch, and reasonably priced ($4.99 + tax for the nachos).

Rating: 3 out of 5

Rating Notes: Great home-made chips, but I just can't score any plate of nachos that uses plastic cheese sauce above a 3½ anymore and the fatty Al Pastor knocked another ½ point off.

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/LMUkB1

Casa Lupe (San Jose, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Casa Lupe and the Case of the Mysterious Tortilla Chips
(To be read in the voice of Sgt. Joe Friday from Dragnet)
***Warning: you may groan when you read this***

Chapter 1: The Setup
It was high noon on a sunny summer's day.  The kind of day that makes you wonder why you hole yourself up in an office all day for the almighty Dollar.  My partners and I rolled into the strip mall in our "nacho cruiser", not quite knowing what we'd find.  Prior evidence showed that Casa Lupe was one of those places where peoples' dreams came true - dreams of spicy, tangy food from south of the border, dreams of drinking beer on the clock and staggering back into work to fall asleep at their desks.  Nevermind that it had the same name as a similar joint a few miles away where the rival owner was undoubtedly plotting a nasty fate for our suspect.

Chapter 2: Uneasy
We exited the vehicle and walked through the summer heat and into the building.  The only other patrons were an innocent couple sitting in the booth closest to the door, obviously planted there to make the place look busier than it actually was.  I knew we'd better watch our backs now.
We looked around.  Clean, well-set tables, festive streamers, even a couple untouched pinatas hanging from the ceiling, waiting for some poor, blindfolded kid to take a whack at them.  Something wasn't right…

Chapter 3: The Heat is On
Out of nowhere, a waitress appeared.  Startled by her sudden presence, I reached for my phone, ready to call in for backup.  But Partner "A" nodded to me, which signaled that this was the nice lady she'd gathered intel on earlier that day.  A waitstaff veteran - 3 kids, a husband that made an honest living, and a pet dog named "Sparkito".  No need for alarm here.

Our waitress brought us our menus, water, a warm basket of chips, and 3 kinds of salsa.  Things were definitely shaping up.  As we dug in and started munching like squirrells discovering their stash of nuts in the dead of winter, I looked over at "A" and watched her smile turn to alarm.  I could tell the heat was getting to her.  Someone had obviously spiked the salsa with some serious peppers and was probably in a corner somewhere, laughing, knowing they got the drop on these all-American public servants.  That was nothing compared to what we were about to discover…

Chapter 4: A Stale Motive
Ah ha!  They couldn't hide it any longer.  The chips!  Something was very wrong.  The warmth coming from the basket of chips was nothing but a decoy.  Usually a warm basket of chips indicates crispy, fresh, deep fried tortillas.  Not this time.  Some chips were crispy, but most were stale.  I was baffled.  I'd never seen anything like this before.  Warm, stale chips?  Partner "N" and I nodded to each other knowingly.

Chapter 5: That's Nacho Average Plate of Food!  Or is it?
After the shocking incident with the chips I held out hope that since the plate of nachos I ordered would be cooked, there wouldn't be any chance of stale chips sneaking their way in there.
Was I ever wrong.
We're talking about some devious criminal minds here.  Beneath the tender, decently flavored chicken, the generous dollop of guacamole, and the pile of sour cream and cheese, I found more of those devious, ironically stale chips.  They'd obviously been through the oven, but they somehow managed to disobey the laws of culinary physics.  I doubt that even if they were convicted for this disobedience and put out on the chain gang in the hot sun that they'd crisp up.
 
Chapter 6: The Long Ride Home
We never did find the sick mind behind those chips and the waitress didn't give us any more information.  We'd hit a wall.  The only comfort we could take was in knowing that there are a thousand other taquerias in this town of culinary criminals and we'd never have to return to this place and risk broken teeth from stale chips again.  As we rode off into the warm afternoon sun, I could see the disappointment on A's and N's faces, but I took comfort in knowing we'd lived to eat another plate of nachos next week…

Rating: 3 out of 5
Rating Notes: Just the facts, ma'am.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/Mg4GaZ

Taqueria Cazadores (Santa Clara, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Sometimes, to get good food, ya gotta go to the "wrong" side of the tracks.  Not that anywhere in the city of Santa Clara is nearly as "wrong" as the funky parts of some cities in California, but hopefully you get my drift.  This little taqueria with 90% comfy booth seating (Nice!) is located off of Lafayette near Monague Expressway in a somewhat hidden strip mall.  20 minutes from my office, but worth the trip (and risk?).  Sorry - I'm over-doing it.  For the most part, the folks at Cazadores (Spanish for hunters) didn't over-do it on the nachos.  Characteristics of this plate fall into 3 categories:

Underdone:
- Cheese microwaved with some unmelted shreds hanging out on one side of the plate
- Under-ripe avocado (althought I love "pure" guacamole, I would rather they'd mixed the slices up with something else to mask this)
- My friend had to mix  of their salsas together (pico de gallo and roasted salsa) to get something that was really tasty, although the creamy green salsa (tomatillo and avocado?) was pretty good, if not a bit too spicy)

Just right:
- Chicken in a sauce that tasted a lot like enchiladas (bonus!)
- Home-made fried tortilla chips.
- I Remembered to hold the beans
- Their Logo...

...awesome, eh?  Looks like a cross between a jackalope, a lion, and a deer!

Overdone:
- Come on - just because I used a Google Wallet voucher ($5 for $10 of food), you add a $1 gratuity?  And you didn't even walk our food over to our table?  Puh-leaze!
- $3 for a 16 ounce bottle of Coke?  Ouch.
- $10.93 total for nachos and a can of coke is seriously pricey - thank God I had the Google voucher!

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  Above average chicken, built-in enchilada taste and home-fried chips will get me every time!  Could have done with some better avocado/guacamole and salsa.  Questionable neighborhood.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/M0cY8f

Taqueria Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA - duh!): Super Nachos with Chicken

Best

Chicken

So

Far!

Wow - just when I thought I'd reached the pinnacle of shredded chicken (Pollo) goodness with Angel's Rock House and would never find anything even better, I come to this place and am blown away.  No contest, this is the best meat I've had on nachos anywhere (Rio Adobe's Adobado Pork is probably a close second if we're counting every type of meat).  No salsa on this batch, but the guacamole, sour cream, and jalapenos mixed in with the tasty chicken had the overall flavor of a delectable plate of chicken enchiladas, my next-favorite Mexican food.

Incidentally, I discovered this place while I was with my buddy, getting food for "Man Movie Night".  We were passing by on our way to Taqueria Vallarta and he said, "That place is pretty good." I said, "Really?  Should we go there?"  "Sure."  One fateful U-turn later, there we were, getting what would become my go-to chicken nachos in Santa Cruz.  Nice!

Rating: 4½ out of 5

Rating Notes: Also included home-made deep-fried tortilla chips like God intended!  Would have hit the magic 5 if it had pico de gallo and no beans.

Cautionary Note: You see that pinkish-red salsa on the right in the photo?  Stay away from it.  Tasted like a cross between pico-de-gallo, and sauerkraut and almost burned my face off.  Nasty stuff!

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/Khzz4j

Mariscos El Rincon Restaurant (San Jose): Supreme Nachos with Chicken

For this "Nacho Tuesday" excursion, I ventured almost 10 miles (gasp) from my workplace.  A Friend had recommended it to me, so I called him up, picked him up, and off we went.  How was it?  Lemme just say that the company was the best part of my lunch (and there was a waitress who was pretty easy on the eyes, too!)

These nachos reminded me of a Playboy model.  You look at the picture, drooling  because she looks so incredibly appetizing, so perfect, so put-together, but once you get to know her, there's a good chance that she won't be at all compatible with your tastes.  All the elements were there - shredded chicken, chips, sour cream, guacamole, real cheese - but upon taking a bite, I found bland chicken, mediocre chips, watered-down sour cream, and not enough guacamole (the guacamole was actually pretty darn good).

Rating: 3 out of 5
Rating Notes: I'll take the Playboy model instead.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/LBWIKE

Taco Bell (Everywhere): Beefy Nacho Burrito

You all knew that sooner or later I'd return to the site of my first nacho blog post.  Why did I do it?  Wouldn't you if you loved nachos and heard that they'd invented a burrito with nachos inside it?  That's right, nachos in a convenient, portable, edible package!  Word.

So, what was it like to eat such a glorious creation?  Well, let's not forget that this is Taco Bell.  BUT, I do like a bit of plastic cheese every now and then, and the chips stayed surprisingly crunchy from beginning to end.  Of course, that may be due to some crazy Clark-Griswold-inspired food additive but that's to be expected when you venture into the realm of fast food.  And I must admit that I loved the idea of being able to eat nachos while I was driving home.  Try that with a "normal" plate of nachos and it'll be the last nachos you ever eat!

Even though it's par for the course, I must point out the stark difference between the picture in the Ad and what this thing actually looks like when you unwrap it an take a bite:

Look how the chips, meat, "cheese" and sour cream playfully spring forth from the burrito in the ad, as if to say, "Hey!  There's a party in here!  Come on over!"  Then look at the dark, cheesy pit of despair that is the reality of this fast food creation in real life.  Would I eat one again?

Hell yes!  Doesn't everyone love to huddle up in a dark cheesy pit of despair every now and then?

Rating: 3 out of 5
Rating Notes:  It gained 1/2 a point for being portable, but lost 1/2 a point for not actually being a plate of nachos.  Surprisingly good taste!
Map to Location: If you really need me to tell you where to find a Taco Bell then you're probably living somewhere that there aren't any...

Taqueria Tlaquepaque #2 (San Jose): Super Nachos with Carnitas

Great name!  And there are 3 of these in San Jose.  Try saying Tlaquepaque (tuh-lock-way-pock-way) 3 times in a row!  Wait - no - #1 is closed for some reason, so just say it twice!

So, from what I heard from a semi-reliable source, this mini-chain of taquerias is home of some of the best carnitas around.  Impressive, considering how many taquerias there are within a 10 mile radius of it!  But…

Take a look at the picture in my previous post (Al Pastor #2), then take a look at the picture in this post.  Do the math.  Actually, don’t even do the math (my apologies, I should never ask my readers to do math!), just look.  Yep, no comparison.  To their credit, the chips were great – can’t go wrong with the home-made deep-fried tortilla type.  Good guacamole and salsa, too.  I’d eat here again if I were in the neighborhood.  My friend’s cheese enchiladas were very tasty and enchiladas are my second favorite Mexican food!

Rating: 3½ out of 5

Rating Notes: Disappointing carnitas, but great chips and good cheese, salsa, and guacamole.

Map to location:  http://mapq.st/L4oRNB

Tacos Al Pastor 2 (San Jose, CA): Nachos with Carnitas

I don't care what anyone says.  Questing for the best nachos never gets boring!  2 more reasons for this that came out of this nacho excursion:

1. When you have really good meat, it's a whole different experience.  Take the awesome carnitas on these nachos for example. Big, tender, flavorful chunks of pulled pork and plenty of it made me devour this entire plate without even thinking about it.  Some of the best meat I've had anywhere.  When the meat sucks or is mediocre, he whole experience becomes nothing more than a way to fill your stomach.  When the meat is this good, every bite is pleasurable and you hope your stomach never fills up!

2. This may be silly, but the fact that this place had a mascot, "El Taquito" and the character that add's to the dining experience makes a difference to me!  It means that the owners didn't just open yet another taqueria, they took the time to create something extra to be remembered by.  Give me an El Taquito sticker - I'll stick it on my window!

Rating: 4 out of 5
Rating Notes: These could have scored higher, but the miniscule amount of cheese that had cooled to the point that it glued the chips to the plate plus the lack of sour cream and pico de gallo made these a bit dry overall and hurt the rating.  Thankfully, that could be easily remedied by some customizing of the order.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/JS1Lu7

Mondo Burrito (Santa Clara, CA): Mondo Nachos with Spicy Shredded Beef

This super-popular taqueria, with an excellent name is located right next to Santa Clara University and is almost always hoppin' at lunch time, especially on Fridays.  We got lucky and walked in right before a big rush.  This being my first time here, I was happily surprised by their point-to-what-you-want style of food preparation.  Kind of like the all-the-rage "Chipotle" chain of taquerias but with better prices and more choices.  I ordered my nachos with the jack/cheddar cheese mix, spicy shredded beef, olives, green onions, tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole.  Aside from cringing when I saw them melt the cheese in a microwave, it was refreshing to be able to watch my nachos being built the way I wanted - cool!  Combine that with a surprisingly friendly and talkative cashier, great-tasting green salsa, decent chips and  the ability for this nacho fan who is getting a bit more health conscious to get a "half-order" and it all added up to a tasty and pleasant dining experience.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Rating Notes: Would have been a 3½ due to the lackluster flavor of the beef, but they scored an extra ½ point for the novel build 'em how you like 'em setup.  AND I might have given these a 5 or at least a 4½ if they'd let me take home that cool inflatable Corona biplane that's hanging from the ceiling!

Map to Location: http://mapq.st/Kn1H0D

Puerto Azul (San Jose, CA): Super Nachos with Chicken

Ha!  You thought that this place would have a blue door, didn’t you?  Actually, it's white, BUT the awning, and walls on the way into this quaint little restaurant are definitely blue as can be!  I certainly wasn't feeling "azul" at all when this appetizing-looking plate of nachos was delivered to our table.  They had everything a plate of nachos should: shredded chicken, sour cream, guacamole, jalapeños and tomatoes.  The chips were even of the home-made, fried tortilla variety (the REAL tortilla chips that every taqueria and Mexican restaurant SHOULD be serving!).  So why didn't they score higher?

No, you presumptuous nacho lover, it wasn't because I couldn't see them due to the light reflecting off of the giant soccer (fooootbol) trophies in the corner.

It wasn't because I was distracted by the multiple shark jaw skeletons they had hanging on the wall.

It wasn't even because of the stale-looking buffet right next to our table that only one person visited the entire time we were eating lunch.

It was because like many restaurants that specialize in seafood, they don't take a lot of care in the flavoring of their more pedestrian meat selections.  In this case some fairly bland chicken.  That said, I'd definitely walk through the puerto azul again to try some of their tasty-sounding seafood options!

Rating: 3½ out of 5

Rating Notes: Maybe I should have had them put some shrimp or fish on them?  I'm a little averse to trying shrimp nachos again at this point because of the Wahoo's fiasco (see previous post).

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