Freebirds World Burrito (San Jose, CA): Small Nachos with Carnitas

Welcome to Mondo Burrito and Chipotle's worst nightmare...

Freebirds World Burrito is a new chain of made-to-order taquerias with a rock 'n roll edge and some darn good food.  A friend at work tipped me off to this place and after hearing about it I had to go.  Why is it Mondo Burrito and Chipotle's worst nightmare?  The food is better, the staff is friendlier, and the prices are lower.

Loud Rock Music playing inside and out plus some unique decor give this place an unusual feel for a taqueria.

Thank goodness I tend to go to lunch a little early, too.  When we got there just before noon, the ordering counter was moderately busy and plenty of seating was still available, but by the time we were eating our food just after noon the line was almost out the door and most of the tables were taken.  Word is apparently getting around.

I ordered the Small nachos ($5.00) and the friendly dude behind the ordering counter walked me down the line, asking what I'd like to add.  This is a similar setup to Mondo Burrito and Chipotle, but I personally think that Freebirds' choices of ingredients are better.  I went with the following:
- Carnitas
- Shredded cheddar and Jack cheese
- Pico de gallo
- Onions
- Cilantro
- Sour cream
- Guacamole
- Queso (not out of a can - this is the good stuff, made in-house - tasty!)
- "Bad A** BBQ" sauce

Yes, you read that last ingredient correctly - barbecue sauce.  I would normally never put BBQ sauce on my nachos, but my friend highly recommended it.  Great suggestion!  A tip - try a nacho with BBQ sauce and their tasty green salsa together.  Great combo!

Rating: 4½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  Great selection of ingredients, moist, flavorful carnitas.  5 bucks!  These nachos would have been 5 stars, but the chips, while light and crispy were not the home-made type and they don't melt the shredded cheese.  These are no-cook nachos - amazing that they taste so good!
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/TQ6BdZ 

La Playa (Fort Bragg, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Last weekend, my wife and I escaped to Fort Bragg for a weekend getaway.  We stayed in a very nice hotel, right above the Noyo river and bay with a jacuzzi tub and excellent views.  We spent all weekend doing whatever we wanted with no particular agenda - just the two of us.
So what could make this even better?
Going out for nachos, of course!
Alas, when you're on vacation and try a new restaurant, you really never know what you're going to get.  Especially when you're in an area where the main revenue stream is tourism.  This time I didn't get a great plate of nachos.  Despite the home-made chips, which were admittedly pretty good, everything else was super bland and the carnitas had that "barnyard" flavor that you never want to encounter with pork.  They also didn't microwave these long enough so the cheese wasn't all melted.
Meh.
Glad the rest of the trip was spectacular!

Rating: 2½ out of 5
Rating Notes: Don't bother with this place.  If you want good, reasonably priced food in Fort Bragg, I recommend you go to Jenny's Giant Burger.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/Xd452p

El Guapo's (Campbell, CA): Santiago Nachos with Carnitas

This place is cool!  Let's start with the artwork:
Luchador?

How about a Lucha-deer?

Bitchin' paintings!

And I have to admit that I kind of like lowrider bikes...

So how were the nachos?

Friggin' great!  These are El Guapo's "Santiago Nachos" (the other choice is "Mexican Nachos").  So what makes them special?  Besides the complete set of "usual" ingredients, they include cheddar, pepper jack, and feta cheese, plus black beans.  Great stuff!  And all 4 of the salsas in the picture are excellent.  I couldn't decide which to eat with each delectable bite.  For the meat, I chose carnitas.  This was definitely the right choice.  Moist, flavorful, and in large strips.  Not quite as good as those from El Pastor #2 in San Jose, but definitely up there with the best ones I've had.

Rating: 4½ out of 5
Rating Notes: These were awesome!  Would have been my first 5 out of 5 if the chips had been home-made fried tortillas.  Also, these were pricey.  What you see in the picture is a half-order and admittedly a big portion, but these were $10.81 with tax - very steep.  Oh so close!
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/Sqs4XP

Una Mas (Campbell, CA): Chicken Super Nachos

Una Mas is just a few minutes from my work.  I really wish it was better.
I'll make this one quick and simple:
Grilled chicken - ok but not what I look for.
Microwaved - not all of the cheese was melted.
All ingredients present and accounted for - cheese, meat, guacamole, pico de gallo, and sour cream.
Chips - not great.  Not home made.

Rating: 3½out of 5
Rating Notes: Not a lot going for these.  I probably should've tried a different meat, but their only other choice was carne asada or steak or something and beef at taquerias is usually tough and I almost never like the taste.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/VCmSX5

Super Taqueria (San Jose, CA): Chicken Nachos

Ah yes, back to my college days.  Super Taqueria is a chain, but I have a soft spot for the one on 10th street in San Jose, right next to the San Jose State campus.  I used to go here and grab a big fat Chicken Super Burrito between classes.  I was hopeful that their shredded chicken was still excellent!  Thank goodness nothing had changed.  Moist, flavorful and plentiful, just like it should be!

Now - don't get too excited yet.  First, the presentation was so sloppy and boring looking that I had to add a nice sprinkling of salsa.  Much better.
BUT
Take a closer look.  Anything missing?
NO CHEESE
What??  Yes, I went up to the counter and asked both the cooks and the cashier, just to make sure they hadn't forgotten to put cheese on their nachos.  Nope.  They don't put cheese on their nachos.  WTF?
As it turns out, a friend of mine's uncle owns the Super Taqueria chain.  He was kind enough to call his cousin, a manager of one of the restaurants what the deal was.  His cousin said "Nachos with cheese is the American way of doing it.  We do it the traditional way."
Bullshit!
Remember my post on the origin of nachos?  My friend did and he called his cousin on it.  His cousin simply replied with a chuckle.  Lame.

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes: Really good chicken and the nostalgia factor helped a lot here.  Price is very reasonable as well.  Would have been a 4 or maybe even a 4½, but no cheese?  Come on!  Bush league.  The last time I encountered this was at Fiesta Taqueria in Campbell, but that's one of the worst taquerias I've ever been to so it didn't surprise me at all.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/T9O47I

Las Flamas (Santa Clara, CA): Chicken Nachos

Ok - I know, it's been a long time!  I'm sorry I made all of you nacho lovers wait, but you're about to get a bunch of new posts, so stand by!

So - Las Flamas!  I like the name, I like the logo.  I actually like the fact that they even bothered to have a logo.  Very rare in the taqueria world!  So how were the nachos?

Let's start with the chips.  Very promising - chopped, fried tortillas, just like God intended.  But, they were stale!  I hoped that since my nachos would be cooked, the chips would be crisped up...

Nope!  However, look at that presentation!  Very nice indeed!  The chicken was grilled, and as is typical with this method, it was a bit dry.  However, the flavor was good and these nachos really had nice attention to detail with the ingredients included.  How often do you see chopped cilantro on nachos?  Excellent!  A good, solid plate of nachos.

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  Could've gotten another 1/2 point if not for the stale chips.  Awarded these an additional ½ point for their presentation and the nifty logo.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/ShtAgS

NO NACHOS - Chalateco (Santa Clara, CA): Chicken Torta?? - NO NACHOS

What a disappointing Tuesday!  I was very anxious to go to Chalateco, a place that I used to go to back when I worked for RJ Associates on the Alameda.  Wouldn't it be great if this place, just a hundred yards or so from Wicked Chicken (AKA Cluck U, University Chicken, and Smoke Eaters) had good nachos?  I'd have everything I needed in a 2 block radius!

Alas, there are no nachos to be found there, period.  I even asked the ladies working there if they could just make me a plate of nachos (it's not like they don't have everything they need there to make them).  The answer was no.  Now, let's just say that they had agreed to make nachos for me?  What would have happened?

First of all, the terrible freebie chips that they gave us would have started off on the wrong foot.  Just look at these:

Coarse and rough, like corn meal put together with elmer's glue or something.  Ugh.

The chicken on my torta was very good, however and would have made for an excellent nacho meat selection.  The guacamole on my torta, which also would surely have found its way onto my nachos was also very good.

Sadly, we'll never know what could have been, and even if they do eventually serve nachos, I won't be coming back.  There are too many as yet undiscovered taquerias and restaurants to try.

Rating: 0 out of 5
Rating Notes: No nachos = no score
Map to location: http://mapq.st/OXxNVt

Vivas (Santa Cruz, CA): Nachos with Chicken

I ordinarily wouldn’t eat nachos twice a week (yes, I’m closely watching my diet lately), but my wife and I happened to be in Santa Cruz for a Friday afternoon appointment.  What better way to end a week than with a tasty plate of nachos?

Vivas is a refreshing twist on the usual taqueria.  They serve most of the same dishes as most taquerias, but their ingredients are all natural and mostly organic.  These nachos had a distinctly homemade taste to them, which in this case was quite a nice surprise.  The chicken was grilled, but served in large pieces and very well rubbed down with a great tasting spice mix.  The only gripe I had about these nachos was that they were microwaved, and, much like someone may at home, they forgot to “nuke” them long enough so the cheese wasn’t totally melted.  The price was a little dear ($8.49 + tax) but I’ll give them a pass on that for using organic ingredients.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Rating Notes: Could have been excellent if broiled rather than under-nuked.  Chips, although festive in their multi-colored regalia, weren’t nearly as tasty as home-fried tortillas.
Map to location: http://mapq.st/NkBxwI

El Tule Taqueria (San Jose, CA): Nachos with Chicken

Well, I really must’ve ordered the wrong thing at this place because most of the reviews on Yelp are very positive.  I hear they even serve chapulines (grasshoppers)!  There’s a reason that the picture for this plate of nachos is in grayscale.  They were that bland.  Kind of reminded me of Jalisco in Campbell (a taqueria that I’d actually been to several times before starting this blog, but will not return to because of their high prices and lackluster food).

I even forgot to ask for no beans, and after tasting the plate, couldn’t believe that with both chicken and beans present there was such a dearth of flavor.  Will not be returning to this place.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Rating Notes: Bland.  Lame.  Very slow service compared to most taquerias.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/MJENT0

Dona Maria (San Jose, CA): Supreme Nachos with Shredded Chicken

Ok, this is a little weird.  I swear I did a post on this little taqueria before, and my nacho wing-woman correctly insists that we’d eaten here before.  I just can’t find it.  No matter – you’ll just have to believe us!

So, why another repeat taqueria visit, after just having re-visited Mondo Burrito the week before?  As it turns out, the last time we went to Dona Maria, I ordered chicken nachos and they came with grilled chicken.  If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know that I don’t particularly like grilled chicken and vastly prefer the shredded type.  We found out later that Dona Maria’s does offer shredded chicken so we decided to go back (it’s just 5 minutes from the office) and give them another chance.

How was it?  We’ll, it certainly looked nice, and all of the ingredients that I usually look for were there, but despite being tender, the shredded chicken was somewhat dry and didn’t have a lot of flavor.  I definitely preferred it over the grilled variety from last time, though, and a nacho bite topped with guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, and a jalapeno certainly tasted good!

Rating: 3½ out of 5
Rating Notes:  Could have been a 4, but the chicken wasn’t up to the level of many other places I’ve been to.  Home made fried tortilla chips kept it “real”.
Map to Location: http://mapq.st/N9GHiz