sappyeatsnachos-blog

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Queso Fundido with chorizo - Sausal, El Segund, CA. Awesome Sauce level: ☄️☄️ I liked the giant fried tortilla as chips, this was the closest thing to nachos on their menu. Described as “molten cheese, chili & tomato dip, silvered onions, cilantro”. I had this last night, and it was good but I seriously cannot remember what it tasted like. It could be chocolate cake and I couldn’t tell you... Not very memorable I guess.

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Shredded beef nachos, La Casita Dos, Blythe CA. Awesome sauce level: ☄️☄️☄️ I went to Blythe to check out the quartzite in Arizona. My local guide/friend took me to his favorite Mexican joint in town. I think the charm of the town, and meeting with my friend’s parents made this dish for me. The cheese was generous but it didn’t really go with the dish, it was like a mild cheddar. I really wished it had sour cream to balance the heavyness out but as I ate, I mind it less and less. The shredded beef was recommended and it was tender and flavorful. The chips was surprising since it was different from the chips served with the complimentary chips and salsa.

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Maruca’s Mexican Kitchen, Tustin CA. Awesome Sauce Level ☄️☄️☄️☄️ Technically not listed as nachos but as La Que Quedo with asada, but it was on a bed of chips so I think it counts. This was a wonderfully warm bowl of delicious. Weird that nachos can count as comfort food, but I definitely want this on a rainy day! The Spanish rice and beans were flavorful and moist, but didn’t make the chips soggy, which made me so happy. I don’t remember the asada much but it wasn’t bad at all. The star of the show was the creamy avocado salsa, adding the tiniest bit of heat. Overall great texture balance and love the comfort it gave!

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Pollo Nachos, Taco Factory, Tustin .CA. Awesome sauce level: ☄☄ This was a HUGE disappointment. It was nice that they asked if I wanted pulled chicken or chopped chicken I selected shop but the chicken was so Bland I've even know I was actually eating meat. The black beans were also really under season. How do you mess up your beans? It was a really popular spot but this nachos just made me sad.

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Pull pork nachos, Whisper House, Claremount, CA. Awesome sauce level: ☄☄☄☄ This one was a winner. The menu says chicken or steak, but the waitress suggested pulled pork. For $12 this was a steal I went to eat with my friend after some art openings, I did not expect to find this beauty at an overpriced cocktail bar right next to the train track. There were plenty of pulled pork and toppings, chips were super crispy. Best part, there were two types of cheese, a liquid cheese sauce made in house and another melted on top. I also really appreciate it that they let me chose black bean instead of pinto, they also had loads of jalapenos it didn't overwhelm cuz I can still pick them off when it got too spicy. Overall, really nice!

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Steak Nachos, full size En Tu Boca Santa Ana, CA.

Awesome sauce level: ☄️☄️☄️

Second review of this place. MUCH better than the pigs ears. Not as spicy as I remembered but still got a great kick. The steak was marinated, tender and flavorful. Plenty of sauce but there were still some dry chips at the end. Overall decent and hit the spot. My only 2 comments are the chips were really generic and didn’t do anything to add you the nachos. The nachos was already spicy enough I couldn’t taste the sauce or the fact that this place is supposed to have a Vietnam twist to the food.

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Pollo Asada Nachos with guacamole, Chronic Tacos, Tustin CA. Awesome Sauce Rating ☄️☄️☄️ Surprisingly solid choice! I️ ordered online for pick up, weird I️’ve never gone to a Chronic taco since I’ve move to CA 16 years ago… Got it with chicken and guacamole and mild salsa. I️ added lettuce cause I️ didn’t eat anything green that day, but I’m not sure it counts if it’s on nachos. I️ really liked this, it had a ton of toppings and I️ got to the bottom with no dry chips. The chicken and beans were both flavorful. I️ had to add s bit of tapatio since it got it with the mild salsa. This might be my new cheap nachos spot.

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Lengua Nachos, Taqueria Mora, Chino Hills CA Awesome Sauce Rating☄️☄️ Tacos were great here but the nachos are another story. These chips were just plan salty, the salsa was bland, I️ really couldn’t pick out any spices or flavor associated with the lengua, and it costed 10 bucks! This place’s got 4 stars on yelp, but I’d stick to the tacos next time.

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Average Burger Nachos @ Nacho Daddy, Las Vegas NV. Awesome Sauce Rating ☄️☄️ I️ got the Nachos, Average Burger Nachos cause I️ really just wanted average nachos, didn’t want anything fancy. That’s exactly what I️ got, which was really disappointing. It was a slightly better version of gas station nachos, is that bad? I️ can’t fault it since it’s exactly as advertised, but for a restaurant that specializes in Nachos, I️ guess I️ was expecting a little more from their baseline nachos.

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Been saying this for YEARS

I've been all talk for the last 5+ years I want to start a blog about all the nachos I eat. So this is me eating (literally) my words.

The Nacho Rating System.

There, of course, should be some consistency about how I rate this specific food.

Nachos will be rated from a scale to 1 awesome sauce to 5 awesome sauce ☄️☄️☄️☄️☄️

1 being the lamest nachos that I wasted my calories on, and 5 being a divine gift from the nachos gods.

The rating will be based on 2 basic categories and how they work together. Since nachos is not really a “fancy food” price will not factor in the rating but will be mentioned. I broke the integrity of nachos down to 2 category:

First chips, simple enough.

Second toppings, not so simple, infact vastly diverse category. (I wanted to have a cheese or beans catagory, but realized fusion nachos like ahi nachos won't have these ingredients, so will generalize them all to "toppings" instead)

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Carne Asada Nachos @ Super Antojitos, Tustin CA Awesome Sauce Rating 3 ☄️☄️☄️ This used to be our neighbor place cause it’s sit down place and they have beer. Until we discovered Avila’s, their nachos will be on the blog too. Solid nachos, big portions and less than $7. Not much to say about them except you won’t be disappointed. If you just want a snack, chips, salsa and their flavorful refried bean is free when you eat inside. (Seen in the corner of the photo, their beans are really tasty, might be tastier than the nachos) Only 3 ☄️☄️☄️ cause it just doesn’t induce any excitement, I mean I don’t have fantasies about this nacho and won’t even tell people I ate it... Wow I just realized I talk about food like one night stands.

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Pollo Nachos (at the bar) @ Avila’s El Ranchito, Tustin CA. Awesome Sauce Rating 4 ☄️☄️☄️☄️ I’m tempted to give this a 5, but I think I have yet to reach nacho nirvana so I’ll save it for that. I’ve only gotten their pollo and never the asada, so this write up maybe a little bias. I prefer chicken on my nachos cause I think beef can be a little overpowering with the beans and cheeses but again, that’s a personal preference. Anyways this bar Nachos is wonderful because they drizzle the sauce the chicken is cooked in on the chips, actually, I think they just ladle the chicken with it’s juices all over the chips. Along with chunks of soft bell peppers, the chicken, the juice and the melted gooey cheese makes every bite perfect. The juices makes the chips not too dry, it adds flavor, and there are plenty of guacamole and toppings for all the chips. There’s no super intense flavor or kick to this nacho tho, if you’re into that you’ll need some cholula or tapatio. This is more like a nice sunset walk nachos rather than a randy rump in a dark alley kind of nachos.

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Lengua Nachos @ Tacos El Rancho, Westminster CA Awesome Sauce Rating 2 ☄️☄️ Whenever there’s lengua protein option, I get it. The ratings on yelp was great at this place, but I didn’t really enjoy this nachos. I think it was the combination of airy, flaky chips and liquid cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I love both flaky chips and liquid cheese, (Heck, I chow down on gas station nachos anytime) but the airy chips didn’t serve as a solid base for the hefty toppings, and the flaky texture was a distraction from the soft deliciousness that is the lengua. The liquid cheese just didn’t do a lot for me, why would you half ass with liquid cheese when all your meats are made with love and care?

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Mole Chilaquiles @ Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen, Orange CA. Awesome Sauce Rating 4 ☄️☄️☄️☄️ So I’m actually not a fan of chilaquiles, since most of the time, the tortilla are super soggy and I’m just eating mush. I’m also not a fan of mole, cause the sauce tends to be more sweet than savory. That being said, I was totally surprised when I actually liked this dish. The chips were warm and crispy, slightly moist from the mole. Chips were perfect and might be because Gabbi’s has their own tortilla press in the restaurant, and are actually concern about texture of their chips when consumed. The mole was smokey and not sweet, it tasted more like ground smoked chilies than chocolate, yay for me! The tangy pickled onions and sour cream was a welcome break in flavors compared to the mole. I think I would have given it 5 awesome sauce if it didn’t have the egg on it. I had no idea how I’m suppose to eat the egg in conjunction or separately from the chips... Either way it was awkward and totally not necessary, but I guess you need to “put an egg on it” if you want to serve it for brunch on Orange County. 😏

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Sisig Pork Belly and Pig Ears Nachos @ En Tu Boca, Santa Ana CA. Awesome Sauce Rating 2 ☄️☄️ I REALLY wanted to like this, cause it was unique, fusion, below a barcade, in a hipster food court. But everything was wrong with this nacho, I think there was only 1 piece of tiny, tiny pork belly and the rest of the protein were pig ear, cut too large. The texture of the ears were so strange for the chips. Besides the ears and pico de gallo, there are hardly toppings so it was really dry and overall not fun to eat. The nachos was piled high, which would look great on an Instagram photo, but trying to navigate between chips, ears, and pico in a tiny paper bowl was just a hot mess. Originally rated 1 awesome sauce, but added an extra ☄️ because of creativity with pig ears

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Places to eat Nachos at

A running list of places, suggestions in So Cal are welcome!

Nacho Nation, Stanton CA

El Toro Bravo Tortilleria, Tustin CA

Freebird, Orange CA

Albertaco’s, Mission Viejo CA

Tacos San Pedro, Anaheim CA

Molca Salsa, Fullerton CA

Super Pollo, Costa Mesa CA

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Santana’s Riverside CA Awesome Sauce rating 3 ☄️☄️☄️ This restaurant is some other names now but it was my first experience ever. Being an immigrant and lived mostly in Hawaii since immigrating, I was unfamiliar with nachos until my late teens. My nachos cherry was popped in college when I went to UC Riverside. This nacho, like those of Alberto’s and other chains in Southern California serves as my baseline for rating. Chips aren’t made fresh but salty as hell, meat is good but got some chewy bits, other toppings are flavorful but uneven in distribution... over all does the job as drunk food but not memorable, like many first in college.