The Search for the Best Nachos in NYC

• 2012-01-02

  Vinyl (Hell’s Kitchen)

  While I’m sure a majority of the people that head to Vinyl aren’t doing so in search of great food, despite the menu changes that happened a couple years ago the food is still pretty tasty.  The atmosphere is the real reason to stop in- and DON’T leave without using the bathroom.  Each location bedazzles decks out each individual bathroom as a different music celebrity.  I do miss the Beyonce bathroom that was a part of the old UES location…I went a couple months ago to meet up with a friend from out of town.  And of course, the nacho blog forced me to narrow down my food choice real quick.

  

  Anyways- on to the AVOCADO RATINGS! (they are new!)

  Taste- 8
  Presentation- 8 
  Topping Quality- 7 (pretty typical- they do give a nice dollop of guac tho!)
  Portion Size- 8 (great as an appetizer for 4…of course I made it my meal.)
  Service- 6 (the waiters get distracted by the music videos on the wall and caught up in flirting with each other. They are nice tho…and true to Hell’s Kitchen fashion almost always male.)
  Convenience (chip integrity)- 7 NEW CATEGORY! Added this one since some places give chips that just don’t hold up- luckily Vinyl’s do pretty well.
  Atmosphere- 10.  (I mean…this is the reason people come.)

  AVERAGE AVOCADO RATING- 7.7 out of 10

  not too shabby Vinyl.

  

  754 9th Ave. (at 51st Street), Manhattan NYC

• 2011-11-29

  Suggestions?

  Sorry for the lack of nachos lately- no time recently for seeking BAVOcado worthy chips and toppins’.

  In the meantime: send me suggestions of where to get nachos next!

• 2011-10-20

  Salsa Y Salsa (Chelsea)

  This all started when an audition ended and being the fabulous (read famous) dancers we are- my friend and I NEEDED a margarita.

  Clearly I used this opportunity to add another entry to the blog.

  Salsa Y Salsa, while a cute little place located on 7th ave and 22nd, did not live up to any sort of normal standard.  While they do bring you complimentary chips (what!?!?!?! something free in NYC?!?!?!?!?!) they almost have to because of the lack of chips they give in the serving of nachos.  One nice thing (for you meat eaters out there) they automatically come with your choice of beef or chicken- most places up-charge for the addition of meat.  As you can see we sided since I like to eat my nachos veg style.

  

  (new rating system…check it out! now using larger scale and assessing more of the things that really make nachos…well…Nachos.)

  Taste: 6 out of 10 avocados

  Presentation: 8 out of 10 avocados

  Topping quality: 4 out of 10 avocados

  Portion size: 3 out of 10 avocados

  Service: 6 out of 10 avocados

  Convenience (chip quality): 7 out of 10 avocados

  Salt content: not too salty- this is usually not the case for hole in the wall places going for commercial mexican food.

  Atmosphere: small but fun and brightly colored. We got to sit outside which was nice.

  AVG RATING: 5.6 avocados (out of 10)

  

  Salsa Y Salsa- 206 7th Avenue (and 22nd) Chelsea, NY

• 2011-09-30

  Pinche Taqueria (NoHo)

  I used to pass this place all the time and always wanted to eat here- mostly because of the precarious placement of this little restaurant on the island between Lafayette and Mulberry makes it a glass hallway that happens to serve Mexican food.

  

  So- kind of lame that they packed up our nachos as if they were to go- even tho they weren’t. (My friend and I each ordered a margarrita- BIG and only $5 till 7pm on weekdays.) Clearly we weren’t trying to take our food to go.  I was also dissapointed with the sour cream side/guacamole side- ness of them.  Silly.

  I will admit they tasted AMAZING, but about an hour later my friend and I each had stomach aches. That could be the result of any number of other things we had done or ate that day…but…it still wasn’t pleasant.

  Taste: 4 out of 5

  Presentation: 2 out of 5

  Topping quality: 3 out of 5

  Avg: 3 out of 5

  

  Pinche Taqueria- 333 Lafayette Street (other location on Mott)

• 2011-09-29

  Guacamole (Astoria)

  While this stop ended up being more of a celebration for my future roommate and I/utilization of happy hour- of course I had to check out the nachos.

  And when the name of your place is Guacamole I’m going to judge pretty hard.

  While the drink special was decent- the nachos were not nearly as large as promissed and also lacked any sort of real flavor. 

  

  I do admire the multi-colored chips…however they couldn’t win me over completely.  And it was great to have so much topping that we had to ask for more chips (which came at the beginning of the meal- rare to get free chips in NYC!)

  Taste: 3 out 5

  Presentation: 3 out of 5

  Topping quality: 4 out of 5

  Avg: 3.3 Avocados (out of a perf 5)

  

  Gaucamole- 38-07 Broadway Astoria, NY
  

• 2011-09-26

  The Red Lion (Greenwhich Village)

  Alright.

  When you go to a bar for bar food- don’t expect anything more than bar food.

  Last night, a friend of mine and I were trekking through the Village (we had already marched/drank our way from Chinatown up to the sprawling campus of NYU that is known to most as Greenwhich Village).

  For whatever reason, the only place we could find with nachos on the menu was The Red Lion.  Live music happening inside (they may have been a wedding cover band- the ammount of 90’s hits we heard from our table outside was silly), typical village bar crowd, and of course my nachos.

  

  Don’t be fooled by how great the pic is.  My phone just has a cool camera.  While the chips themselves were GREAT- the topping selection was sparse.  And honestly Red Lion- 5 jalepenos? What if I had wanted to share? What then?

  Taste: 2 out of 5 avocados

  Presentation: 4 out of 5 avocados

  Topping quality: 3 out of 5 avocados

  Avg Av Rating: 3 out of 5

  

  The Red Lion- 151 Bleeker Street, NY, NY

• 2011-09-23

  MexiQ (Astoria)

  Post one is inspired by the awful take-out-nachos I ordered at MexiQ. 

  While I do need to give them some credit because they didn’t get to make their best impression (because I couldn’t stand staying in the restaurant for my late night snack)- the nachos were simply not up to par.

  Too many beans.

  Too little chips.

  Really sad Nacho Lover.

  

  Taste: 3 out of 5 Avocados

  Presentation: 1 out of 5 Avocados

  Size: 3 out of 5 Avocados

  AVG AVOCADO RATING: 2.1