From Fort Wayne, Indiana comes this seemingly obvious headline: Paying For Nachos Can Be Worth It.

This doesn’t seem like breaking news to me….

I’ve already written about my love for Mole Poblano’s tamales. How would their nachos stand up to the critical eyes of the Nachojawn family?

The Nachojawn family hit up Mole Poblano for our Cinco de Mayo festivities, minus Mrs. Nachojawn, who was setting up for a charity auction. The Nachojawns are nothing if not philanthropic.

Little Miss Nachojawn got the nachos co queso, Nachojawn Jr. his usual tacos al pastor, and I ordered the enchiladas mole.

Sad to say, the nachos came in on the bottom of the grading scale. LMN rejected them for having “too much salad on them”. I had to agree with the low grade- there just isn’t much going on there.

Luckily, their mole is fantastic, and Nachojawn Jr. had no problem tearing through his tacos. So, while Mole Poblano remains one of the Nachojawn family’s favorites, it’s not a nacho destination.

2.78/5 pickled jalapenos – get the enchiladas, or better yet, the tamales on a weekend morning

Following the end of the Taney Ocelot season in the AAA quarterfinals, the Nachojawn family hit the suburbs to celebrate a 10-3 season. Want some highlights? If you insist.

But you came here for the nachos. Our destination this evening was Plaza Azteca in Plymouth Meeting. It’s a really big restaurant, and was pretty crowded early on a Sunday.

Nachojawn protocol requires rewarding myself for a great season coaching first base, so Mrs. Nachojawn and I got watermelon jalapeño margaritas.

Not bad! Real watermelon and jalapeño too.

Plaza Azteca has several nacho options, but when you advertise the OMG NACHOS, you don’t need to look any father.
A mix of chicken, chorizo and applewood bacon, topped with refried beans, pico de
gallo, sour cream, guacamole and pickled jalapeños.

In an unexpected twist, Plaza Azteca went the individual nacho route, and it didn’t pay off. The chips were overwhelmed with the toppings, almost to the extent that I needed to go fork and knife to handle it.

They were relatively tasty, but the presentation and difficulty in eating really costs them. Big ups for the tableside guacamole preparation though.

2.85/5 pickled jalapeños – Eat these celebrating making it through another great youth sport season

Plaza Azteca
351 Plymouth Road
Plymouth Meeting, PA

With the recent end of the Taney Ocelot season, I wanted to take it back to the beginning. Ocelots v. Panthers at Columbus Field, with a pre-game meal at Fountain Porter.

I had heard quite a bit about their $5 burger, and it was just a few blocks away from the game. One quick UberX trip, and we were there.

Alamanac sour on draft! Bonus. Gets around that pesky no alcohol at kids’ games rule.

Nachojawn Jr. took care of his burger. We had some pickled carrots too for inspiration.

With cheers from the patrons of “Go Ocelots!” we headed out the door and over to the field for win one of many in a fun Ocelot season.

I could probably have four of those burgers.

Fountain Porter
10th and Tasker

Nachojawn’s day job is really close to one of the center’s of Philadelphia food-dom, the Reading Terminal Market. It’s a frequent lunch or grocery destination, and one of the standouts is Meltkraft, the grilled cheese specialist that shares space with Valley Shepherd Creamery.

With a little lobbying, Nachojawn was able to convince the powers that be to bring back their Cinco de Mayo special.

This isn’t diet food, but you know that Nachojawn is a sucker for chorizo. If you’re at the Terminal, make your way to the back and say hi to my friends. The Cinco de Mayo is a one day special, but the Brielle is a good second choice. And in the non-grilled category, the fresh mozzarella with prosciutto is big enough for two (or one Nachojawn).

In the category of former food truckers now operating brick and mortar shops, comes Revolution Taco.

I really liked the blackberry hot sauce.

These are their version of the classic ground beef taco, double wrapped on fresh hot corn tortillas. Angus ground beef, pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese blend, & lime crème. Really tasty, but how about a nacho option?

Revolution Taco
2015 Walnut Street

Gold Angus Ground Beef tacos – $10 for 3

Although Nachojawn is city based, we do acknowledge that some people live out in the ‘burbs. Of course that doesn’t mean that we go out there for nachos, but we will cross the Schuylkill River into West Philly to meet.

The last Distrito review looked at the lunch nachos. These are the larger Nachos Encarnacion, with skirt steak, refried beans, queso mixto, chile de arbol, crema and cilantro.

I think the lunch nachos were a little better, although FON La Oftamologo Suburbana made sure there was no leftover cheese with her patented cheese swirl wrist technique.

The cheese layering could have been a little more even; when you have a big pile you really need to get that underlayer of cheese so that you’re not stuck with naked chips.

4.04/5 pickled jalapenos – Eat these while working on your look book after a couple hours with your glamsquad.

Nachos Encarnacion – $14

Distrito
3945 Chestnut Street
(215) 222-1657

Nachojawn Jr. and I used to love Hot Diggity, a gourmet hot dog restaurant with great fries at 630 South Street. While Hot Diggity is no more, Woodrow’s has risen from its ashes, with gourmet sandwiches, and I’m happy to say they maintain the fry quality as well.

Nachojawn Jr. got the Not Just for Breakfast Sandwich.

And I went with the short rib.

Woodrow’s sandwiches were dope – a worthy challenger to the Nachojawn sandwich title holder – Paesano’s. Go down and check them out – and wash it down with a Brauhaus Schmitz beer a block away.

Sometimes you have to acknowledge greatness, and Michael Solomanov’s ode to hummus, Dizengoff, is great.

You get hummus – one of 5 or 6 that are on the menu each day. This was a roasted sweet potato with pine nuts and dill. Every hummus comes with a pita, that little dish of Israeli salad and some pickled vegetables.

The word is already out about Dizengoff, but I just have to add the Nachojawn seal of approval. FON’s El Loco Dentista and La Sofbal Reina are huge fans too.

Dizengoff
1625 Sansom Street