Chili’s Baby Back Nachos

Welcome to another wonderful (and tasty) iwst99 Nachos review. The next place on the round of reviews is…well, I’ll give you a hint. “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back”. Unless you live in the furthermost parts of Oman, you know the restaurant that I’m about to review. Wait…what? There’s actually one of these restaurant in Oman? Really? Oman? Wow. Well, just in case you don’t know, the restaurant I am now going to review is Chili’s. Aside from their catchy jingle, they are also known for having the unhealthiest salad in America. This can only mean their Nachos have to be delicious. Let’s find out!

Really??

This particular Chili’s is by my office. It has become the go-to place for company anniversaries, birthdays, Bah Mitzvahs (we have Jewish owners) and winter solstice celebrations (we have atheist employees). Needless to say, we come here often and oddly enough I’ve never had their Nachos. All of these chain restaurants pretty much look the same inside: “Hip” decor, a “cool” happy hour bar and waiters and waitresses covered in “funky” flare and an attitude to match. The reason for the quotes is that I like to think that the branding manager was doing those finger quote things when he was describing what every Chili’s atmosphere should be like (Was someone really paid to come up with this concept?).

While looking through the menu I found the Kickin’ Jack Nachos. I was getting ready to decide if I wanted Chicken or Steak when I saw something that caught my eye on the pricing. Was it the fact that guacamole was extra? Nope. Was it that they put the word cheese in Spanish for no apparent reason? Nah. The fact that they tried to throw more “Hip” lingo out there by spelling kicking as “Kickin’”?? No, it’s even worse.

Whaaa?

12 Nachos for 7.49 and NEW 8 Nachos for 4.99? What is this blasphemy? Since when are Nachos bought on a per chip basis? I know we’re in an economic crisis and everything but c’mon. Although I was somewhat dazed and confused (and slightly aroused), I decided to order the 12 Nachos, along with chicken and house-made guacamole. Man, that’s already over 10 bucks and I still wasn’t even sure of what I ordered. I mentioned in a previous review that sometimes you pay for the atmosphere. You know, a nice beach front view or maybe some nice paintings on the wall. Was the atmosphere at Chili’s worth the $10 in Nachos?

Heck no

Ok, maybe I had jumped to conclusions. The Nachos might be so unbelievable that they may actually be worth it. I saw the waitress approaching my table with her “funky” attitude and hands filled with plates. As she laid my plate down in front me I admired the arrangement of the food items.

Mmm…star shaped pay-per chip Nachos

Kudos on the presentation, but now it was time to figure out what was going on. The main components were: a scoop of guacamole, really just composed of avocado, a scoop of sour cream, some pico de gallo with tomato, red onion and green peppers, and some lettuce for garnish (why?). Those were all pretty plain, but then came the chips. Each of the 12 chips was individually designed for you. The jack cheese and chicken were melted on each individual chip and was toasted so the chips and cheese would get a nice brown look to them. Jalapeños were also scattered all throughout. All the basics of Nachos were there, so I guess I couldn’t complain. There was salsa missing, however, which I then ordered. Just an FYI, make sure to order the salsa beforehand or you’ll spend 10 minutes waiting for the waitress to bring it over. I finally getting ready to dig in, when I realized one couldn’t eat these like ordinary Nachos.

Designer chips?

Due to the way these Nachos were designed, any attempt to try to dip the chips into sour cream or guacamole would cause the toppings to fall off. Not that it mattered really, since the guacamole came in a container so small that dipping the chips was impossible. I finally realized that I had to use my fork to decorate the chips according to my liking. This was actually kind of time consuming and a little annoying. I took the time to do so (not that I had a choice) and took the first bite. Wow. The taste was actually quite good. The chicken was grilled fajita style and had a tasty Margarita flavoring to it. The toasted chips and cheese gave it a smoky flavor as well. The guacamole and pico de gallo were nothing spectacular, but they did get the job done. The salsa I got was also pretty tasty.

When I first looked at the plate I thought to myself that these 12 chips would not be enough. I was surprised when I was barely able to finish everything on the plate. I was quite satisfied with the meal and couldn’t complain at all. Well, maybe the way of decorating each chip was kind of different, but it wasn’t as annoying as I first thought it would be. All in all it was a good eating experience. I was with a friend so the atmosphere of the restaurant didn’t bother me too much and the tasty Nachos did make up for it. Next time I come here on the company’s dime I know I will be ordering them again. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of the end product, but I can honestly say that although the Nachos did put up a fight, they didn’t stand a chance.

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