PDX Nacho Hunt Ep. 1: Breakside Brewery
Hello and welcome all nacho fans!
Bienvenido to the inaugural episode of my recurring series PDX Nacho Hunt.
Bienvenido to the inaugural episode of my recurring series PDX Nacho Hunt.
A few days ago, I found myself bowling at a charity event...nachos on the mind. I thought about getting some at the bowling alley, but as an expectant father, I felt like bowling alley food is something I should begin to consider leaving in my past. As a man who has a close personal past with gas station oyster po' boys, it only makes sense to start raising that "what am I willing to eat?" threshold, bit by bit.
So anyway, I start Googling around a bit, searching for "Best Nachos in Portland". Yes, there are some lists out there, ranked by social media mentions and some other horseshit. But, looking at lists gives me no personal excuse to eat bunches of nachos and then write about them myself, so here we are.
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Episode One: Breakside Brewery
820 NE Dekum St, Portland, OR 97211
As a long-time fan of the Breakside IPA, this place was an easy choice for me as the first stop on the hunt. It's way up there in North Portland, and it was absolutely hopping when we arrived on a Saturday night. It's not the biggest place, but the hosts do a great job of keeping track of who is waiting, and getting everyone a seat in a reasonable time. The atmosphere is standard Portland brewpub fare, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Overview
Pretty classic recipe at work here. No gimmicks, nothing trying too hard to set the nachos apart. Just good, well-assembled chips and cheese. Sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, jalapenos on top.
Paired with: Breakside Tall Guy IPA
Durky got: Some kinda Asian salad and a water
Chips
The chips are pretty clearly house-made. I found them to be nice and thick and greasy in a good, homemade sort of way. They performed the job of cheese and topping delivery very admirably. This was especially surprising because of the moisture from the large quantity of black beans nestled below.
Note that in the photo above, you can see some natural toasting of the chips. Some people might call this burning. I am of the opinion that a little singe can do right by a chip every now and then, so I was a fan.
Cheese
The cheese was apparently a mix of cheddar and jack, but I got like a 90% cheddar vibe. It wasn't particularly flavorful; nor was it, importantly, particularly plentiful...I felt like I could have used a fair bit more. Although other nacho lists mentioned some layering expertise clearly at work in the kitchen, I personally received no such magic.
Toppings
Biggest topping of interest: a really healthy helping of black beans. I ended up eating like half of them with a fork after the chips were gone. I'm not even much of a fan of beans in general, but these were spectacular. The sour cream, the pico and the jalapenos were all very standard. The guacamole was neither engrossing, nor gross.
Je Ne Sais Quoi
These nachos were entirely describable, therefore they do not stand out in the je ne sais quoi category. They were tasty, they made me happy, but there was nothing else going on here.
Value
An even ten bucks. Ehhhh I'd say that's potentially like three dollars too much. Which is a lot.
Overall
Look, they were solid, but why are they making multiple best nacho lists? I personally can do better at home without a whole ton of effort (except for the beans, those were fuckin good). Plus, for the price, I think you can do far better.
If you are at Breakside, you should get them, because one should always order nachos whenever one has the opportunity. But if you are on a bona fide nacho hunt, much like myself, I'd look elsewhere.
Overview
Pretty classic recipe at work here. No gimmicks, nothing trying too hard to set the nachos apart. Just good, well-assembled chips and cheese. Sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, jalapenos on top.
Paired with: Breakside Tall Guy IPA
Durky got: Some kinda Asian salad and a water
Chips
The chips are pretty clearly house-made. I found them to be nice and thick and greasy in a good, homemade sort of way. They performed the job of cheese and topping delivery very admirably. This was especially surprising because of the moisture from the large quantity of black beans nestled below.
Note that in the photo above, you can see some natural toasting of the chips. Some people might call this burning. I am of the opinion that a little singe can do right by a chip every now and then, so I was a fan.
Cheese
The cheese was apparently a mix of cheddar and jack, but I got like a 90% cheddar vibe. It wasn't particularly flavorful; nor was it, importantly, particularly plentiful...I felt like I could have used a fair bit more. Although other nacho lists mentioned some layering expertise clearly at work in the kitchen, I personally received no such magic.
Toppings
Biggest topping of interest: a really healthy helping of black beans. I ended up eating like half of them with a fork after the chips were gone. I'm not even much of a fan of beans in general, but these were spectacular. The sour cream, the pico and the jalapenos were all very standard. The guacamole was neither engrossing, nor gross.
Je Ne Sais Quoi
These nachos were entirely describable, therefore they do not stand out in the je ne sais quoi category. They were tasty, they made me happy, but there was nothing else going on here.
Value
An even ten bucks. Ehhhh I'd say that's potentially like three dollars too much. Which is a lot.
Overall
Look, they were solid, but why are they making multiple best nacho lists? I personally can do better at home without a whole ton of effort (except for the beans, those were fuckin good). Plus, for the price, I think you can do far better.
If you are at Breakside, you should get them, because one should always order nachos whenever one has the opportunity. But if you are on a bona fide nacho hunt, much like myself, I'd look elsewhere.
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