Riptide (1718 Thames St., Fells Point) is an establishment regarded mostly for their seafood, so while peering at the menu the other day I thought to myself “Hmm. Nachos. That isn’t seafood. I’ll order these and eat them with my mouth.” These particular nachos start at $8.95, and with chicken added ($3) can get pretty pricey. They’ve got the lightly salted tortilla chip base covered, and are topped with a chipotle queso sauce, cilantro crema (what?), pico, corn and jalapenos.
Duly noted that you didn’t read the word “cheese” anywhere on that list, because these nachos are devoid of any actual melted cheese. Queso sauce and cilantro crema (what?), as zany and delicious to some as they may be, do not make an adequate substitute for the shredded golden deliciousness one would normally see atop Mount Nachopopolous. Which is not to say these nachos tasted poorly, the ingredients blended together fairly nicely and the portion size was suitable for at least three people, and there was some guacamole sneaking around in there somewhere. I actually wound up getting a box for the leftovers and taking them home, but quite frankly it was because they were $12 and I couldn’t in good conscience waste $6 in nachos, even if they are sort of mediocre.
Bottom line here, if you decide to try the nachos at Riptide, ask them *specifically* to add shredded cheese and they’d probably be worth it for you and your friends. Enjoy!
Three golden nachos out of five
my thoughts too on these nachos. pricey, and I prefer cheese rather than the chipolty whipped cream extreme sauce.
to be fair if it were listed as “extreme sauce” i probably would have given it an extra golden nacho