Welcome to the Official Nacho Club Tally Blog

Here we are in a fashion far more accessible than Google Docs. Here we'll keep you up to date on all meetings past, present, and future, as well as abreast on all things in the world of nachos.

The next meeting is a NEWYEARSNACHOPALOOZA on January3, 6 PM at The Sunset Grill in Allston. Come hungry and hungover (Offical Tally Cards will be passed out).

Minutes from the December 27th Meeting: Shay's

This week's meeting was never intended to happen. The founding members agreed that rounding up a sufficient number of participants would be unlikely given the holidays, and many of the club's previous guests were indeed away. Sean, Laura, and Mike were resigned to spending a Sunday evening nacho-less, counting their losses, and to hopefully rallying the troops for the NewYearsNachopalloza schedule for the following weekend. Nacho club would have been postponed, if not for the enthusiasm of one man: Todd Shayler.

Since the club's founding, Todd Shayler has been a vocal advocate of nachos, eating nachos, and rating eaten nachos. Todd spent many a Friday and Saturday night with various members of the group waxing poetic the virtues of the nacho and nacho club. But Todd also spent just as many evenings being regaled by the tales of the club's latest nacho outing, which he had missed, as he was always unavailable on nacho-fueled Sundays. But, with blatant disregard for his previous tradition, Todd expressed unreserved enthusiasm on Sunday the 27th, and so the club quickly scrambled to accommodate. Shay's. which had been on the docket for many meetings but passed over for closer options, was decided as the destination of choice.

Shay's was a surprising crowd-pleaser. Unassuming and kind of dingy, Shay's seemed to be in league with Grendel's Den and Charlies -cheap eateries not know for their food, let alone nachos. However, the nachos exceeded the club's expectations, and resulting in the highest nacho club score to date in a stunning upset victory. While the members agreed that, due to the size of the platter, these were more "snack nachos" that the "meal nachos" we often encounter, the smaller plate packed a big punch. There were plenty of toppings, including plenty of jalapenos, and no noticable dead-zone (thanks in part to the every popular salsa-on-the-side). The chips were of the highest quality to date, earning rave reviews from everyone, even the notoriously chip-particular Laura. The nachos at Shay's offered a chipotle bean option of which the club enthusiastically partook, finding the spicy beans a great accessory to any pile of chips. While no ingerdient was a noticable stand-out, every part was competantly prepared, cohering into a plate of nachos that, taken as a whole, were truely the most satisfying the club had encountered. Scoring two 3.5 and two 4.0 (the highest score thus far), Shay's squeaked past Deadlus to become the champion of Cambridge nachos.

Minutes from the December 6th Meeting: Asgard

"Never a boring chip."
The December 6th meeting was a new milestone in the history of Nacho Club. Instead of the usual roster of only Sean, Laura, and Mike, this week saw participation leap to a veritable horde of Nacho Club attendees: eight showed up, all hungry and suitably hungover. And those in attendance were no slouches. Far from it. Heavy-hitters Eric, Molly, Eoin, Kathleen, Katie and Mackenzie joined Mike and Sean to round out the lineup, traveling from as far as Brookline, Lexington, Newton, and Ireland specifically for the event. The only slight mar on the evening was the lack of founding member, Laura, who chose to study in the library rather than travel to Central square and indulge in a beer-fueled pig out of nachos, wings, and sweet-potatoe fries (a decision completely unfathomable to all).

From the beginning of the club, Asgard was considered a top contender for Nacho Club glory, and the nachos offered were bold ones indeed. Labeled as "Loaded Nachos" (no option of anything less), the nachos were indeed piled high. Plentiful guac and sourcream came standard, as did the salsa served on the side (a club favorite). There was no dead zone to be seen in these nachos, far from it. As new club member Kathleen stated, there was "never a boring chip" on the table.

As the nachos were consumed, evaluated, and discussed, a few trends in member critiques emerged. Asgard offers a very unique spinach dip substitution for chili, which the members tried on one plate. This, although a creative and genre-pushing attempt by Asgard, mixed oddly with the rest of the standard nacho ingredients. It was also noted that the nachos came with chili, but did not have a non-chili or alternative meat/vegi option for. And there were grumblings about the salsa served on the side, which was described as bland and watered down. The chips themselves, which are a crucial yet oft-overlooked part of the nachos, were standard fare, neither earning praise not condemnation from the eaters. But there were reports of unmelted cheese appearing on the plate, which drew audible gasps from the the newest inductees.

Once the last chip was eaten and everyone had his and her say, the club felt comfortable awarding Asgard a solid 3 out of 5 chips. The proliferation of toppings, and negated dead zone, drew praise from all members, and the spinach dip was received as a creative way to push the envelope and experiment with form. However, these positives were not enough to outbalance the lack of quality salsa, melted cheeses, and a wider variety of toppings -all crucial necessities for nacho success. As a member pointed out, the nachos were edible and enjoyable, but not memorable. It seems that Asgard should work on perfecting the basics of nacho success before moving on to the experimentation we saw in their menu.

Minutes from the November 22nd Meeting: 19 Trowbridge St, Apt #6

At the very first meeting it was suggested that Nacho Club is headed towards a heart-warming ending where the club members realize that the nachos they have been searching for were inside themselves the whole time, and the quality of nachos enjoyed on Sunday certainly speaks to this storybook conclusion. Because Laura's attendance was in question, and Sean and Mike wanted to be thrifty, and the many friends who expressed their enthusiastic commitment to nacho club over beers all abstained, again, from actually joining in, an official Nacho Club outing was nixed. Instead, Sean threw together an exemplary stack of nachos using steak, two kinds of beans, guac, sour cream, a veritable salsa buffet, and much fancy cheese, thereby combinding the many lessons of nacho club onto one platter. Salsa was made available on the side as well as on the chips, to avoid the drying-out recently experienced at Tommy Doyles. Cheese and beans were distributed evenly throughout the multi-layered feast, thus negating the dreaded Dead Zone of Daedalus infamy. The only missing ingredient was the perfect chip; indeed, the chips used (blue nacho chips) left something to be desired. Let the record show that this may have been due to Laura's absence. As the resident chip snob, her input may have led to an increased chip excellence (especially if the club had used chips on par with Borders chips). The club members decided not to vote, as they would be biased. But, as nacho enthusiasts and professional nacho judges, the club can confidently say that with a few minor corrections their brand of nachos could become an undeniable force in the Cambridge nacho community.

Minutes from the November 15th Meeting: Tommy Doyle's (Harvard Square)

Once again a trio and not a troupe, the gang headed to Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square. Nachos were ordered with chicken and guacamole, as well as a side salad (Laura) and some incredibly unhealthy corned beef and cheese steak fries (Mike and Sean). It was agreed that the plentiful toppings added to the nacho plate's value, although more salsa was desired and the portion was only of an average size. The chicken left a little to be desired, and, while not as bad as last week's specimen, there was a noticeable dead zone in bottom layer. Mike and Sean preferred the Daedalus chips, but Laura ardently preferred these, most likely because they were multicolored. It should be noted that the server was overly friendly and persistent in talking about Nacho Club with us, yet slow to deliver the check. With two votes for 3 and one for 2.5, the group agreed on a decidedly average 3 of 5 chips overall score.

Nacho Club will be taking a hiatus as Laura attends and perhaps runs a marathon next Sunday the 22nd.

Minutes from the November 8th Meeting: Daedalus

On our way to some other place (Shay's) Sean endorsed somewhat tepidly, we decided to venture in Daedalus.
Nachos existed at this meeting and were eaten, adding much-needed credibility to the club.
The nachos were excellent. The toppings were plentiful, coming standard with salsa, sour cream, beans, olives(removed) and guac (bonus). We upgraded to the Chicken Nachos for an additional three dollars.
During the meeting, Laura repeatedly tried to find fault with the chips, which were fine, and was justly shouted-down by Mike and Sean who suggested Laura was holding the nachos to an impossibly high standard which may in fact never be met (let the record show Laura was suffering from the plague at the time).
The only suggested drawback was the infamous deadzone underneath the first layer of the chips. This seems to be an occupation hazard, but could have been remedied had additional condiments been served on the side.
Overall, the club felt comfortable awarding Daedalus 3.5 chips out of 5. Although the nachos were delicious and plentiful and satisfied all our basic nacho expectations, they did not add to the genre of Nacho in a significant way, thus limiting their scoring potential.

Next week's goal: more than three members!

Minutes from the November 1st Meeting: Border Cafe

Laura, Mike, and Sean met at Borders Cafe around six. Shortly after sitting down, they discovered that the Borders Cafe does not serve nachos. This resulted in a negative opinion of the Border Cafe, but also reflected poorly on Laura, Mike, and Sean, as the first meeting of Nacho Club concluded without anyone actually eating any nachos.
-Let it be noted that Laura did not appreciate paying $4 for Lone Star beer, and all three in attendance left with stained shirts/pants--in the true spirit of Nacho Club.

Stay tuned for the next Nacho Club meeting(hopefully with nachos)!