"Tyler's Nachos" - Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom

With a varied and reasonably priced menu and extensive beer list, Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom located in Durham, North Carolina, is a great place to go for casual dinner and with a sophisticated-sports-bar atmosphere.

Tyler's offers up two varieties of nachos - "Tyler's Nachos" and "Tyler's Carolina Nachos." The Tyler's Nachos are a plate of tri-colored tortilla chips topped with cheddar and jack cheeses, black beans, lettuce, salsa, and sour cream. You can also add grilled chicken, meat chili, or veggie chili.

The Carolina Nachos, which are one of only three out of 17 items on the appetizer menu to receive a denotation of "Tyler's Specialty," are the same tri-colored chips, but topped with pulled pork, spicy queso dip, green onions, and hot sauce. Perhaps not your typical nachos, but with chips and cheese I think they meet the basic criteria.

I have yet to try the Carolina Nachos, so in this post I'll rate the Tyler's Nachos and get back to you with my thoughts on the specialty Carolina Nachos.

Rating for "Tyler's Nachos" at Tyler's Restaurant and Taproom, Durham, NC:*

1. Layering

While not every chip was cheesy, there was a nice dispersion of cheese throughout the plate. The beans and other toppings, though, were only on the top layer.

2. Crispiness of chips

Almost all the chips remained crispy until the end.

3. Variety of toppings

The basic nachos had fairly good variety (two kinds of cheese, black beans, lettuce, salsa, sour cream) and the fact that you could add chicken, meat chili, or veggie chili gives you a lot of options. The only thing I was missing was the option of guacamole and some green or white onions.

4. Quality of toppings

Pretty good quality, consistent with the price point, atmosphere, and menu of the place.

5. OVERALL nacho experience

Has anyone out there tried Tyler's nachos? Let us know if you agree or disagree with the rating! Also - any of you BBQ lovers ever had pulled pork-topped nachos Like Tyler's Carolina Nachos?? Let us know what you think of the idea!

* For a reminder about our rating criteria, see this post.

This is Important

So, this is a blog about nachos. About how important nachos are, and about how some people love nachos more than they love their husband. Hey, it's understandable, nachos are really good.

But what is it that makes nachos so good? And what makes some nachos better than others? We here at Nachos in the City are on a mission to find the BEST nachos out there, and to share our journey with you.

But we need to be scientific about this, people. Because if you are going to trust us to be your source for the best Nachos in the City (whatever city that may be) there are going to need to be some criteria. To that end, we here at Nachos in the City have come with with three basic criteria to give you a quick and simple rating system, so the next time you're in a new city and have a hankering for the best nachos you'll know right where to look.

So, after some informal surveying and deep thinking, we have established the most important criteria to a good plate of nachos. Feel free to disagree, add, or discuss in the comments.

1. Layering.

The last thing I want in a big plate of nachos is to eat four or five deliciously flavorful chips off the top of the pile only to a stack of plain, cheese-less chips below. This is especially important with the CHEESE, as cheese on a chip is the essence of a nacho.

2. Crispiness of chips

The chips should start of crispy, of course, but one sign of a truly good nacho is when all chips remain crispy until the very end.

3. Variety of toppings

While the essence of a nacho is a crispy chip with melty cheese, more toppings certainly add to the experience. Onions, diced tomato, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, and if you're lucky, maybe a little guacamole. Throw on some beef, chicken, or some chili, and you've really got something. Variety is the spice of life, people.

4. Quality of toppings

Ok, so we're not looking for kobe beef on our nachos, but we don't want to be served ball park liquid cheese in a restaurant, either.

5. OVERALL nacho experience

We'll rate nachos using these 5 criteria, on a scale from 1-5 nacho chips.

1 nacho chip = a complete and utter failure in layering, crispiness, variety, or quality.

5 nacho chips = nacho perfection. It's really pretty simple.

We realize, though, that we're only four girls (who really love nachos, but still, only four) and so we'd love to have some help. Leave a comment on any of our posts about a nacho experience and how you would rate it, and we'll post about it here!

My undying love and devotion for great nachos...well they don't even have to be great...just nachos...

Soooooo...as most of you know...I love nachos. Clearly, I must if I am a contributor to this blog. But what I need you to understand is just how MUCH I love them.

You know that question that comes up sometimes after a few bottles of wine or at one of those parties with people you aren't really friends with but they want to "get deep" all of sudden...

"If you were the last person on Earth and could only have one thing or one person with you...what or who would that be?"

My answer has always been...and will always be...NACHOS! (No offense to my husband of course....but Erik I'm sorry and I love you but my relationship with nachos started way before I met you. )

Anywho...so now that you fully understand just how much I love nachos I can really begin to analyze, review and post all my nacho experiences along with my fellow nacho lover contributors. (Again great idea for this blog, Bren!)

Stay tuned...it's about time someone really looked into why nachos at ballparks or stadiums are so terrible yet so friggin delicious all at the same time!

Dayna
aka...nacholova (read into that name however you would like)

Nachos and the City...Getting things started.

Well here I go, starting things off!

During my most recent trip to South Hero, VT, my family ate at our favorite restaurant in town: The Blue Paddle Bistro. It is a small little place but the food is always incredible. Naturally, as an appetizer, my brother and I got the nachos.

As we ate, I realized there are many different aspects of nachos that need to be rated. They include the following: the chip, the type of cheese, the amount of cheese, the toppings, the salsa/guacamole and of course the quantity.

The chip was a homemade blue tortilla chip full of flavor in itself. I could have eaten I basket FULL of them. Like the chip, I was thrilled by the amount of cheese. It was overflowing. Even the chips at the bottom were covered. The quantity was as expected for an appetizer. It was just enough for me and my brother (with my parents sneaking a few) to keep our hunger at bay before our meals came out.

I was slightly disappointed with the type of cheese. It seemed no different then a store bought shredded cheese. I would have preferred a little bite, like a Mexican blend or maybe some pepper jack. Unfortunately, there were no toppings (I would have loved some scallions, beans olives or something). And lastly, although I enjoyed the chunky salsa, I missed having some guacamole to go with it.

Overall, they were good nachos. The lack of toppings left some things to be desired but they were excellent app before a delicious dinner!

Happy nacho eating!!!

Welcome to Nachos and the City!

Topics of conversation: nachos. More later.