About a year ago I was passing through VT and stopped at Smokin’ Bowls for some nachos. I ordered the Pulled Pork Nachos (because when there are Pulled Pork Nachos you always order Pulled Pork Nachos) but always wondered how my life would have been different if I had gotten their other nacho offering, the “Cheech and Chong Chili” Nachos instead. Well step aside Gwyneth Paltrow, because these sliding doors are moving out of the way for nachos.
My biggest issue with their Pulled Pork Nachos was that while they were tasty they could have been jazzed up with the addition of any other toppings on them. The “Cheech and Chong Chili” Nachos fall into that same camp where they were also very good, but any toppings you’d throw on top would only make them better. I get that while running a restaurant you want to keep your items simplistic for ease of making them, but these nachos are just begging for a little something something on top. And when nachos beg, you’d have to be inhuman to refuse.
The other issue with these nachos that wasn’t a problem with the pulled pork variety is the volume of the chili. You must be thinking me a madman for complaining about getting too much chili, and it is good chili even if the only thing “Cheech and Chong” about them is that it plays well with the “Smokin’ Bowls” restaurant name, but nachos are a game or ratios, and the ratio of chips to chili is way off. I had the forethought to grab a fork when picking these up at the window and you better believe that I put it to good use scooping up the chili and soggy chips. If anything these are closer to a Frito Pie than an order of nachos, and while you won’t hear me say a bad word about a Frito Pie, you just can’t eat them like you would nachos.
So these are good yes, but if you want to try and eat them like nachos I say good luck to you. Where your luck will be infinitely better though, buy the half a gallon of their peanut soup, which is worth its weight in gold. Having tried all the nacho offerings other than just plain old cheese and chips nachos, the peanut soup is the best thing there by far. Man, if only more places had peanuts soup this would be Peanut Soupanomics. Mmmm… Peanut Soupanomics…
At least I ate all the nachos in one shot so I didn’t spill them all over my porch this time.