Some of the City’s Best Nachos, in an Unexpected Place

No lack of cheese on this version of New York’s favorite bar snack

Nachos is a quintessential Tex-Mex dish that was invented in the border town of Piedras Negras in 1943 by Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, but it’s now on the menu of nearly every family style chain restaurant, fast-food establishment, and down-and-dirty bar and brewpub. Versions vary, some flush with cheese and salsa, others austere and nearly dry, with dainty little curls of cheese and deracinated jalapenos on top. The last place you’d expect to look for good ones would be a traditional southern Mexican taqueria, simply because the dish is alien to the cuisine.

Yet Sabor a Mexico Taqueria — a newcomer to the East Village’s First Avenue — has a bang-up version, so lush with cheese, guac, and crumbled chorizo that it ranks among the city’s richest, not stinting on any ingredients, and isn’t that what great nachos are all about?

Sabor a Mexico is also the subject of this week’s Counter Culture review. And here are four more great dishes found on the menu.

Read the entire review here.

The rajas con queso tamale comes drenched in a red chile gravy.

The chipotle-hot gravy makes camarones ala diabla a smoky favorite of Mexico’s lower Pacific coast.

The Toluca burrito, invented by Sabor as tribute to a Mexican state, is loaded with rice, chorizo, and egg — making it perfect for a late breakfast.

Zig-zagged with crema, chicken enchiladas with red chile sauce is a filling feast.

Sabor a Mexico Taqueria
160 First Avenue
212-533-4002