carlos and mickey's - el paso, texas

Last night we ventured out with our good friends Nick and Debbie to Carlos and Mickey's to catch up over some nachos and margaritas.  My husband Stephen told the waiter I had this "nacho blog" in progress, and asked him to create something off their menu, giving the chef free reign to create his "fantasy nacho".    Much to our surprise, the manager, Ivan Gaytan, got wind of the challenge and got in the kitchen and created not one, but two different nachos for us to try.  The first nacho plate to come out were the "Carnitas Nachos" with a special pico de gallo sauce that he whipped up just for this dish.  The carnitas were so delicious and tender and pretty much melted in your mouth.  To cool of the very potent pico de gallo, was creamy avocado that was a perfect compliment to the melted monterrey jack cheese that coated and rounded out the nachos. 


Next, we had the pleasure of having what Ivan named "Bandito Nachos".  These consisted of chicken breast that were marinated in a special chile del arbol sauce and brisket that topped these nachos beautifully.  I always find that certain nachos lack the tostada to cheese to protein ratio and this nacho definitely surpassed that, with every bite you were able to get a bit of chicken, brisket, cheese and jalapenos.  Ivan let us know that the chile del arbol salsa he created for this dish was a recipe that has been passed down from his family.  He has actually bottled this salsa and has been selling to various businesses.  This salsa should be in Walgreens soon and let me tell you, I very infrequently buy bottled salsa due to the lack of flavor and spice but this is one salsa that I would definitely buy, if it was sold in a gallon, I would be on it.    This chile del arbol had the perfect blend of red chile and jalapeno and is what really made these nachos stand out.  I found myself topping my nachos with this salsa, because I couldn't get enough.  Do I dare say it - the "Bandito Nachos" may be the best nachos I have every had.


ay te nacho!