Mexicue is a small chain with three locations in Manhattan and one in Stamford, CT.  They specialize in tequila, bourbon, and mix-and-match tacos, sliders, and burrito bullets. We chose the Chelsea location, which is conveniently near a puppy store.

Background
Visit Date and Time: Sunday, June 10th, 6:15pm
Nacho Style: Mexican Nachos, Fancy Nachos
Price: $12.75 (tuna ceviche nachos), $10 (classic nachos)

Yes, we got two kinds of nachos. Emma had a lot of residual hunger from a full-day dodgeball tournament on Saturday, and Daisy was very curious about the tuna ceviche nachos but not willing to commit to them. Today’s post will therefore feature two separate nachos sections, a first for us here at NYC Nacho Quest.

Beers
Like at Coppelia, neither of us drank beers. Unlike at Coppelia, this wasn’t because the menu lacked beer options. Instead, it was because the margaritas looked (and were) delicious.

Daisy: Smoky margarita (tequila blanco, mexcal, mole bitters, chili simple syrup, lime juice, chili lime salt)
Emma: Spicy margarita (fireball tequila, jalapeno, chili simple syrup, lime juice, habanero bitters)

The Bar
Not exactly a bar (we really should consider renaming this section). A Mexican restaurant with a gourmet twist and non-traditional combinations.

Ambience
Light and airy, with plenty of space to dine and mingle. We sat in the front room by the bar.

Daisy’s Rating: 4/5. Spacious, with plenty of plants. Definitely a restaurant vibe, but the waiters didn’t hassle us once we’d finished eating. I probably wouldn’t come here weekly,  but next time I’m at the Atlantic I’ll visit on dinner.
Emma’s Rating: 4/5. I felt very relaxed here. Since it’s more of a restaurant than a bar, there’s some of that pressure to get going once you’ve finished eating, but it wasn’t too bad. I could see coming here with a book and having some tacos if I was in the area.

Beer
A couple drafts and fifteen or so bottles and cans, including staples like Bells Two Hearted, Ithaca Flower Power, and Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout. Mexicue’s strength is definitely its cocktails, but there’s plenty of beer to be had at reasonable prices.

Daisy’s Rating: 3. The selection was fine, although the draft list was a bit thin. I don’t know that I’d order beer here, but if I did they have it covered. Nothing stood out as particularly exciting, though.
Emma’s Rating: 3. This isn’t a place I’d go to try new beers, but I’d never be disappointed with this selection. My spicy margarita was absolutely delicious, but I’m going to boost my “other food” rating to reflect that, since this category is really supposed to be about beer.

Other Food
The menu features a wide variety of interesting taco and “burrito bullet” choices. We’re not sure what a burrito bullet is, but were impressed with the food options overall.

Daisy’s Rating: 4.5. The only thing keeping this from a 5 was the prices, which seemed a bit high. I guess it’s Chelsea! In addition to tacos and “burrito bullets” they also had hot chicken and BBQ options (hence the “cue” of “Mexicue”, I guess). I didn’t eat any non-nacho food, though, so I can’t say much about it.
Emma’s Rating: 4.5. I had a wild rock shrimp taco, which was slightly pricey for a single taco but large and delicious. Other exciting taco options include grilled chipotle pineapple, lobster, and Nashville hot chicken. I would definitely come back here and have more tacos. I’m boosting my rating in this category half a point because my spicy margarita was extremely tasty.

Seating:
Lots of small tables, nicely spaced out, with both a front and a back room. Bar stools in the bar area. We were able to get a two-person booth.

Daisy’s Rating: 5. No issues with the seating. I too enjoyed the two-person booths.
Emma’s Rating: 4. I like two-person booths. At a lot of places booths are reserved for larger customer groups, so it’s nice to be able to snag one as a pair. Although we went on a Sunday night, it didn’t seem like it would be difficult to snag a seat here.

Overall Bar:
A solid little restaurant with tasty tacos and margaritas.

Daisy’s Rating: 4. Definitely good to know about, although it’s not a destination for me. That said, if I were thirsty for a margarita before visiting the puppy store, I now know where to go.
Emma’s Rating: 4. I’m not sure I’d come here if I weren’t in the neighborhood, but it’s a solid spot to know about for when I’m nearby and hungry. Or when I want a margarita.

The Nachos, Round 1 – Classic Nachos
Mexicue offers two very different nacho varieties. Being the intrepid nacho hunters we are, we decided to try both. We’ll start with the classic, which resembled an ordinary plate of nachos.

Cheese
Poblano queso, very lightly distributed across the chips.

Daisy’s Rating: 0.5. Very disappointing cheese. Slightly bitter and poorly distributed. I think I actually hated this cheese more than the cheese at Valhalla.
Emma’s Rating: 1.5. As we discussed in our Valhalla review, we’ve discovered that we’re all about real cheese as far as nachos are concerned. This queso wasn’t as bad as cheese sauce, but it didn’t do it for me. Also, many chips were cheese-free, which is not what you want in nachos that also have very sparse toppings.

Toppings
Poblano queso, black beans, house pickled peppers, cotija, pico de gayo (there was an option to add burnt ends brisket chili, which we did not do).

Daisy’s Rating: 1. Topping distribution was very poor on these chips, especially for the price. No guac, not enough beans, and a huge pile of topping-free salty chips.
Emma’s Rating: 1.5. These covered a lot of the standard nacho topping bases, but they were very sparsely applied. Over half the chips didn’t have anything on them, including cheese, so we ended up with half a plate of nachos and half a plate of chips.

Portion Size
Appetizer nachos, but due to the sparse toppings they ended up even lighter than your standard appetizer portion.

Daisy’s Rating: 1. Not even an appetizer. If we hadn’t gotten the tuna ceviche nachos as well I would have been very displeased.
Emma’s Rating: 1.5. These were just not enough nacho. I still had room for a taco even after splitting both these and the tuna ceviche variant.

Flavor
Daisy’s Rating: .1. The toppings were good when we got them, but we were left with many chips that only had salt and queso. The queso didn’t taste sufficiently cheesy to make the queso-only chips enjoyable.
Emma’s Rating: 2. There wasn’t enough cheese on these to get the full nacho flavor, and where there was, it was queso instead of real cheese and therefore not my favorite flavor. The toppings were fine, but there weren’t enough of them to get more than a couple fully loaded chips.

Overall Nachos
There just wasn’t much to these nachos. We would not recommend.

Daisy’s Rating: .8. I don’t mean to be rude, but these were not good nachos, and we paid $10 for them. I could have made better nachos at home.
Emma’s Rating: 1.5. I like Mexicue, but if I return I will not be having these nachos again.

The Nachos, Round 2 – Tuna Ceviche Nachos
These were a new twist on the classic nacho formula. As they didn’t have cheese, their status as nachos is debatable, but they were still quite tasty.

Cheese
These “nachos” did not have cheese.

Daisy’s Rating: 3. They did not have cheese, but they did have a creamy sauce. I’m counting the sauce as cheese, because I liked these nachos and I want them to get a higher rating. That said, I can’t give them more than a 3, because the sauce was not technically cheese.
Emma’s Rating: 1. These nachos didn’t have any cheese, so it may seem counterintuitive for them to get any points for cheese. But I think these would have been worse if there had been cheese, so that’s why they get a point here.

Toppings
Tuna ceviche cubes, a nice portion of guac, fresh lime juice, cilantro, watermelon radish, and creamy chipotle sauce.

Daisy’s Rating: 3.5. In agreement with Emma here. The toppings were delightful, if slightly sparse.. The empty chips weren’t that bad–and I’m the first to say we could have rationed our guac better so as to have fewer topping-free chips.
Emma’s Rating: 3.5. Despite being non-traditional, these were delicious and refreshing! There was a lot of guac as well. Loses a couple points because there weren’t many toppings, so we ended up with half delicious nacho pile, half pile of empty chips.

Portion Size
Another appetizer-sized portion. The guac and tuna made them slightly more substantial than the classic, despite the lack of cheese.

Daisy’s Rating: 5. While I greatly enjoyed the nachos, I’m not sure I could eat an entree-sized platter of ceviche. The size here felt appropriate.
Emma’s Rating: 4. I was OK with this portion size for the ceviche nachos in a way I wasn’t for the classic ones because I’d traditionally have ceviche for an appetizer and would expect to pair these with a main course. I think it would be odd to have an entrée-sized portion of these.

Flavor
A very light, refreshing flavor. No regrets about the lack of cheese.

Daisy’s Rating: 5. These were incredible. I was on the fence about ordering them, and I’m glad I did. We doused them in lime juice, which was a good call.
Emma’s Rating: 4. I thought these were delicious. Crispy, tangy, and refreshing.

Overall Nachos
Tasty non-standard nachos that are a good option if you’re looking for a light appetizer. Not optimal if you’re looking for cheese, salsa, or other ordinary nacho toppings.

Daisy’s Rating: 4. I enjoyed them! I will say that I might just order ceviche next time, since Mexicue serves ceviche. But I also really liked the salt of the chips to contrast with the lightness of the toppings.
Emma’s Rating: 3.5. I obviously would not get these if I had a strong craving for nachos. But they were tasty and refreshing and I would get them again.

Summary
Mexicue has a great atmosphere, delicious margaritas, and a variety of interesting food options. We’d definitely consider returning – just not for the nachos.

Bar: 4
Nachos: 2.45
Overall: 3.2

We’ve decided that we need to return to real cheese on our next nacho attempt, so we’re going through our list to find a good option. Stay tuned!

Emma and Daisy