Velvet Cantina in San Francisco - MAINLAND EDITION

We only had like 24 hours in San Francisco but it was the best because I got to spend the day with my youngest sister and her adorable boyfriend.  She drove us all around the city on a rare rainy day showing us her favorite places and the tourist spots.  We ate delicious ice cream and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.  And then it was time to meet up with the rest of the group and some other Bay Area friends for nachos.  And what a group we had!  In addition to the 6 of us on the train trip, my sister was there with her boyfriend, as well as Bo, Chelsea, and Katherine who were all Hawaii friends that have since relocated to the Bay Area.  It was so wonderful catching up with everyone!

Velvet Cantina supposedly has some of the best nachos in America, at least that is what the internet said.  I was a fan of the place from the moment we walked up with it's neon sign out front.  It reminded me of all the dingy Mexican restaurants I have been to over the years, kinda dark with red glowing corners. There were booths along the outer wall and they had us set up at one long table in the middle of the room. Our server was not the best, he seemed kinda stressed.  There were actually a couple of guys that took care of our table if we needed anything but they just seemed annoyed at our presence.  The guy behind the bar was my favorite and we wished he would have been helping us instead.

Even though we were stuffed on the nachos, we had to order the S'MORES dessert nachos, because dessert nachos.  They were pretty cool.  First off, they came out ON FIRE when they were delivered to the table so you actually had that burnt marshmallow taste in every bite.  I wish they would have warned me so I could have taken a video.  They were messy and sticky but creative and fun.

Please enjoy this adorable picture of my sister and I eating nachos.  Look how dainty and sweet she is meanwhile the nachos are about to fall out of my mouth and all over my face. 

Nacho Sister

Velvet Nachos $12.99 - House made tortilla chips, chile con queso, black beans, sour cream, guacamole (add chorizo or chicken for $3.29)

Chicken

Vegetarian option

Shananigans (4.7) – PRESENTATION: Big plate, lots of cheese sauce RAD: Guac is yummy, queso is spicy, chips hot, whole beans. LAME: Soupy at the bottom.  Servers have an attitude but all join to help the table.  Wish the bartender was our server.  He was cool. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.75, more toppings than chips.  Soupy so you needed a fork.  The spice was perfect for me but others complained.  Might be better as an option to get it spicy.

 

 

Tango Tango (4.95) – PRESENTATION: Big plate!  Looks like definitely enough for 2, maybe enough for 3. RAD: Good music here!  Chill red lighting.  Free chips and salsa (excellent).  These chips are the flesh of Mexican Jesus! LAME: Margarita tasty but maybe got salt in it?  Lot's of ice in the cup too.  Liquid cheese, though it appears house made. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: Homemade chips withstand the soggy forces of liquid cheese.  Spicy, crunchy, soft, rich, it's everything!!  And there's lots of it.  Needed extra chips that were readily available.  Great food but the drinks were honestly terrible.  Too sour/salty/strong and almost undrinkable.  Order a beer instead.

 

Abe (4.5) – PRESENTATION: The drizzle was a nice touch, not normal. RAD: Copious amounts of goop. LAME: Missing salsa and fresh cut tomato. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5, meat to topping not so good.  Solid amount of goop but would have liked more meat.

 

Bo (4.5) – PRESENTATION: Badass!  The nachos look delicious. RAD: The presentation in the red light. LAME: Nothing. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3/2.  I though the nachos were good at 1^st sight.  After trying them, they needed more meat.  Good flavor overall.  The music was excellent, drinks are good.  Overall good experience.

 

Zack (3) – PRESENTATION: A lot of toppings, artificial looking queso. RAD: A lot of guac. LAME: Bean deficiency. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, more toppings than chips but plenty of house chips.

 

Chelsea (4) – PRESENTATION: Lots of guac!  Looks yummy. RAD: More toppings are better than less. LAME: No warning on the spice level. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5, not enough chips.  I love you Shannon!!

 

Laura (1) – PRESENTATION: Looks ok, fake cheese, a tad spicy. RAD: Guacamole. LAME: Cheese TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.  Atmosphere of the bar is great.  Drinks are nice and strong.

So soupy...where's my spoon?

 

Brandy (3) – PRESENTATION: Looks good, cheese sauce. RAD: Cheese sauce is spicy. LAME: Cilantro. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, lots of toppings and little chips.  Okay but not great.  Not enough chips, no real cheese which would have been nice.

 

Katherine (3) – PRESENTATION: Pretty colors, scared of the fake cheese. RAD: They're spicy! LAME: Better with real cheese and needs more beans. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2.  San Francisco can do better!

 

The Smores nachos were delivered lit on fire.  WTF.  They were like tiny sopapilla on cinnamon chips, cinnamon chips with gooey warm freshly toasted marshmallow. On paper didn’t sound good, in reality makes me happy.  Unique that not on normal chips.  Tastes like fucking smores, it’s just missing the campfire smoke.  Perhaps our new favorite nacho.

S'mores nachos - $7.49