Nachos in Paradise: Rock Island Cafe (NEW LOCATION)

For Lizzy's last nacho night, we set out to find chili cheese nachos because chili cheese is Lizzy's favorite food. When I googled chili cheese nachos, Rock Island Cafe came right up. We visited them in the King's Village location years ago when the blog first started but sadly that location had to close so developers could tear down King's Village. With their relocation to the Kalakauan building, it provided us with a great reason to visit them again and check out the new space.

The atmosphere is super fun with tons of movie and music memorabilia that is also for sale. The retro MTV videos on the tv are most excellent to watch. We enjoyed every song that came on. You order at the counter and they give you a number to take to the table so they can bring the food out to you when it is ready. I love this style of restaurant because you don't have to wait on a server that is taking care of a bunch of tables all at once. They have happy hour everyday from 3-6pm with deals on draft beer and fun drinks like the Blue Hawaiian.

Since our last visit, they added a new and 3rd option for nachos that are tater tot nachos, our favorite! We let them know ahead of time our group would be coming in and they were nice enough to reserve us some tables together. They even remembered us from last time and sent out a complimentary totcho order for the group to try. Their nachos have cute names that go along with their rock and roll themed cafe like, "Miss Piggy" Luau Nachos with kalua pig and bbq sauce, "Lucy & Ricky" chili cheese nachos, and "McLovin" tater tot nachos. I tried a little bit of each one and they are all good. The nachos are on the simple side with modest ingredients for each dish. I love the bbq sauce on the Miss Piggy, and the jalapenos on the others. Nacho Libra hit the jackpot when she asked if she could get the chili cheese nachos, but sub the chips with tots. Those were amazing! Martin also added some fresh onion to his Miss Piggy, which in my opinion, added a little kick that was missing. I love onion. I could eat a slice of onion with a slice of cheese.

Granny is happy because she is the pickiest eater in all the land so she can order these without modifications and love them!

JQPineapple (3) – PRESENTATION: Looks good, fully loaded, not much cheese. RAD: Chili was flavorful. LAME: Lack of queso/cheese, stale chips, we go the end of the bag and it shows. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, lots of naked chips. Love the music.

Celestial Seasonings (3) – PRESENTATION: Looks nice and delicious, chili-cheese nachos. RAD: Lots of jalapenos. LAME: Mostly stale chips. Chips looked like there were from the bottom of the bag, very broken and small. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: Pretty good actually for the chili cheese version. Restaurant is cool, old school MTV on the tv, They will sub tots for chips.

Lizzy (4!) – PRESENTATION: Chili Cheese!!!! RAD: The chili was really good!! LAME: The dish had a bottom. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5! There were toppings for every chip. I love chili cheese. These hit the spot. A super cute and fun restaurant, a great place to have a meal with friends.

No Name (3) – PRESENTATION: A little sparse on toppings. RAD: Portions are good, kalua pig is tasty. LAME: Not enough pig and the nachos need more toppings, pretty dry. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3. Atmosphere and service were great!

Stacey (4) – PRESENTATION: Very simple presentation, no frills. RAD: Miss Piggy: kalua pork had a bbq sauce that was delish. LAME: Got cold quickly, congealed cheese, needed more toppings, pork needed a little more sauce. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3.5. Good service, great atmosphere, loved all the movie memorabilia.

Son of a Chip (4) – PRESENTATION: Big mound of tots, lots of sour cream and jalapenos. RAD: The tots made this really delicious. LAME: Needed a fresher salsa on it. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, the toppings lasted all the way to the end. Fun atmosphere, lots of rock memorabilia.

Zack (???) – PRESENTATION: Plenty of chili cheese, salsa, and jalapenos. RAD: The place itself, décor and pinball, and old music videos. LAME: They had to move from King's Village. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: Poifect! This gets my worst rating ever…seven thumbs up! Great atmosphere and service.

Brando & Julia (2) – PRESENTATION: We split it up and put pork on one side and not the other. The "smiling" side is the pork. Don't tell Julia I said that. RAD: The atmosphere of this place. Nachos are pretty basic, but the place is great! So glad they got out of King's Village before they demolish and replace it with Japanese Investors. LAME: Not a lot of toppings. Pork (on the good half), sour cream, cheese, chips, that's it. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, plenty of chips with no toppings. But if you get the chili cheese nachos, you can use those extra mafu*kas to scoop up chili. Nachos were not supberb, but the atmosphere is great and unique in Waiks. I would eat these again if I was barhopping and needed some filling, but other than that I would not go out of my way.

Shananigans (3.5) – PRESENTATION: Looks nice, perfect for one hungry human or two slightly hungry humans to share. RAD: BBQ sauce adds that kick that most nachos don't have. The Miss Piggy nachos didn't come with onions, but my friend added them and they were perfect! Those nachos should come with onions! Bonus for me for my friend ordering them! LAME: Lack of spice. The Miss Piggy nachos didn't have jalapeno which is one of 3 ingredients I feel are mandatory on all nachos. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 4, even though there is a lack of variety of nachos, there are sufficient toppings for the chips provided. The staff remembered us from years ago! Too cool! They even sent out a complimentary totchos for us to share since they are new to the menu from our first visit.

Nacho Libra (4) – PRESENTATION: Smaller than I imagined, but smothered in toppings. RAD: We got the chili cheese TOTCHOS! The tater tots were piping hot and crispy. Tons of super melty cheese. LAME: The salsa was meh. Would have preferred more fresh toppings. Too many jalapenos for me. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 5, covered in chili and cheese. The tater tots were the way to go!

Nacho N8 (3) – PRESENTATION: Looks a little meager on the toppings, but symmetrical presentation. RAD: Tater tot nachos are always RAD! LAME: Needs more toppings! TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 2. 50s style diner is pretty cool.

Nacho Granny (4) – PRESENTATION: Nice and plain! Just my style. RAD: I can order these with no modifiers. LAME: Pork was cold. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3. Love the nostalgic vibe here. Reminds me of a place from my youth, The Corvette Diner. That's where my love of peanut butter burgers comes from.

Rene (2.5) – PRESENTATION: A bit paltry, portion wise, no vegetables. RAD: Simple, love the old school vibe. LAME: Not very "in love" with nachos like we are. Seemed that the food was an after thought. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: Ok, not too much. Love the local place, just not the nachos.

James (2) – PRESENTATION: Sparce, only the essentials. RAD: ??? LAME: Missing salsa/spice. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: 3, okay but could use more toppings. Self order but roaming servers as well. Kermit tea party!

Martin (???) – PRESENTATION: Great atmosphere. RAD: Very stylized, great desserts and non-alcoholic drinks. LAME: No parking. TOPPING TO CHIP RATIO: ??? Very nice people at the event.