10 Things I Love About Nachomama’s

The film 10 Things I Hate About You was my teenage anthem.

I felt angry like Kat, I wanted to dress like Kat, and I even carried around a copy of the Bell Jar for a week. I wanted to be Kat.

If you’ve never seen this movie, there’s this scene where Kat reads Heath Ledger a list of ten things she “hates” about him. She ends the list by saying she hates that she really doesn’t hate him at all. Since I wanted to be just like Kat, I thought I’d be really clever by sending this one guy I was  a similar 10 Things I Hate About You list. In hindsight, it’s all very cringe-worthy. Whenever I see that Seinfeld episode where Jerry’s ex-girlfriend writes him a gut-wrenching love letter which turns out to be copied from a Neil Simon play, I die a little bit inside.

Anyway, there’s this place in the Rock Hills area of St. Louis called Nachomama’s. The building appears to have been a fast food joint in past lives. You might drive right by, except for the fact that it’s always crowded. My friends took me here one day and I liked it so much I was already planning my second visit by the end of my first meal. It’s one of the first places that pops-up in my mind when I’m considering take-out.

Sometimes I wish Nachomama was my real mama. Here’s my non-ironic list of 10 things I love about Nachomama’s:

Nachomama's queso
1. Queso. The queso here is really good. I’ve eaten a lot of queso in my lifetime and consider this possibly the best. It’s perfectly runny and a little bit spicy.

2. The guacamole is served in its own skin! This might sound creepy, except that it’s a vegetable. Making guacamole is really easy and usually I find that mine’s just as good, if not better, than everyone else’s. Nachomama’s might taste a little bit better than mine.

3. Large orders of chips come in flower pots. That is, if you dine-in. Take-out people get a boring plastic bag.

4. The food is relatively affordable. Depending on what you order, you can feast for about $10. Chips do cost extra, though.

5. Meals comes out of the kitchen really quickly. Simply order and pay at the counter and wait for an employee to call your name. Minutes later you’ll receive better-than-average food that comes from the kitchen as quickly as fast food.

6. The salsa is really good, too. Especially, the hot salsa. Why? Because it’s actually spicy and also tastes freshly-made. You’ll want a lot of this. There’s a salsa bar inside for dine-in customers.

7. You can order rotisserie chicken! A half-chicken, dark meat dinner complete with rice, beans, shredded cabbage & tortillas cost me less than $10. The chicken skin was rubbed with a flavorful rub and the meat was tender.

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8. The rice and beans aren’t throw aways. At other Tex Mex places we’ve visited, platters often include bland, oily rice is dotted with wrinkly, dried mixed vegetables and gluey beans. You won’t regret ordering a platter here, though. The rice is fluffy and the beans taste rich and flavorful.

9. There’s a drive-through. For both food and margaritas. How is this possible? I have no idea. Can someone explain Missouri’s open container law to us? I’ve only lived in states where open liquor containers are prohibited in vehicles. Heck, in Minnesota, you still can’t purchase alcohol on Sundays! I can’t even wrap my mind around drive-through margaritas.

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10. The shrimp quesadilla. The first time I visited, I enviously eyed my friend’s shrimp quesadilla. She mentioned that the shrimp inside had a crunchy batter and I was intrigued. I had to try it. This quesadilla is nothing fancy, but the fact that the shrimp inside have a thin, crispy coating delights me to no end.

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And with number 10, I conclude my list of things I love about Nachomama’s. We’ve already included her into our small rotation of dependable and satisfying take-out dinner options.

*I noticed a thread about some kind of issue regarding paying here with a chip card vs. old swipe card. Might want to bring cash.

4 Comments

  1. Feisty Eats

    I’m sold at drive through margaritas!

  2. Tracy

    Yum! is all I have to say! The guacamole and salsa look fantastic. My favorite thing about Mexican restaurants is the chips and of course anything I can dip them in.

  3. Katie

    The name confused me and I thought you visited the stillwater nacho mama’s, but this stl version sounds even better!!!

    • Jeni

      I remember thinking my meal at Stillwater’s Nacho Mama’s was really good too.

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