Picante - 735 Mass Ave.

After a lovely Thursday night filled with a handful of free cocktails, we were in desperate need of food.  I threw out what I thought were admirable suggestions - a quick, cheap dinner over in Chinatown perhaps?  Maybe some sushi, or some Middle Eastern fare at one of Cambridge's finest falafel huts?  One idea was shot down after the next.  Strangely from the beginning, I knew exactly what we were going to end up eating.....it was just a matter of where.  Kate has what some might call an obsession with nachos.  If they are on the menu, she'll order them (or convince others to order with her).  She'll pass it off as doing research to find the best combination of quality chips, mounds of toppings and oozing cheese in the city, but I see right through it.  She likes eating nachos.....'nuff said.

We decided on Picante in Central Square.  It's a nice little Mexican Restaurant a few doors down from the Central Square T stop.  Never being there before, I was very pleased to see some nice seating areas (even though more people at that time were ordering take out), a fresh salsa bar and Pacifico Beer cooling in their fridge.  Kate went for the super nachos with additional grilled mushrooms and zucchini.  I went for the steak burrito.  The burrito was average.   The best part was definitely the warm tortilla, but the filling was a bit too heavy on rice and beans.  The nachos were clearly superior.

The guacamole was creamy and actually tasted of avocados.  The chips seemed homemade as well, which is so much better than 'fresh from the Frito Lay bag' treatment you might get at a number of neighborhood bars.  With the heaps of toppings, it was definitely a filling meal and the veggies made it a great option if you aren't in the mood for meat.  Don't worry all of you carnivores out there, as I'm sure they would happily cover your mountain of nachos with tender, grilled steak or any protein-packed topping you want.

We also tested 5 of their homemade salsa.  So every bite was filled with options......all of them delicious.

From Left to Right:
-Picante Sauce
-A similar version of the picante with more of a vinegar spike
-Chipotle Sauce (probably our favorite)
-Spicy, chunky tomato salsa
-Salsa Fresca (with tons of fresh cilantro)


These sauces alone are enough to for me to give another visit to Picante, order some chips, a cold bottle of Mexican beer and dig in.

-A