The "Meat and Potatoes" at Macho Nacho Left Us Too Soon

Catherine Downes

​Macho Nacho, located at Cedar Springs and Throckmorton, opened its doors in April, and has since been through some big changes. The menu has been altered several times, and items are constantly being added and taken away as the restaurant gauges which things work and which ones flop.

The current version offers a vast selection of Tex-Mex, street tacos and a steak sandwich. I visited recently and asked the server what his favorite item was and he laughed. It was one of those long-gone flops.

"It was called meat and potatoes," he said. "It's not on the menu but we still have a button for it, so you're welcome to order it if you'd like."

The meat and potatoes are actually like nachos, except the chips are replaced with fries. I went for it.

Out came a heaping pile of fries -- half regular french-fries, and half sweet potato fries -- loaded up with hunks of brisket, sliced jalapenos and diced tomatoes. It was smothered in queso and drizzled with sour cream. It was a mound of guilty-cheesy-goodness. Every fry on the sliver serving tray had come into contact with queso, the hunks of brisket were soft and of generous proportion, and the mound was big enough to feed at least three hungry people. It was so gorgeous that the table next to me "oohed" and "aahed," and ended up ordering the same thing.