Where To Find The Best Nachos In Connecticut: New Report

CONNECTICUT — A glance at the menus online for pubs from Greenwich to Thompson shows there are nearly as many ways to sling a plate of nachos in Connecticut as there are ways to throw down a pizza.

What the Nutmeg State nacho aficionados have that their pizza colleagues are missing, is a consensus on where to find the best of class. Archie Moore's Bar & Restaurant consistently finds its cheesy chips at or near the top of the review roundups, and now the quintet of pubs can add another notch(o) to their collective belt. Foodie website Mashed just released its state-by-state list of the best nachos and awarded Archie's the crown in Connecticut.

The latest accolades arrive with perfect timing. The pub food Mecca just opened a new location in Branford, joining its operations in New Haven, Fairfield, Milford, and Wallingford.

Patch asked Amy Atmore, general manager of the flagship New Haven Archie's, to reveal the secret nachos ingredient that garners so many accolades.

"We put love into them," she demurred. "And a good amount of cheese doesn't hurt."

As celebrated as they are for their nachos, the pubs are best known for their Buffalo wings — the sauce is so popular the pubs are now marketing it online and in stores throughout New England. But Atmore said sales of their burgers are more than keeping pace.

The Archie Moore's menu is quintessential pub food, including fish & chips, potato skins, stuffed 'shrooms, platters of fried shrimp, and our favorite meeting of the minds, a dish called Guinness bratwurst.

But it's their nachos that turn heads: crisp tortilla chips topped with melted Cheddar-Jack cheese, tomatoes and jalapeños, served with salsa, sour cream and the aforementioned "love." The nachos grande will set you back a couple more dollars, but adds spicy beef, beans and black olives into the mix. Or you can tread the pub path slightly less travelled and have your chips festooned with buffalo chicken, or pulled pork or even vegetarian chili.

For a one or two additional bucks each, diners may add additional salsa, sour cream, guacamole and even grilled chicken to all of Archie Moore's nacho plates, and why wouldn't you?

Like foliage displays, pub foods each have their season, and nachos are nearing their peak. Atmore said that football season, "when you've got a group of people sitting around a table and they can share them" is nachos' time to shine.