Nacho Choice for Nacho Cheese: See Our Pick

Tommy Nevin's Pub, 9680 Lincolnway Lane, Frankfort

For the foundation of their nachos, Tommy Nevin's offers the choice of tortilla chips or potato chips. Although I consider myself relatively adventurous, I opted for the more comfortable tortilla chips. They were served covered in cheese (melted cheddar, I believe, not a sauce), seasoned but not spicy ground beef, sour cream, what they call "tomato relish" (which is what most of us would call pico de gallo) and, hold onto your Guinness, peas! All in all, it was a sloppy, delightful mess.

The good: The housemade tortilla chips held up to the challenge and didn't get soggy under the weight of all the toppings.

The bad: Although the cheese was melted, the plate overall did not come out very hot.

, 11220 W Lincoln Hwy, Mokena

Tribes offers a half and a full size of the nachos, and the half (as you can see from the picture) is plenty. The dish comes with chicken, though steak is available for an extra charge. The all-white chicken was very moist and even stringy, reminiscent of authentic tinga. In addition to the meat, the nachos are served with refried beans, olives, tomatoes, onions, large jalapeño slices, sour cream, guacamole and, of course, cheese, which was saucy but did not taste processed. 

The good: Fresh, tasty ingredients with nicely cooked chicken makes these nachos better than average bar fare.

The bad: The refried beans were lukewarm and added an unappealingly mushy texture.

, 1490 W Maple St, New Lenox

Williamson's nachos allow the cheese to be the star: there are three types of cheese. On the bottom layer of the tri-colored tortilla chips, there is a nacho cheese sauce. Next, there is a blend of white and yellow shredded cheese, melted together, and over the top, more cheese shreds.

They offer vegetarian, chicken, beef or steak nachos. I went with the vegetarian, which left me with lettuce, jalapeño slices, onions, sour cream and guacamole. The onions, sour cream and guacamole were in their own sections, which I liked because I'm not crazy about raw onion and was able to easily avoid them. 

The good: There was no lack of cheese, and isn't cheese what nachos are all about?

The bad: Although I liked it, some people might be put off with lettuce on their nachos. But I also would have liked some tomatoes and/or black olives, too. 

THE WINNER: Tribes Alehouse. The great chicken, black olives and guacamole made this a great plate of nachos. Just ask them to leave the refried beans off, unless that's what you're into. And definitely bring a friend; even the half order is huge.

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• Frankfort establishments
• New Lenox establishments
• Mokena establishments