Typically I don’t like to go out to eat for breakfast or brunch. Why you ask? Because I have never in my life been to a restaurant where I can get nachos for breakfast. Or a breakfast nacho. Or any kind of nacho related thing served during the breakfast or brunch hours. When I start a review with a statement like that you can guess where this is going, that being the Red Rock Grill and Bar for some menu named “Breakfast Nachos”.
The problem with going to a brunch place as well known for serving a delicious brunch as Red Rock at brunch time is that everyone else has the same idea, in this case resulting in a full parking lot and a stated hour wait. I cared not, for I had fixed idea on eating some breakfast nachos, and fortunately it ended up being closer to 20 minutes rather than 60, followed by an incredibly quite turnaround between ordering the nachos and when they arrived at my table. Then, oh hungry readers, they were before me, in all their glory.
In three words, they were delicious, an order at a greasy spoon breakfast place combined with an order of nachos. A very nice touch, the salsa fresca, which was a pleasant departure from the typical store bought super tomatoey variety. The fresh ingredients made a nice contrast with the meaty chili when compared to what could have easily been a super tomatoey salsa and a super tomatoey chili resulting in a Tomatopocalypse of heartburn inducing proportions.
But I suppose the main takeaway from this whole experience is WHY HASN’T ANYONE TOLD ME I SHOULD BE EATING EGGS WITH CHILI LITERALLY ALL THE TIME?!? I suppose if I lived out West I would be familiar with migas, chilaquiles, or any other branches of the breakfast nacho family tree, but as I do not, I am not, hence the delicious surprise. Sure, these are basically an order of chili nachos, which wouldn’t be too special, but once you add those eggs, something magical happens in the taste department and that kicks them up a dozen or so notches.
There were two issues I came across with these nachos however, both of them related to the state of the eggs. The menu describes them as “bacon scramble”, which would seem to indicate that there would be some bacon mixed up in them, which did not appear or taste to be the case. As I got them with the chili it is possible that it masked the flavor and visual of the bacon, so I cannot confirm that aspect of the dish. What I can confirm is that eggs on an order of nachos need to be served mashed up into little bits so they can be lifted by chips, not in a large omelette single blanket that needs to be torn apart by a fork before consumption. Nachos and forks do not go together other than clean up the remnants of a finished meal or in a nacho etiquette class. Overall though, minor gripes.
Chances are you don’t even know where Upton, MA is, let alone live there or near there, so should you go out of your way to go to Red Rock for the nachos? Yes, yes you should. Do you know what else you can go there for? Chicken and Waffles. And what else? A BLOODY MARY BAR. Popular opinion may be that the margarita should be the official drink of nachos, but I may have to get behind this spicy little beverage, at least when combined with breakfast nachos. So when you go to Red Rock for your nachos and they give you the glass or vodka, add that spicy bloody mary mix and make it the Derek way: add two scoops of blue cheese and a scoop of pickled jalapenos, shake, then serve with four slices of bacon and two heaping piles of pickled ginger on top. Now that is a hell of a drink to go with a hell of an order of nachos.
