Last Bite-Nachos at Añejo

When nachos are on a menu, I find myself saying, “I’ll have the salad (or really anything else).” It’s not that I have a problem with nachos themselves: tasty corn tortillas with a rigidity that makes them the perfect vessel for all manner of dips and spreads. My problem comes from the construction method of the nacho appetizer found all too often on menus. An impressive dome of nachos arrives piled high and covered with melted cheese, guacamole, salsa, peppers, and shredded lettuce. After the top layer of chips is enjoyed with all the trimmings, what’s left is still an imposing heap of tortillas, either bare or fused together by the now-hardened cheese that could give Super Glue a run for its money. I knew I couldn’t be alone in this thinking, and thankfully Jesse Kersey, co-owner with partner Jamie Surprenant, of Añejo in Falmouth and Hyannis, felt my pain. Kersey wanted Añejo to serve nachos more in line with the way they were originally intended, where every chip is dressed.

Ignacio Anaya, the maître d’hôtel of The Victory Club in Pietras, Mexico came up with the snack in the 1940s for a group of visiting American women who wanted a nosh, but the kitchen was closed. He worked with what he had available and cut up some tostada shells, spread Colby cheese on top and added pickled jalapeños to each, toasted them and Nacho’s Special was born. “Nacho” is the traditional nickname for someone named Ignacio.

The Añejo Nachos at both Falmouth and Hyannis locations are built differently, from the plate up. Tostada shells are hand-cut into much larger chips than normal, and deep-fried. The oversized chips, nearly the size of your hand, are spread around the plate in one level without any overlap. A quick trip into the oven melts the Oaxaca-jack cheese onto the chips and warms the refried pinto beans and any protein one might want to add. Options include carnitas verde (pork), carne asada (steak), achiote chicken, or the Añejo chorizo. The chips are removed from the oven and are individually assembled with shredded lettuce, pickled jalapeno, and a freshly made pico de gallo. The plate is topped with a drizzle of picante crema, and crumbled cotija cheese finishes everything off. A sizable scoop of delectable house-made guacamole is an optional addition to further round out the plate. Only the corners of the chips are visible along the plate’s edge as the mouth-watering mound is placed on the table. Instead of being left with a pile of dry, left-over chips, you’ll be scooping up the last bits of lettuce, refried pintos, crema, and cheese well after the chips are finished.

“Jesse really wanted it to be something where the first bite is as good as the last,” Añejo's executive chef Ben Phipps points out. The crowd-favorite appetizer has been a fixture on the menu at Añejo since day one when the Main Street, Falmouth location opened in August of 2010, followed by the second Añejo, on Main Street in Hyannis, in 2018. “I’ve been here ten years and the nachos have been around a lot longer than me,” Ben laughs. It’s a mainstay for the very reason that the first bite is just as good as the last. Each forkful – and yes, these large chips are best cut with a knife and fork; don’t try to be a hero and eat them by hand – is loaded with everything you could want…and ordered. Nobody wants their nacho order to finish with the last two dozen of them dry, and thanks to Añejo, we don’t have to settle anymore. One would think that even Ignacio himself would consider these nachos special.

Añejo Falmouth
188 Main Street
508-388-7631

Añejo Hyannis
599 Main Street
774-470-5897
anejo.cc