Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 30, 2009
Weekly Indulgence
Samara Litvack
I went to Moe’s Southwest Grill for the first time last Friday night. (Yes, for the very first time. I know, it’s hard to believe.) I was shopping in Hixson for last minute October costumes (I have three so far) and decided to hit up the Highway 153 location to use my Kids First buy one get one free coupon to treat my roommate to dinner.
We got there around 7:30 – prime dinnertime – and the restaurant was pretty packed. Thankfully, the line was a few people long, so I had time to look over the menu while we waited. I was entranced by the smells wafting over from the grill and had a hard time deciding on just one menu item. So, as I often do, I chose two.
I thought I needed a good variety of Moe’s food, so I made sure to place what I viewed as a pretty well-balanced order. I started with the Billy Barou nachos – my choice of grilled meat, beans, queso, pico de gallo, jalapenos and black olives. First things first, I nixed the jalapenos and black olives. Given the choice of pinto and black beans, I chose the latter. After my chips were covered in creamy queso cheese, they were topped with chicken and a healthy portion of pico.
Next I ordered the John Coctostan quesadillas – my choice of grilled meat, beans and shredded cheese, served with a side of pico and sour cream. For variety, I loaded those bad boys up with steak but, still a creature of habit, I again selected black beans.
You should have seen the look on the guy’s face when I told him both the nachos and the quesadilla were for me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat half of what I’d ordered, but I just smiled to myself, filled up my water and headed toward my booth in the front to enjoy feast.
First I tried a piece of steak that had fallen out of my quesadilla, onto the foil in which it was wrapped. I’m not sure how that steak is seasoned, but it yields amazing results. I was an instant Moe’s fan after that one little bite. And I was even more pleased when I sunk my teeth into the entire quesadilla.
I have a special place in my heart set aside for black beans, and this quesadilla was chocked full of them. The cheese was melted perfectly around them; the steak was placed in perfect proportion. The sour cream sealed the deal for me, and I ate one of four pieces of quesadilla before I even looked up from my plate.
Realizing that this dish would probably reheat more easily than my nachos, I dove into those next, and I was not disappointed. While the chicken wasn’t seasoned nearly as much as the beef seemed to be, those nachos were better than any other I’ve ever had. Piled high with particularly sweet pico de gallo (yum), each bite was covered in toppings, the chips were perfectly salty and each savory bite seemed better than the one before.
I know it may seem like I’m exaggerating a bit here – and, I’ll admit, I have a tendency to do that in casual conversation – but I would never joke about food. These were, hands down, the best nachos I’ve ever had. I had to force myself to stop eating and push away the basket where the remaining chips sat in a pool of queso cheese and pico. (I’d eaten every piece of chicken).
My roommate got a burrito with the buy one get one coupon, and I can’t wait to go back to get one of those. (If the look on her face was any indication, the burritos are just as good as the quesadillas, and quite possibly as good as the nachos, too.) The burritos come in different sizes – from giant, jam-packed to the smaller, Joey Jr. size – and can be filled with any combination of ingredients.
For the record, the salads and fajitas also looked (and smelled) amazing, so I’m sure I’ll be returning in the future for those, as well.
The staff at Moe’s was friendly and highly efficient. Although there were several people in line before me and after me, no one waited longer than a few minutes for their orders to be taken and everyone was greeted enthusiastically as they entered the front door.
I was highly impressed with my first visit to Moe’s. The food was amazing (even when I reheated my leftovers for lunch the following day) and the service was excellent. I recommend you visit one of the Hixson, Cleveland or Chattanooga locations the next chance you get.
Contact Samara at samara@hamiltoncountyherald.
com.
|
|