Loco Hombres/Alonzo's - We hombres are loco for their nachos!

Another review that is long overdue, is of the sister restaurants Loco Hombres and Alonso's. Located in old Roland Park a short walk from Loyola College, the two restaurants share an entrance, hostess stand, and bar. Loco Hombres has a tex-mex theme, while Alonso's goes for more of a sports-bar/pizza theme (although the 2 menus are overall very similar). The tex-mex ambiance is experienced before you even walk in the door, with the old Spanish-style tiles on the roof of this old corner business (which is incidental, as this is a common style found on rowhomes made in the "daylight" period, which is a whole-nother blog!). The Alonso's side also sells beer and wine for about couple hours later than most of the nearby liquor stores.

Anyway, we had visited on Wednesday night, having been there many times before, expected greatness. We have been there in both large groups and small, and tried items across the menu. One previous visit worth noting, was on the opening night of the 2008 Hampden Christmas Lights - while all the "Avenue" restaurants were on a 2 hour wait, Loco's accommodated a party of 12 in a matter of minutes. And everyone left satisfied.

This week we were in a beer and pub-grub kind of mood, and we remember being intensely impressed by the nachos they served - so we each ordered an order of nachos. I got ground beef on mine, the others got chicken. As we remembered, the portions were huge and looked delicious. Each plate of nachos was smothered with cheese, olives, peppers, guac, etc.; and you never had to worry about getting a nacho with nothing on it. The ground beef was good, the more mild of the choices, but of course was a little greasier. The chicken had a slight bite to it - which we all found to be delicious - and was generously rationed throughout the plate.

The nachos with meat were $13, and were large enough for 2 meals. If you're in a vegetarian mood or want to save money, they're available without meat for $10.

Most of the dishes offered are between $10 and $20 - some other Bob Ganoosh recommendations include the fajitas, the huge burgers (1.5lbs!), and the pizzas on the Alonso's side. They also have a nice drink menu, with a decent beer selection and some fun cocktails. I got a bottle of Newcastle, served with a frosted glass, that was very cold and refreshing on such a warm evening.

So, of course, we give our strong endorsement to these fun restaurants for almost any occasion - large group or small, dinner or just pub-grub during the game.

And, they get bonus points, since our waitress had a Natty Boh tattoo!

Hogs Really Do Taste Better BBQ'ed! - Andy Nelson's BBQ

Shawn and I made a visit to this quaint little BBQ house in Old Cockeysville, already having a pretty good idea of what our review was going to say. We have both been here many times, and it happens to be the venue of choice for company-wide lunches provided by my employer. So this particular visit was more or less a technicality, spawned by a strong craving for some great barbecue (plus, I owed Shawn some money).

The restaurant consists of a small old house on York Road, which you probably wouldn't even see if it wasn't for the large pig on the roof. There is also a large shed-like building that they converted into an additional seating area, which would help in a large-party situation. This is not a fast-food restaurant per se, but all ordering is done at the counter and there is no table service. A cosy casual environment. We looked at the various pieces of paraphernalia on the wall while waiting for our food, and learned that Andy Nelson (the restaurant's founder) was once a member of the Baltimore Colts.

The menu is simple but offers everything you would want from such a restaurant: pulled pork, pulled turkey, pit beef, and beef barbecue. And of course the usual sides: corn bread, potato salad, collard greens, etc. You can get just a sandwich for somewhere around $7, or a platter with 2 sides for under $10. We both went for the platters: I got the pulled pork with corn bread and potato salad; Shawn got pulled turkey with cornbread and greens.

I'll just cut to the chase and say, as we expected, we loved everything. Both the pork and the turkey were unbelievably moist. The turkey was well-seasoned, the pork was more mildly seasoned, but most likely under the presumption that it will be topped with one of their signature sauces. Shawn enjoyed his greens, and we both loved the cornbread (they were generous with the portion, too). I loved the potato salad - I'm not really capable of resisting it - but I will warn that it is strongly spiced. It is possibly the most unique potato salad I have ever eaten.

We got there about a half hour before they closed, and ended up closing the place down. As such, there was plenty of seating. I have never actually been in the restaurant at lunchtime, but I would suspect that lunchtime on a Friday would be a bit busier, so I suspect that a large party would have a little more challenge then. I would make a similar prediction for dinner, but adding that their not-s0-late closing time (8pm during the week and maybe 9pm on the weekends) would make it difficult for a dinner-night with a big group.

So overall, the Bob Ganoosh team gives Andy Nelson's (aka "Pigman") our golden seal of approval! However, we would recommend them as more of a casual lunch or a quasi-quick dinner, than a big group get-together. If I worked in Hunt Valley, I'd eat there every day (and generally, I don't even like pork)!

Andy Nelson's Barbecue

11007 York Road

Cockeysville, MD 21030

410-527-1226

http://www.andynelsonsbbq.com/