Since August of 2009, Big Tide Brewing Co. has been providing hand-crafted all-natural ales and lagers. It is located on Princess Street in Saint John, New Brunswick, and of course, I have had their nachos a handful of times now.
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| Big Tide Beef Nachos - June 2023 |
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| Big Tide Beef Nachos (what was left over) - June 2023 |
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| Bigger Tide Full Beef Nachos - March 2023 |
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| Bigger Tide Full Beef Nachos - March 2023 |
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| Big Tide Beef Nachos - November 2021 |
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| Bigger Tide Chicken Nachos - September 2021 |
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| Bigger Tide Chicken Nachos (beneath the cheese) - September 2021 |
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Bigger Tide Nachos (beef) - March 2021
 | Bigger Tide Nachos (beef) - March 2021
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| Big Tide Beef Nachos - November 2018 |
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| Big Tide Beef Nachos - November 2018 |
Distribution of Toppings
Big tide seems to fluctuate with distribution of toppings, going from bad to excellent and back to bad. The last time we went in June 2023, the distribution was the worst I've seen in a long time. This was one of those times when it seemed like the cook did not care about the nachos.
Quality
They really skimped on the cheese and it was barely melted as you can see from the visible shreds in the photo. These nachos came out out of the kitchen so quickly, it seems to be the case of a not enough cooking time in a very hot oven. At home we would need at least 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven for this amount of nachos, especially with all those veggies. In addition, the beef needed seasoning. I asked if there was queso (my friend told me she recently had it on her nachos in a previous visit to Big Tide), but we were told there was no queso available and we were told to choose from the menu options. There was barely any veggies on the nachos and no jalapeños were added, even though we asked for them.
Value
The nachos at Big Tide come in different variations to accommodate for customers' needs. There is the Big Tide Nachos which comes in the half size for $9 and the full size for $12. In addition, there is the Bigger Tide Nachos which also comes in the half size for $16 and the full size for $19. For an additional $2 you can add: pickles, peppers, olives, jalapenos. For an additional $4, you can add proteins such as bacon, ground beef, chicken, BBQ chicken, pepperoni, and chili. I really enjoy how many options you have for these nachos as Big Tide considers that different customers have different taste buds. I do not often see this many options when ordering nachos at a restaurant.
Quantity
I thought the Bigger Tide Full Size Nachos were sufficient to share with a couple/few people for a meal, or a few more people for a great snack. The Big Tide nachos were sufficient to share as a snack.
Conclusion
When I walked by the kitchen, I saw the cook sitting down reading something and not working. The nachos were ready within 5 minutes and it was clear that night that they did not care to make good nachos. The server was also pretty snooty. This is very unfortunate but I will have to really bring down the rating of a place that was once in the Hometown Top Ten.
Nacho Blog Rating: D+
