When I went to Western Canada for a week, Banff was one of our stops. We were there for 3-4 days, and we had to visit the Mexican restaurant, Magpie & Stump. This restaurant is located at 203 Caribou Street on one of the main streets of Banff, Alberta. Since it was Mexican, there were a lot of different options on the menu (tacos, flautas, fajitas, etc); however, we chose the nachos.
Distribution of Toppings
These veggie nachos were very cheesy as there was cheese on every chip and almost a tomato on each chip. Thus, they were effectively layered. It looks like we chose the "build your own nachos", and there was an additional cost with each topping. We decided to keep it simple one late spring night.
Quality
The chips were exactly the same chips that I had at the best places in Mexico when I went in the early 00's, and the cheese was melted just right. I will add that we had guacamole, re-fried beans, salsa and sour cream, so we had a good variety of dips that were very tasty.
Value
The full nachos are $20 and the half nachos are $12. If you want to add: chicken, beef, chorizo sausage, guacamole, and/or cheese, it is $6 extra, and if you want to add: corn, lettuce, green onion, jalapeño, re-fried beans, bell peppers, hot peppers, olives, and black beans, it is $2 extra. Therefore, if you want a lot of chips with a lot of toppings, it will certainly add up. If this were New Brunswick, I would say they are overpriced. However, this was the touristy part of Banff, Alberta and it should be on par with the pricing from Toronto. I think the pricing is fair in comparison to the location and the quality.
Quantity
The half nachos were enough since this was a late night snack that was shared. I think it was sufficient considering I was already full from supper and I was there for a late night snack and fun drinks.
Conclusion
This was everything I thought a Mexican restaurant in Alberta should be. If we added more toppings, I would probably have more to critique (ie vegetable quality). However, for high quality cheese, tomatoes, chips, re-fried beans, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, I thought they were great. Finally, I thought the price was fair based on location, quality, and distribution of toppings.
Nacho Blog Rating: A-
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| Magpie & Stump Half Nachos-June 2017 |
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| Magpie & Stump half nachos- June 2017 |
These veggie nachos were very cheesy as there was cheese on every chip and almost a tomato on each chip. Thus, they were effectively layered. It looks like we chose the "build your own nachos", and there was an additional cost with each topping. We decided to keep it simple one late spring night.
Quality
The chips were exactly the same chips that I had at the best places in Mexico when I went in the early 00's, and the cheese was melted just right. I will add that we had guacamole, re-fried beans, salsa and sour cream, so we had a good variety of dips that were very tasty.
Value
The full nachos are $20 and the half nachos are $12. If you want to add: chicken, beef, chorizo sausage, guacamole, and/or cheese, it is $6 extra, and if you want to add: corn, lettuce, green onion, jalapeño, re-fried beans, bell peppers, hot peppers, olives, and black beans, it is $2 extra. Therefore, if you want a lot of chips with a lot of toppings, it will certainly add up. If this were New Brunswick, I would say they are overpriced. However, this was the touristy part of Banff, Alberta and it should be on par with the pricing from Toronto. I think the pricing is fair in comparison to the location and the quality.
Quantity
The half nachos were enough since this was a late night snack that was shared. I think it was sufficient considering I was already full from supper and I was there for a late night snack and fun drinks.
Conclusion
This was everything I thought a Mexican restaurant in Alberta should be. If we added more toppings, I would probably have more to critique (ie vegetable quality). However, for high quality cheese, tomatoes, chips, re-fried beans, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, I thought they were great. Finally, I thought the price was fair based on location, quality, and distribution of toppings.
Nacho Blog Rating: A-