A Heavenly Brunch At Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina

I am still in Restaurant-Week-hangover mode. Seriously.

We closed out the week in style with a face-melting brunch at Verde. We’ve blogged about Verde before, and we got to sample their brunch menu at a Yelp event back in April (there’s a blog coming for that eventually too, with our Yelp events for the year).

But this time, we actually got to try out the real brunch deal. (I was totally going to say ‘the whole enchilada,’ you know, since they’re a Mexican restaurant but… I couldn’t do it. Except that I just did. Oops.)

They had a special Restaurant Week brunch menu, which included a breakfast entree, a side, and a bottomless non-booze beverage for $12.12.

But. Since we appreciate a good cocktail, we couldn’t resist sampling their breakfast booze as well.

Michael got the Bloody Maria, a Mexican-twist on a traditional Bloody Mary (tequila instead of vodka). He absolutely loved it, which is quite a feat, as he’s kind of a Bloody Mary snob. (I, on the other hand, can’t drink V8. Long story, involving a V8-tainted root beer that I attempted to drink in my early 8s. Or 7s. Ugh, horrifying.)

And I got a drink called a Paloma, which is a fancy way of saying, “Hey girl, we put some tequila in your Fresca, you gonna love this.”

And oh did I ever. (WHY HAVE I NEVER PUT TEQUILA IN FRESCA BEFORE? WHY?!?!?)

For our sides, we both went with an order of the bacon. Boy am I glad we did. Smokey, meaty, juicy. So yeah. Basically everything you could ever ask for from bacon. Well done!

Michael can’t say no to the words ‘carne’ or ‘chorizo’ on a menu, so he went with the sweet potato hash with smoked brisket. Huge serving, tasty potatoes, generous helping of meat.

We also added on an order of the bizcocho, which is a plantain and corn biscuit. This thing was yummy, an interesting intersection where a traditional breakfast biscuit, cornbread, and stuffing met.

And then, somehow, I almost had a plate of bigger-than-your-face French toast delivered to the table.

That was a bit of a shock, since I hadn’t ordered it, and there was a moment of confusion when Jacen and I looked at each other and went, “We really don’t know Spanish, do we?” Then we figured out that I’d tried to say the Spanish for ‘breakfast nachos’ and Jacen had somehow interpreted that to be the Spanish for ‘monster French toast,’ and we all had a good laugh, and Jeff came over, and he and Jacen decided I could probably use another Paloma while waiting for the brunch plate switcheroo (which, I thought, might help my Spanish attempts).

(Just to take a brief time-out here and say that, if you’re a server or owner or bartender or any member of restaurant staff who compensates for a moment of confusion or an order mixup with a drink on the house, YOU ARE AMAZING. And it’s exactly the sort of thing that sets apart the incredible-service restaurants from the just-great ones. And then I send you my love via the internet and tell my friends that you’re the real deal!)

So! Then this happened:

Knock-knock.
Who’s there?

BREAKFAST NACHOS SENT FROM HEAVEN, THAT’S WHO.

Here’s what you get on this plate of awesome: crispy nacho chips, black beans, cheese, fresh-as-can-be pico de gallo, something called ‘poblano crema’ (this is apparently a chile and cheese dippy thing) and eggs. Did you know that nachos can be breakfast? Neither did I! But they can! And how!! (If you want to order this, the technical name for it is chilaquiles, but if your Spanish is as poor as mine, I recommend just pointing to it and saying, ‘breakfast nachos please!’)

I can’t imagine a better way to officially close out Restaurant Week. The food was incredible, the service was top-notch, and the drinks were excellent. I mean… I had Fresca with tequila and nachos for breakfast! It was like I was 22 and back in grad school all over again!

I think it goes without saying that we’ll be back to Verde. We’ve been there three times, and have yet to have a less-than-amazing experience. You should check them out too (but make a reservation: their deliciousness is no secret).