Restaurant Review: Sneaky Dee's

SNEAKY DEE'S

431 College Street ~ sneaky-dees.com Instagram: @thesneakydees ~ Twitter: @thesneakydees Co-Diner: Tim Golem

Part Tex-Mex restaurant, part concert venue, part neighbourhood hangout, Sneaky Dee's is one of those iconic mainstay type of places that becomes a part of the city's identity.

Opened in 1987, this legendary purveyor of nachos has been voted #1 Best Late Night Restaurant 2018 by NOW Toronto, was featured on Anthony Bourdain's Toronto episode of The Layover and named #1 Best Nachos by blogTO. You can even spot them in the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel (Volume 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together) and of course you'll see the characters eating a Kings Crown. Can you even call yourself a Torontonian if you've never been here?

At the corner of College and Bathurst, you certainly can't miss them. I mean, unless you can ignore an insanely graffiti-covered building with skull horns all over it. The inside is no different. It feels kinda like a dank dive bar but also feels incredibly homey. It often feels loud and rowdy. There is crap everywhere. Everywhere! Every inch of the place is covered in mural art, graffiti, gig posters, chalkboards with specials scribbled onto them. It's the best. This is the kind of place that holds a deep history and has become an important part of the community. You could spend an hour just looking around and discovering things. They also have a patio in the warmer months, which is where I planted myself on a recent Sunday visit. The staff is the exact right amount of surly and super friendly. Sneaky's has drink specials every day of the week because above all, you come to Sneaky Dee's to have fun. Being my first patio outing of the year, I needed a Sangria ($7.95) in my hand yesterday.

5 oz wine, 1/4 oz tequila, 1/4 oz cherry brandy.

You can choose from red or white wine, and red is always my jam. They bring you a big 'ol 18 oz glass and you know that you're all set. This sangria mostly tasted like juice which is exactly the way that I like it. Sweet 'n boozy, it felt like the best part of summertime. I also really appreciated that in addition to the citrus fruits (lemon, lime, orange) that you always seem to get in sangria, they also added grapes and cherries. These were a great bonus that kept things just a little bit different. The menu at Sneaky Dee's is a Tex-Mex party. But they actually take their food more seriously than I bet anyone gives them credit for. All of the ingredients used in their dishes are localized, with the exception of ripened avocados and juicy tomatoes, which are imported. It's nice to see that this is something that is important to them. You'll find dishes like fajitas and Mexican dinners on the menu... But let's face it, you come to Sneaky's for the nachos. Their muchos nachos are incredibly famous. I don't even like nachos and yet I've never ordered anything else. (Someday I would like to! I love an enchilada!) There are eight different nacho plates to choose from and none is more famous than the legendary Kings Crown ($26.00). I mean, you could order something else, but why would you?

Crisp corn tortilla chips covered with salsa roja, piled high with frijoles, ground beef, tomatoes, onions, mixed peppers, jalapenos, melted cheese, topped with guacamole & sour cream.

These are, in fact, the greatest nachos to have ever been made. It's science. This mountain arrives hot out of the oven and is perfect to share between two (hungry) people. They're everything that you want nachos to be. They're everything that nachos should be. The best part is that they do a really excellent job of layering the toppings throughout so that you don't end up with a pile of naked tortilla chips at the bottom - each chip is guaranteed to be covered in toppings for the perfect bite each time. The veggies are bright and juicy and fresh, while the savoury beans and ground beef add flavourful substance. The cheese is melty and abundant. You get little punches in the face now and then from the jalapeno and you welcome it every time. And don't even get me started on the perfectly heaping amount of guacamole and sour cream on top. These nachos are absolutely perfect just the way that they are and to change them would be blasphemous. These are the nachos of your dreams. If you're in Toronto: you go to Sneaky Dee's and you order the Kings Crown. Otherwise you're doing it wrong.