Flashback Friday - Nicos

Sorry, I haven't felt like posting. I think Texas is trying to kill me as I have my second sinus infection in the six months we've lived here. Worst symptom is whole body wracking coughs when my family makes me laugh. Maybe it's my family trying to kill me. They love making me laugh!

Thinking about this TBT that turned into a FBF, made me laugh and cough up a lung. Hopefully you find it as amusing as I do!

Tim and I have legally been married for 10 years, 11 in November. It's been almost 14 years since we started dating. Getting married meant getting a joint cell phone account with a phone number from Tucson, Ariz. It only took Tim 7 years of marriage to finally take me to see where my phone number comes from and to all his old college haunts.

Always mentioned in Tim's college adventures were trips to the Mexican restaurant Nico's. Stories of magnificent competitions such as who could survive off of nothing but super nachos for the longest? Tim gave it his best effort, but his 6'10" 350 pound roommate won by a 5 day margin! Many stories included nights at the bar with "too mas tequila" and ending with Nico's carne asada burritos because they are open 24 hours. But the one food I was always fascinated with was the fish tacos.

What? Fish in a taco? Why? Are you kidding me? I'm from Montana where the 1990s commercials of "Beef. It's what's for dinner." got a "duh" from me.

Tim would try his hardest in the first 7 years of our marriage to replicate those fish tacos with varying degrees of success. His efforts usually ended with him shaking his head and saying, "It's not Nico's."

When we finally had an opportunity to visit Tucson we walked around the University of Arizona campus and drove the route to Tim's off-campus house. We rounded the corner of Fort Lowell and Campbell and an empty gravel lot greeted us. Tim let out a long, low wail wondering where Nico's was. We tried calling a college buddy who's family lives in Tucson. No answer. We looked up the restaurant on our smartphone and saw the address was still located in the gravel lot, but got a real person on the phone who guided us to their new location.

The empty lot that used to hold the best Mexican food in Tucson.

We got to the new location and all I thought was that it looked like the quintessential college town Mexican restaurant. Not big and flashy, more taco truck in a permanent location with regular health code inspections. Tim ordered his favorites, one order of super nachos, a carne asada burrito and the world famous fish tacos. We sat and waited for them to call our number.

The new Nico's location at 2965 N Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719.

When we got our food the first thing that struck me was how enormous an order of super nachos was! Holy cow! The guys ate these for how many days? Our family of four ate the burrito, taco and didn't even come close to finishing the nachos. The nachos were delicious. Super indeed! They had: in-house made tortilla chips, guacamole, carne asada meat, refried beans, cheese and sour cream. None of this nachos mean chips and cheese only stuff. No fancy plated five chips with cheese, a cube of meat, an olive and a dollop of sour cream. This was completely messy, full of toppings and exactly what I expect with an order of super nachos.

The girls with our order of super nachos, fish tacos, and carne asada burrito in July 2012.

The carne asada burrito was so good Tim gave me one bite and ate the rest. From the small taste, it was good, but not the standout for me. That was reserved for this mystical fish taco that captivated my husband's memory and provided us seven years of conversation.

On to the fascination of a fish taco. It had homemade corn tortillas. Normally I hate the fragility of corn tortillas, but these held together amazingly well. The fish was deep fried in a light batter. The cabbage was finely shredded and there was an amazing sauce that I had no idea what was in it, but it was delicious! A slice of lime was provided to give it a little citrus kick. The fish taco was so delicious, I was licking my fingers and hoping to order another! The nachos did me in, so we didn't go for another fish taco.

We left feeling full of the best Mexican food we've tasted in years and wondering when we'd be back for more.

A year later we moved from Northern Virginia to Monterey, California. Tim took up spear fishing in his free time from graduate school. With all the incredibly fresh fish, Tim took up his quest to make Nico's fish tacos again. Now that I knew what they were supposed to taste like, I became his biggest cheerleader! The first few attempts were not fabulous. Eventually Tim found this recipe and it was wonderful! By the time we had to leave, I loved Tim's fish tacos more than Nico's. We officially tested that opinion on our move from California to Texas. Tim cracked the code! I think the key was fish swimming just 3 hours before dinner time.

Our Nico's visit from December 2014 on our move from California to Texas.

If you can't catch fish and make these tacos within a few hours of pulling them from the water, but find yourself in Tucson, check out Nico's and order the fish tacos. You'll be happy you did!