Service Safari: Super Nachos w. Chicken

Since I go back and forth between San Francisco and Burlingame-San Mateo, I have to locate great Mexican food in both spots. When in Burlingame-San Mateo, I acquire nachos through a specific process.

The journey begins at The Home Depot in San Mateo. At 9:30AM, I’m in the lumber section selecting the best project panel for my next class (I teach woodworking). From there, I check out at the lumber section, scan my Home Depot rewards card, and load up a 4'x8' panel into my Suburban.

Then I head towards the Chavez Supermarket, and strictly drive along the water. It takes 8 minutes which is enough for me to listen to two songs which are almost always Bonafied Lovin by Chromeo and Motorsport by Migos.

With a wide selection of parking available, given that it’s only 10:30/11:00AM, I pick the spot closest to the front.

I step through the set of doors on the right, and keep making my way to the right to go straight to the hot food section.

The line is in an L shape, so similar to other takeout-only restaurants, you keep going down this line until your order is completed.

Although I strictly get los super nachos con pollo every time, the clear glass allows me to see all of the ingredients, including the hot sauces. It also helps that right above it is the entire menu, that you can see and read even if you are standing outside of the line divider.

So, like clockwork, Abdel is working the grill. Usually there is no one else ordering, even in the late morning, so once I approach the line divider, he is already ready to take my order.

I go to this supermarket hot food section often, so as my order is being made, I talk to the other people that are working the hot food section since not many customers come in until lunchtime.

Making my way down the line to approach the cashier, they ask if there is anything else I want to order. At the cashier itself, there are drinks and chips, so I say, “Y un vasito de horchata porfa” (a small cup of horchata).

Although the setup of this service is simple, with the ingredients and menus right in front of me, it is efficient due to the fact that 3–4 people are working there at any given moment, meaning that the service moves quickly, and it is easy for them to serve more than one customer at a time in both quiet and busy hours.

I don’t tend to come here during lunch hours, but in the few times that I have, there have only been 2–3 other people in line. Even in those instances, the service still moves quickly. This supermarket is located in a hub of a lot of technical and mechanical services (for mechanics, plumbers, etc.), so many people come in here just to buy lunch for themselves, which also makes the process move more quickly compared to a sit-down restaurant in which customers tend to come in groups.

The hot food section accepts cash and credit cards, so I pay with credit card as they put my nachos and horchata into a bag. By this time, I am already close to the set of doors to the supermarket that I entered through. I exit through those doors and am parked right in front.

As I get back into the Suburban with the nachos, horchata, and project panels from Home Depot, I go back to the house which is one town over in Burlingame, and eat it either in the park or at home with family.