Snack Bar Vol. 3: Welcome to the Cantina

Welcome to The Snack Bar, TQE's very own concession stand stocked with the latest sweet and savory treats on the market. Our editors gather for unbiased taste tests and share their honest thoughts every time, so we can help you navigate which buzzy snacks are worth the purchase.

Our team is dedicated to finding and telling you more about the web’s best products. If you purchase through our links, we may receive a commission. Our editorial team is independent and only endorses products we believe in.

Welcome to Snack Bar, where we're always in search of the platonic ideal of a tasty treat between mealtimes. And truly, is there any better snack than chips and salsa? No matter how delicious the entrées are when we're out for Mexican food, our favorite bite at the table is always a perfectly-salted chip.

So this month, we went hunting for the new kids on the block: the DTC chips and dips that would be at home at our very own Snack Bar Cantina. Unlike in our taste test of comfort foods, there really weren't any misfires – all the brands below stood out in one area or another.

Since you know we're not afraid to be blunt, you can take these as earnest recs. Let's raise our spicy margs in the air and cheers to some snack-based excellence.

We like

We don't like

CHIP, CHIP, HOORAY

Siete

Maiz Totopos Corn Tortilla Chips

$20/3 pack
$20/3 pack
Code:
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Credit: Siete

First up is Siete, named for the co-founder's family of seven who started her on her journey towards making real foods. Their products use high-quality ingredients to deliver "salud y sabor" – health and flavor – from grain-free tortilla chips to totopos made from organic corn. We sampled the latter and found all three flavors delicious, especially appreciating the oversized shape that ensured even the broken chips were still satisfying. The Sea Salt variety was well salted, the Lime flavor didn't taste synthetic, and the Blue Corn had a heft we all enjoyed. All in all, they felt the most "classic" of the bunch, though touches like frying in avocado oil made them decidedly of-the-moment.

We like

We don't like

Somos

Unusually Thick & Crunchy White Corn Tortilla Chips

$10/2-pack
$10/2-pack
Code:
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Credit: Somos

This product was a bit of an oddball, but still addictive in its own right. More than the other chips, these tasted like real tortillas – they had a slightly charred flavor reminiscent of tortillas burnt on a griddle. But we were all surprised to learn that they were made from white corn: we were absolutely positive they were flour-based based on the flavor. For flour tortilla lovers, that's great news, but Team Corn will be glad to know that the corn is nixtamalized (aka bathed in a lime solution that enhances the corn's nutritional value). If these weren't our #1 choice when it comes to flavor, the texture is a pretty solid selling point: they're thick enough to come out of that salsa bowl still intact.

We like

We don't like

Tia Lupita

Cactus Tortilla Chips

$11.99/2-pack
$11.99/2-pack
Code:
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Credit: Tia Lupita

Depending on your familiarity with Mexican cuisine, cactus might sound like the world's most random ingredient to spotlight here. Yet cactus features prominently in many Mexican dishes, making it a natural pinch hitter when it comes to grain-free chips. It does, however, impart a very different texture, so our team was split when it came to this product. Some of us thought they were a little bland; others enjoyed them a lot, comparing them to Pop Chips. It's best to adjust expectations and not expect a traditional tortilla chip here, but grain-free eaters should definitely give them a go.

We like

We don't like

Vista Hermosa

Totopos Tortilla Chips

$5.99
$5.99
Code:
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Credit: Fresh Direct

Last but not least is our favorite of the bunch: Vista Hermosa's crunchy, salty, unimpeachable totopos. While the Blue Corn chips with "flash of lime" were tasty, covered in a lime powder that gave them real tang, and the spicy Red Corn chips had an earthiness we all were won over by, the true masterpiece is the humble Sea Salted variety. It's everything you could want in a tortilla chip: from the undeniably corn-centric taste to the ideal thickness and size, we devoured the entire bag without hesitation.

We like

We don't like

Coupon:
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Siete
Coupon:
Coupon:
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Tia Lupita
Coupon:
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Vista Hermosa
Siete
$20/3 pack
$20/3 pack
Code:
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Tia Lupita
$11.99/2-pack
$11.99/2-pack
Code:
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Vista Hermosa
$5.99
$5.99
Code:
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Here at TQE we try to only recommend DTC products, but these are so good that we're breaking our cardinal rule. We're linking to FreshDirect above for online ordering purposes, but if you'd rather find them in person you can do so using their store locator. The good news is, they're already in many Whole Foods locations, and are quickly expanding into more specialty stores. We'll officially be their hype machine until you can find them everywhere you go.

The winning chip: Vista Hermosa

NOW LET'S GET SAUCY

Credo

Cashew Queso

Prices vary by store
Prices vary by store
Code:
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Credit: Credo

For whatever reason, most of the new, buzzy sauces were also available in-store only. That hasn't stopped Credo's Cashew Queso from getting huge word-of-mouth response in the plant-based community, and when the product tastes this much like cheese it's easy to see why. We missed the Velveeta-esque consistency of a traditional queso dip, and found this one a little runnier than we'd hoped, but there's no denying the flavor marks for a vegan product. It's a fantastic alternative as far as queso is concerned, and one we're already recommending to our friends who abstain.

We like

We don't like

Mesa Salsa Co.

Medium Green Salsa

Prices vary by store
Prices vary by store
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Credit: Whole Foods

Available nationwide in Whole Foods, Mesa Salsa was founded by a mother-daughter duo inspired by their grandmothers' recipes. Though the front of the Medium Green Salsa tub advertises that it's made with "fresh California avocados," it doesn't have the thick, creamy texture we associate with avocado sauces. That's not a knock against it whatsoever: we were super impressed with how fresh-tasting and herby this salsa was, with the tomatillo, cilantro and serrano pepper coming through loud and clear. Spice lovers might want to seek out something with a little more kick, but this is a crowd-pleasing green salsa that we were happy to chow down on.

We like

We don't like

Siete

Botana Sauces

$26/4-pack
$26/4-pack
Code:
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Credit: Siete

First, a quick vocab lesson: in Spanish, botana can refer to a wide spectrum of foods, from chips out of a bag to small plate appetizers. It's no surprise, then, that the Botana Sauces from Siete are super wide-ranging: their Chamoy is meant for fruits and cocktail rims; the spicy Habanero for quesadillas and wings; Jalapeño for chips and other salty snacks; and the Traditional Botana Sauce is great for tostadas, potatoes and/or mixed into a bowl of chili. It's hard to pick a favorite when they've all got different strengths, but we were most pleasantly surprised by the tart, tangy Chamoy sauce. Pairing that with a fruit-flavored margarita sounds like our idea of heaven.

We like

We don't like

Somos

Cuatro Chiles Taqueria Salsa

$8.50/2-pack
$8.50/2-pack
Code:
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Credit: Somos

If you thought all chili peppers were created equal, think again: each of the cuatro chiles in this salsa brings something to the table. The combination of ancho, serrano, chile de arbol and chile peppers yields a salsa that's incredibly complex, with an almost fruity flavor that offsets the punch of spice. Every time we went back for another dip we found a new tasting note, loving the contrasts that added up to some unbelievable balance. This was a perfect, classically red salsa that still packed some unexpected tricks up its sleeve.

We like

We don't like

Coupon:
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At
Credo
Coupon:
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At
Mesa Salsa Co.
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Siete
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Somos
Credo
Prices vary by store
Prices vary by store
Code:
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Mesa Salsa Co.
Prices vary by store
Prices vary by store
Code:
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Siete
$26/4-pack
$26/4-pack
Code:
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Somos
$8.50/2-pack
$8.50/2-pack
Code:
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The Winning Sauce: Somos Cuatro Chiles Taquería Salsa

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NEXT TIME ON…

Well friends, that's it for us this month at Snack Bar. We hope your carts are loaded up with chips and dips by now, and look forward to seeing you again soon. In the meantime, get your drinking hats on, because we'll be shouting out our favorite new RTD cocktails.

Shop The Edit

Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Siete
Coupon:
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Tia Lupita
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Vista Hermosa
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Credo
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Mesa Salsa Co.
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Siete
Coupon:
Shop Now
At
Somos

Additional Reading

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Snack Bar, Vol. 16: Fall Flavors

Snack Bar, Vol. 15: Popsicles for All

Snack Bar, Vol. 14: Road Trip Bites