Archive for July 2014

A Margarita in an airport!

After our trip to California wine country, we traveled back with a stop over in the Phoenix airport. While there we looked for a place to grab a quick lunch. We just happened to find a Mexican placed called Sir Veza’s and then of course, I had to try a Margarita. A Margarita in an airport – who would have thunk it?

For a fast food airport restaurant, the food at Sir Veza’s was actually pretty good. The Margarita, while it tasted like it was obviously made with a mix, was pretty decent tasting. It was a little bit on the sweet side and a little bit of a bitter aftertaste. Given that, I rate the Margarita a 7, but for a Margarita fix in an airport it is worth trying.

The group we traveled with to wine country rented a house in a little town called Sebastopol. Located in this town was a restaurant called Zazu Kitchen that had been featured on the Travel Channel and Food Network. Zazu also has a farm where they grow much of their own food and raise farm animals, making the place definitively farm-to-table. So we decided to try the place out, because when would we be back?

Overall I liked the restaurant, although it was an unusually cold evening for late July (or maybe not for Northern California) so the open nature of the restaurant made the experience a little chilly. The food was very good overall, but not exceptional in my opinion. Fittingly, the Margarita I ordered was the same. Made with Fortaleza reposado tequila, it had a nice balance overall, but there was a bit of a strong orange sweet hit up front, as if there was maybe a little too much triple sec in the drink. The citrus flavor was nice but ultimately the orange flavor was distracting. So I give the Margarita I had that night at Zazu a 7.5.

This could be possibly the best Margarita in Napa.

After getting some sparkling wine at Domaine Chandon, our group decided to get some lunch. Someone in the group was familiar with a little place called Redd just blocks from the winery. I really had no idea what to expect, but it turned out to be one of the more pleasant surprises of our trip.

Our group bellied up to the bar and we were treated to an exceptional experience courtesy of our bartender Rob. As expected, he could make some great drinks, but he was also very familiar with the menu of the restaurant and recommended some very interesting appetizers. All the food was excellent. Redd is a real gem in the heart of Napa valley and if you are in the area you should definitely visit.

Now on to the Margarita. Again, the skill of the bartender Rob really made the drink. Watching him make all the drinks, he did something I’ve never seen another bartender do. He actually tasted each of the drinks he was making, using a little straw to draw out some of the drink by putting his finger on the end of the straw. Now that’s some quality control! There’s no way he’s serving a bad drink. On top of that, he asked all the right questions when it came to the Margarita I ordered. So that being said, he took my request that it be made with fresh lime juice, and added Cazadores reposado tequila, Cointreau, “a kiss” of agave nectar, and a floater of Grand Marnier.

My lovely wife and bartender Rob @ Redd

It certainly is nice to get a hand-crafted Margarita from a skilled bartender and this Margarita did not disappoint. It was fresh and light, well-balanced and delicious. Due to the Margarita having both Grand Marnier and Cointreau, it had just a little bit of an extra orange flavor than most Margaritas. This wasn’t a detraction however. The 8.5 I rate this Margarita is well-deserved. In fact, I ordered another!

The Millionaire Margarita wasn’t a million bucks.

After our lunch stop at Scoma’s, my wife and I decided to search out another Margarita in the city of San Francisco. Well, it was more me deciding that, but my wife happily went along. Unfortunately, we had no idea where to go. Let’s hear it for my iPhone, because a quick search found a restaurant called Las Margaritas nearby Scoma’s, so that’s where we went.

The restaurant looked and smelled great. I was somewhat disappointed that I had just eaten and couldn’t sample the menu. So much food, so little time! But at least I could sample a Margarita! Just to start, the bar at Las Margaritas was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many tequilas in one spot! The menu listed a “Millionaire Margarita” and at $28, I certainly hoped it tasted like a million bucks!

This Margarita was better

The ingredients in the Millionaire Margarita was Jose Cuervo Reserva De La Familia, 100 Years Grand Marnier, and fresh lime juice. Obviously the top-shelf liquors were probably the main cost in the drink. I really hoped this Margarita would blow my mind. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to its name. My first concern was that I saw no sweet ingredient listed in the Margarita. Predictably, the Margarita lacked any real sweetness. On the plus side, the remaining flavors were well-balanced with a nice citrus component. But without any sweet flavoring, the Margarita had too much “bite” to it. It was more of a tequila with lime flavor than what I consider a true Margarita. But it least it was high quality tequila and fresh lime juice. So I give the Millionaire Margarita from Las Margaritas only a 7, and that might be a little on the high side.

My wife chose to order a “top shelf” Margarita. She asked the bartender what his favorite tequila was and to make it with that. So her Margarita was made with Herradura silver along with Grand Marnier, fresh lime juice, as Las Margaritas mix. Overall, it had a much more balanced flavor than the Millionaire Margarita. It wasn’t overly sweet and was smooth to drink. It was a little bit on the a bitter side, however. So ironically, I thought the regular top shelf Margarita at Las Margaritas was better than their Millionaire Margarita, giving it a 7.5.

Still, if you’re in San Francisco and want to see a shire to tequila, make sure to stop by Las Margaritas and check out their bar!

My wife and I got the opportunity to travel to “wine country” this summer with a group of friends. Obviously we would drink a lot of wine on this trip, but I was definitely going to take the opportunity to test out some Margaritas wherever I could.

We flew into San Francisco the day before we would drive up to Napa and Sonoma so we had some time to do some sightseeing and grab a bite to eat. My wife is a seafood fanatic, so we made a point to try a seafood restaurant for lunch. Scoma’s was suggested as one of the premier seafood spots in the city. As we walked up to the restaurant, the fact that it was directly on a pier and had fresh seafood delivered off boats right to the restaurant seemed to confirm the recommendations!

Certainly, the food we had at Scoma’s was fresh and delicious. So if you’re into seafood and find yourself in San Francisco, plan to stop by Scoma’s. From what I hear, however, you should try to make a reservation! All that being said, I was sure to try a Margarita. Unfortunately, the Margarita didn’t live up to the food. I noticed that the bar had Cazadores, so I requested a Margarita made with that tequila. The initial taste was tequila strong. I stirred it up and that helped to balance the flavors a bit, but it was still a little bitter. It just didn’t have enough citrus “pop” and it lacked in sweetness. I had a wedge of lime available so I squeezed it into the Margarita and that addition helped as well.

The good news is that Scoma’s Margarita is hand-made, so perhaps a different bartender would make a better Margarita, but for this day, the one I drank only rated a 6.5. Oh well, there would be more Margaritas to follow on this trip!

She’s a tall drink of … Margarita.

I had previously rated Edison’s Margarita Flight and I wasn’t all that impressed with it so on this particular visit, I was going to skip the Margarita tasting altogether (shocking, I know). However, I just happened to notice that Edison’s had a (new?) Margarita on their menu. Called the “Elevated Margarita”, it listed Patron Tequila, triple sec, lime juice, sweet & sour mix, orange juice, and an optional floater of Patron Citronge. With ingredients like that, there was no way I was skipping this Margarita!

The great news is that the Margarita stood up to its billing. Light and refreshing, it had great lime flavor and was not too sweet. All the flavors were well-balanced and I thoroughly enjoyed that drink. I give it an 8 overall and definitely recommend it to anyone who visits Edison’s. Assuming you come with your kids, why not take a break and treat yourself to a tasty Margarita?

Yes, that’s a comic book bar top. Totally 80’s!

If you grew up in the 80’s, you might be a fan of arcade games. I say “might” because as one who did grow up in the 80’s, I know that not everyone was a fan of video games. Guys who played video games back then were usually considered geeks. I like to say that I was into video games and computers before they were cool. As an example, when I left for college in 1992, none of my friends owned consoles or were even much interested in video games at all. When I got back from college, it seemed they all owned Playstations. Thanks guys. Anyway, I digress. Visiting Unkle Munkey’s Coin Club in Edwardsville, IL is like going back in time. It is a classic arcade combined with a bar. The establishment is owned by the same people who own Wang Gang Asian Eats (home of the Yum Yum Boom Boom Margarita) so I had high hopes that I would find my own personal nirvana among 80’s video games and Margaritas.

As far as the Margarita went, it was a little bit on the tart side. I could tell it was made with a mix, not that I necessarily expected a handcrafted concoction. All that being said, it was still tasty overall, but not just not up to the standard of a top-shelf Margarita. I’d give it a 7, as while it wasn’t necessarily a great Margarita, it was definitely satisfying enough after some intensive 80’s arcade action!

Dos Lunas Reposado on the left, Dos Lunas Silver on the right.

Since I last wrote about the Margaritas at El Maguey in Edwardsville, IL, I’ve revisited there several times. I’ve didn’t write about those visits because I didn’t think there was necessarily anything much different to say. Since that time I’ve expanded my Margarita palette significantly and when my family decided to stop by again, I thought it would be fun to mix it up a little bit.

To be honest, the last couple of times I visited El Maguey, I felt that the quality of their Margarita had slipped just a little bit. Now it may just be me, having tasted some really excellent Margaritas over the past year, but regardless I was looking for something special this time. I just happened to notice a table advertisement for Dos Lunas tequila, which I really liked when I had a chance to buy a bottle several months earlier. So I asked the server if they could make a Margarita with Dos Lunas. They said they could so I ordered one with Dos Lunas reposado and my wife got one with silver Dos Lunas so we could compare.

There wasn’t a whole lot of difference between the two, although I could tell just a slight bit more of a “heavier” flavor to the Margarita with the reposado tequila. I’d need to taste the two tequilas straight to see if there is a significant different between them. Overall I wasn’t as happy with these Margaritas as I’d like. I’d probably give them about a 7.5. I’m really starting to lean towards a distinct fresh lime juice flavor, and I’m getting really particular if I’m served Margaritas that are clearly mix-based. If it is going to be a mix, it needs to be an exceptionally tasty mix. That is the blessing and curse of writing a Margarita blog, I guess!

During the week of the 4th of July, my family went to spend some time with friends at Lake Norfolk in Arkansas, just south of the Missouri border. It took about 5 hours to drive there from where we live and we were hungry when we finally arrived. There weren’t a whole lot of dining options in the area to choose from, so we decided to try out Colton’s Steak House and Grill. We just happened to see a handful of Colton’s restaurants on our trip down, so we were somewhat curious. It was obviously a chain, but I had never driven through southern Missouri before so it was new to me. From what I saw of the various Colton’s along the way, they seemed to have a “Texas” feel so I thought maybe there would be a small chance that it might have some Tex-Mex fare and perhaps a Margarita to match.

For a chain-style steak house, I must say that I liked Colton’s overall. The food was good, the restaurant had a fun atmosphere, it was clean, and the servers were attentive. I also got excited because their menu highlighted several different types of Margaritas. I tried their “Tombstone Rita”, which they claim is “Colton’s Signature Drink”. My expectations were tempered, however, because the description of the drink was, “a mix of Cuervo Gold tequila, Grand Marnier and Sweet & Sour”. I know Cuervo Gold is not 100% Agave and Sweet & Sour is not fresh lime juice. But I also know that there are some fairly tasty mixes out there so I hoped for the best.

Overall, the Tombstone Rita was very average. It wasn’t bad, but it definitely wasn’t great. I could definitely tell it was made with a mix and it was a little too acidic. For that reason I rate it only a 6.5 out of 10.