Hacienda – St. Louis, MO

Neat cups, but I prefer my Margarita in a glass.

Hacienda Mexican Restaurant is well-known in the St. Louis area. It had been a long time since my wife and I last visited, but we happened to be in the area so we stopped in for dinner and a Margarita.

Hacienda claims they have been awarded St. Louis’ Favorite Margarita. When that was and who awarded it they don’t say, but I’ve noticed a lot of places claiming the have “the best” Margarita in St. Louis. They can’t all be, so I guess it is up to me to find out who is telling the truth! It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Hacienda has a large menu of Margaritas. So for this visit, I figured I’d just try their standard Margarita, called fittingly enough, “The Hacienda Margarita.” The first thing I noticed was that the Margarita was served in green plastic cups. I’m a little nitpicky about the way my Margaritas are served and plastic cups just make it seem like the place doesn’t take their Margaritas seriously. But the proof is in the pudding, so I wasn’t going to hold this against the Margarita depending on how it tasted.

With my first sip, I could tell immediately that this Margarita was made with a mix. Not that this was unexpected from a restaurant that serves a large variety of Margaritas. Usually the “standard” Margaritas are not top shelf. But I was hoping that St. Louis’ Favorite Margarita would be a bit more. The flavor was light and sweet, which made it easy to drink. However, the overall flavor was more fruity than citrus and there was a slightly bitter aftertaste. So it really wasn’t that great, although it wasn’t bad and I could see that people would like it as a refreshing drink on a hot day. I give The Hacienda Margarita a 7. However, I would like to return to Hacienda and sample some of their other Margaritas.