Posts by Marcel Brown

For Cinco de Mayo, I wanted to visit a place we hadn’t been in probably 2 years. Canyon Cafe is a Southwest-themed restaurant with top-notch food and tasty Margaritas. I remembered that they had a great house Margarita they called the “Grand Canyon”. So we ordered a pitcher this afternoon.

Incidentally, Canyon Cafe claims they have the best Margaritas in St. Louis. Our waitress claimed that they actually won some contests with their speciality Margaritas. Plus they have many more house Margaritas. So I’ll be back to sample another one of Canyon Cafe’s Margaritas soon enough.

The Grand Canyon Margarita is made with cranberry, lime, and orange juice for the tart/citrus flavors plus Prickly Pear Cactus Juice to add sweetness. I could tell the cranberry juice adds some extra tartness, which I really like. The Prickly Pear Cactus Juice adds a particular sweetness that is unique to any Margarita I’ve ever tasted. Overall, the flavors are well balanced and the Margarita is very easy and pleasant to drink. My only nitpick is that there isn’t much of a tequila flavor in this Margarita, but it’s only a slight detraction. I give it an 8 out of 10.

Like I said, I’ll be back. There are too many other Margaritas to ignore at Canyon Cafe!

I seek out Margaritas everywhere I go, so it should not be surprising at this point that most of my reviews have been from non-Mexican restaurants. But a Margarita at an Asian restaurant? Yes, it exists!

Wang Gang Asian Eats in Edwardsville, IL is not your normal Asian restaurant. Both the decor and food are distinctly upscale, but it is not pretentious by any means. The restaurant encourages a casual atmosphere even though the food is far and above among the best Asian I’ve ever tasted. The owners are extremely creative and have developed a unique drink menu that includes an Asian-themed Margarita, the YumYum BoomBoom. Japanese Sour Apple Schnapps takes the place of the usual citrus flavors, adding just the right amount of tartness that the citrus usually handles. All the flavors are well-balanced and it is definitely a premium-quality Margarita. Even though it is not a traditional Margarita, I still give it 8.5 out of 10.

After our evening at Five Bistro, my wife and I visited a friend who was hanging out at the Thurman Grill. So of course I had to try yet another Margarita that night!

Interestingly, the bartender at Thurman Grill is named Michael Jackson. Yes, that’s his name. I’m sure he’s heard every joke under the sun, so don’t go in there thinking you’re going you’re going to be all funny. But back to the Margarita. It had a good lemon-lime flavor, which I appreciated. However, it didn’t really have much in the way of sweetness and therefore it almost tasted weak. So overall, even though it had good citrus flavor, without the sweetness to balance, it just wasn’t a great Margarita. 6.5 out of 10 for me. But if you’re in the area, The Thurman Grill is a nice little neighborhood bar and grill, even if the Margarita wasn’t a “Thriller”. Sorry, had to do it!

Five Bistro is an amazing little restaurant located on “The Hill” area in St. Louis. If you are familiar with The Hill, you think of Italian food. However, Five Bistro is not an Italian restaurant. It is fine dining featuring a tasting menu. My wife and I love tasting menus and we are always on the lookout for a restaurant with a good tasting menu.

Of course, I needed to try the Margarita here, as I do with all new restaurants. Unfortunately for me, this was another example of a tequila-heavy Margarita. While it was a very good tequila, I’m just not a fan of a Margarita with strong tequila flavor. So the Margarita I had this night was only a 6 out of 10 for me. As always, if you are a fan of tequila you may rate this higher.

But in the grand scheme of things, Five Bistro is so good that I would recommend going even if the Margarita isn’t the best.

My family continued our weekend visit to the Chicago area by revisiting a restaurant we had just eaten at in November. While on a business trip/family getaway to downtown Chicago a few months back, the hotel concierge recommended we try the restaurant Vermilion. We were so happy we did, because we loved everything about the restaurant from the food to the decor to the service. As they describe it, Vermilion is a “global melding of Indian and Latin American cuisines”. My family loves both Indian and Latin American cuisine along with fine dining, so we were definitely going to come back to Vermilion when we returned to the Chicago area. This time I was going to try a Margarita as well.

The only Margarita they had on their menu was called “Lime Ginger Margarita”. For such an interesting name, it was a fairly plain tasting Margarita. I would classify this drink more as a tequila with Margarita flavor. However the tequila was good and not too overpowering, so it wasn’t bad to drink. But overall, this just wasn’t in line with what I expect a good Margarita to be, so I only give it a 6 out of 10.

However, if you are in Chicago I highly recommend you visit Vermilion anyway as the food is simply outstanding. And if you do try the Lime Ginger Margarita, let me know how you like it. Maybe I just had one on an off-night.

My family took a short trip to the Chicago area to visit my sister. While there, we decided to stop by a nice little restaurant we had eaten at previously. Of course I wanted to try their Margarita, but I wasn’t expecting much, as this wasn’t a Mexican restaurant nor did I have any reason to believe that this place had a good Margarita. I’m happy to report that I was very pleasantly surprised!

The Bank restaurant is located in Wheaton, IL, the small Chicago suburb where my sister lives. As I mentioned, we had visited this restaurant on a previous trip a few years ago. We liked it enough to try it again this time around. What we didn’t know was that the original executive chef, Patrick Cassata, had returned. For those of you who don’t know (and I didn’t until this night), Chef Cassata is pretty well-known and actually appeared on a season of Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay. The last time we visited, we had lunch. This time, we were there for dinner. While we liked it last time, the restaurant seemed to be on a higher level this time – everything from service to food quality. The Margarita was on another level as well.

Our server, Matt, was exceptional all around. Make sure to ask for him if you go to The Bank. He was the one who made the Margarita for me. I usually don’t get surprised when I first taste a Margarita, but this was a very unique drink to be sure. It had an remarkably smooth flavor with a nice tequila finish. It’s hard to describe, but it had a “soft” feel when it first hit your mouth, followed by nice full flavors of sweetness, citrus, and tequila. I could tell that this Margarita didn’t skimp on the tequila, but it was blended so well that it didn’t overpower the other flavors (be careful – the tequila will sneak up on you!). In fact, none of the flavors overpowered. It was exceedingly well-balanced. The Margarita was so unique, that I asked about the recipe. Matt explained that the restaurant makes their own sour mix. I wasn’t getting the recipe that night! I give The Bank’s Margarita an 8.5 out of 10. I would have given it a 9 if it only had a little more citrus flavor – because that’s the way I like it. Otherwise, it was a very unique, excellent Margarita and I recommend it to everyone that can visit the Wheaton area.

One would not normally think that a good Margarita could be found in an Italian pizzeria, much less one in Maryville, IL. However, Alfonzo’s Pizzeria is actually known in my area for having very good Margaritas. I’ve had the pleasure of sampling them a few times in the past. And on this particular Sunday, I had another opportunity to do so.

Since I was with a big party, we ordered a couple of pitchers. The Margaritas here are very well balanced and have a great overall flavor. Again, one would not expect such a good Margarita from an pizza place, but I can definitely say Alfonzo’s serves a very good Margarita. My only nitpick is that they are slightly on the sweet side. I’d prefer they were just a little less sweet so to not mask the citrus and tequila flavors. But it’s a small issue. Overall I give Alfonzo’s Margarita a 7 out of 10. Plus I like to say where else can one get a Margarita with a Margherita pizza?

There are certain places that aren’t Mexican nor are they particularly known for Margaritas, but a good bartender can make all the difference. The historic Tenderloin Room in St. Louis (located in the Chase Park Plaza) is known for many things, including being the favorite St. Louis hangout of the Rat Pack and many stars throughout the years, but are probably best known for their Pepperloin a la Tenderloin with Cognac sauce. They may not be known for Margaritas, but they do have an excellent bar and bartenders. That’s probably because The Tenderloin Room, owned by Dino and Jules Karagiannis, is a family-run business and their daughters also work the bar.

My wife and I were out on an impromptu late dinner with an out-of-town friend. Mary made my Margarita this night, and I believe she has made the last several ones I have had at The Tenderloin Room. Among my wife and her female friends, The Tenderloin Room is also known for excellent Cosmopolitans.  I usually order either a Margarita or an Amaretto Sour, as the Amaretto Sours are excellent here, made with Disaronno, one of my favorite liqueurs … but I digress.

Anyway, Mary makes a Margarita that is strong on tequila flavor. It has a mellow citrus zestiness (is “zestiness” a real word?), but I personally prefer more citrus, and a touch more sweetness to balance the tequila out a little more. I should probably let her know that, but I’m usually too busy enjoying my steak or carrot cake to take a walk down to the bar! Overall, I would say the Margaritas here are a 7, but if you are a fan of tequila flavor in your Margarita, then you may rate it higher.

If you are a steak fan, or just a fan of fine dining, you must make sure to visit The Tenderloin Room. Dress up a bit, arrive early, and sample some drinks from the bar before your meal. Oh, and let them know that Marcel (and Danelle) sent you!

As fate would have it, the day after this blog was conceived, I was invited to a friend’s birthday celebration at Tequila Mexican Restaurant in South St. Louis County. Another opportunity to sample a margarita! I had heard good things about this restaurant before, so I was excited to give their margarita a try.

Drinking from a round of pitchers, the margarita was very well balanced. It had good flavors overall with none being overpowering. I would say this was an excellent margarita. I would have preferred if it had just a little more natural citrus flavor. Overall, I give it an 8 out of 10.

A couple of side notes about Tequila Mexican Restaurant: the chips and salsa were very good. Unfortunately, the guacamole was overpowered by onion on this night. The food was good overall and the atmosphere was festive. If you are in the South County St. Louis area and have a hankering for Mexican food and/or margaritas, I would say it is worth your while to stop in.

It was on this night, December 28, 2012, that this blog was conceived during a conversation with my wife over dinner. So I got started right away and ordered a margarita!

We were at one of our favorite restaurants in the St. Louis area, The Crossing, located in Clayton, MO. Our favorite server Douglas – he’s Scottish so pronounce his name with a Scottish accent please – made the margarita for me. Douglas is a fantastic server so make sure you ask for him when you make reservations at The Crossing. He said the margarita he made was done with an añejo tequila, but I didn’t get the brand.

The margarita itself was fairly plain. It didn’t have much in the way of sweetness or citrus flavor. However, it did have a good tequila flavor. But I prefer more sweetness and definitely more citrus flavor in my margaritas. Therefore I give this margarita a 6 out of 10.

But let’s face it, The Crossing isn’t known for their margaritas. They are known for fabulous food, however! My wife and I always go for the Chef’s Tasting Menu. We love tasting menus because we get to sample so many yummy things!

On this night, I had several extremely tasty courses. If you haven’t already had Egg Raviolio, especially at one of Chef Jim Fiala’s restaurants (I’ve had this dish at both The Crossing and Acero), you’ve got to try it. I admit that a runny egg inside a ravioli doesn’t exactly sound appetizing at first, but do not knock it until you try it! I absolutely love the beet salad here, and the beef tenderloin was excellent. The last few times I’ve been to this restaurant I’ve had the Warm Chocolate Tort for desert. Why? Simply put the Warm Chocolate Tort is heaven on a plate.

So maybe the margarita only got a 6 out of 10, but the restaurant itself gets a 10!