Posts by Marcel Brown

The Twisted Tree Steakhouse is a popular place in St. Louis among those who are familiar with it. The food is great along with the service and atmosphere. On this particular night, I (not surprisingly) decided to try one of their Margaritas.

The first thing that I noticed about the Margarita was the way it was served. The bartender had put a small wooden skewer with a tiny olive through a lime wedge and placed it on top of the glass. I do not believe I had ever seen a Margarita served like this before. As for the Margarita itself, it had a nice flavor although slightly on the tart side. It was well-balanced and pleasant otherwise and I’d say was slightly above average for a Margarita, with my rating of a 7.5.

Gringo is a recently opened Mexican restaurant in downtown St. Louis. Of course, I had to try it at my first opportunity!

To start, the food at Gringo is excellent. They are not a traditional Mexican restaurant, but rather a little more upscale on the food and decor, while retaining a casual atmosphere. Similarly, their self-named Gringo Margarita is also excellent. It has a really good tequila flavor with a good balance of lime and sweet flavors. It is a little less sweet than many Margaritas which isn’t a bad thing at all. Overall this is a great Margarita and I highly recommend it. I rate it an 8.5.

El Nino is a small little Mexican restaurant in Fairview Heights, IL. I would have never really noticed it except that a group of us were recommended it by a native Mexican friend. Plus the name was really cool (and reminds me of the “El Nino” skit on Saturday Night Live by Chris Farley). So why not?

Of course I ordered a Margarita. I chose their house Margarita and it had a good citrus flavor. While it was a little on the sweet side, it was fairly balanced overall. Unfortunately I could tell they did not use real tequila, but rather a mixto like Jose Cuervo Gold or similar. That being said, it was a good, if average Margarita that I give a 6.5. And hey, they served it in a fun cactus-style glass!

If nothing else, the Margarita I had this day was very special because it was the day that the city of St. Louis celebrated the Stanley Cup Championship of the St. Louis Blues hockey team! My girlfriend and I had spent the day in downtown St. Louis for the celebration and ended up that evening for some sushi at Shogun Steakhouse and Sushi Bar. Of course, what better way to celebrate than with a Margarita?

If you haven’t read my earlier reviews where I had a Margarita along with sushi, you may be a bit surprised to find that I quite enjoy pairing a Margarita with sushi. But trust me, it works! Anyway, the Margarita from Shogun that night was good, but very strong! All the particular flavors of citrus, sweetness, saltiness, and tequila all came across really powerfully. While it was a good, bold Margarita, it may have come across a little too strong! I give it a 7.5, although if you enjoy a really bold flavor in your Margarita, it may rate higher for you.

A new Mexican restaurant named Rio Grande MX Cocina had recently opened up in our area. Of course, out of duty and devotion I ventured out to try this new location so that I could share my experience with all of you out there. It’s a rough life, but someone has got to do it!

Rio Grande presents as an average Mexican restaurant, although the decor is a little above the norm and adds to the atmosphere. The food is good, if fairly standard. They offer a large variety of flavored Margaritas, but not being a huge fan of flavored Margaritas, I ordred their “regular lime” variety. Not surprisingly, for a fairly average Mexican restaurant, the Margarita was also fairly average. It was good, but nothing special. So I give the Margaritas at Rio Grande a 7.

I stopped for lunch at a place called Edgewild in Edwardsville, IL. Being that it was still my Birthday month, I went ahead and ordered myself a Margarita. Well, let’s be honest. I would have ordered one anyway!

The good news was that my server asked my preference of tequila. This is always a good sign! The Margarita had a nice flavor, but it was a little bitter on the finish. It had a good citrus taste, lightly sweet, but not much discernible tequila flavor. The worst part of the experience was that the heavy salt on the rim (as you can see in the picture) collected at the bottom of the glass which made some of the sips too salty. This is why I usually order my Margaritas without salt on the rim. I don’t think that the salt adds any particular enhancement to a good Margarita and it usually just covers up the flavor for me. Plus if the bartender isn’t well versed in how to salt a rim properly, salt can end up at the bottom of the glass as it did with this particular Margarita. So I would give this particular Margarita a 6. However, I do like Edgewild and would return for the food and I would give their Margarita another try.

I have been to this restaurant several times before, however it was previously named Five Bistro. From my understanding, the head chef bought the restaurant from the previous owners and renamed it J. Devoti Trattoria after himself. For the most part it is the same experience, with excellent food, service, and atmosphere. Having dinner here once again, I wanted to see if the Margarita was as good as it had been before.

I am very happy to report I was not disappointed. It was an excellent Margarita with a well-balanced flavor, great citrus taste, and a nice sweetness to it. If I was being nitpicky, I would have preferred a touch more sweetness and for the tequila to stand out a bit more, but otherwise it was a great drink. I give the Margarita at J. Devoti Trattoria that night an 8.5.

Black Diamond Margarita at Chevy’s Fresh Mex

It was my birthday celebration and some friends took me out to Chevy’s Fresh Mex in O’Fallon IL to celebrate. So I took the opportunity to sample several Margaritas on this night. Yes, I had already had a Margarita earlier this day at Shooter’s. But no, I did not fully drink every single Margarita I’m about to talk about at Chevy’s … my friends let me take tastes of theirs so I could compare.

First off, I tried the Black Diamond Margarita. The ingredients were Herradura Silver Tequila, Hennessy, Patrón Citrónge, and black lava salt rim served up with a side shaker. It certainly sounded interesting so I gave it a try as my first Margarita of the night! It was well-balanced with a sweet flavor profile up front. Given the quality liquors, it went down nice and smooth. I’d definitely recommend trying it with a rating of an 8.5.

Chevy’s Cadillac Margarita

Next I tasted their Cadillac Margarita. I’m usually not a huge fan of Cadillac Margaritas because Grand Marnier is not my favorite orange liqueur. However, since a friend ordered it, I went ahead and tried the Margarita, but left the Grand Marnier shot for them. The presentation was nice as it was served in a glass that literally said “Cadillac Margarita”. I guess Chevy’s is pretty proud of this Margarita! Overall, I liked this Margarita. It had a nice citrus taste although a little on the tart side and I could taste that it had triple sec in it, possibly Grand Marnier. Whether it was Grand Marnier or some other type of triple sec, I prefer Patrón Citronge as I feel it blends more smoothly with a Margarita as compared to French orange liqueurs like triple secs. Still it was a good experience, so I give Chevy’s Cadillac Margarita a 7.

The House Margarita at Chevy’s Fresh Mex

Next I decided to try Chevy’s House Margarita. I like to try house Margaritas when possible to see what a place’s basic Margarita is like. Chevy’s version was well-balanced, slightly sweet, with good citrus flavor, but not a lot of tequila flavor. It was very tasty overall (and it came with a Mexican flag!) so I give it a 7.5.

Chevy’s Patrón Perfect Margarita

Next up was the Patrón Perfect Margarita. As mentioned, I’m a big fan of Patrón Orange Citronge orange liqueur and this one was made with it, along with Patrón silver tequila, fresh orange juice, and sweet & sour. I was a little concerned about the use of sweet & sour but I wanted to try it anyway. The good news is that the Patrón Perfect Margarita from Chevy’s was well-balanced and smooth with a good sweetness and orange flavor. It also had more of an acidic flavor that made it taste like it was made with fresh lime juice. Perhaps Chevy’s sweet and sour isn’t actually a mix but made with lime juice? Regardless I really liked it and rate it an 8.

The Big Daddy Caddy at Chevy’s Fresh Mex

Finally, my friends ordered me the Big Daddy Caddy, which the menu states they limit to one per guest. As I stated before, I’m not a big fan of Grand Marnier and this Margarita comes with a mini bottle of it on the side, but this particular Margarita was made with Don Julio tequila, of which I am a big fan. So I “reluctantly” agreed to let my friends buy me one, which I also shared since I am a kind and generous human being. First I tried the Margarita without adding any Grand Marnier to it. It was tart but otherwise had a good balance of flavors. And of course, I love Don Julio tequila so it was pretty good. I give it a 7. Then I added the Grand Marnier as suggested by the server. As expected it added more orange sweetness to balance the tartness of the base Margarita. That was fine, but I just don’t really like the flavor of Grand Marnier as I think it has a “wang” to it. So plus and minus and I still give the Big Daddy Caddy a 7 with or without the Grand Marnier.

Overall I think the Margaritas at Chevy’s are really well made and the food is really good as well. I highly recommend sampling their variety of Margaritas and find out which one is your favorite!

I was out for lunch and ended up at Shooter’s Bar & BBQ in O’Fallon, IL. It is definitely a sports bar and as such, they really featured a variety of beers on their menu. But I wasn’t in the mood for beer, so of course I opted for a Margarita.

The Margarita I had that day was light and refreshing with a slight taste of carbonation. On the downside, it wasn’t full flavored so it wasn’t one I would necessarily recommend to fans of Margaritas. It was tart, lightly sweet, and some tequila flavor does come through. If you aren’t in the mood for beer and simply want a light drink that reminds you of a Margarita this would work, but for me it wasn’t a great Margarita. I rate this a 6.

Besides the Margarita, Shooter’s is a fun place to go for a sports bar with good food and lots of TVs.

I was meeting a business associate for lunch and we decided to try a Mexican restaurant that had a good reputation. I had never heard of El Mexiquense before, but I found that for a smaller restaurant, it was attached to a Mexican grocery story and the food was authentic.

Of course I ordered a Margarita. I was very curious what I would get, as an authentic Mexican restaurant isn’t a guarantee they will serve a great Margarita. In fact, sometimes they seem to go “overboard” with the flavors as if they are trying to stand out from other places. In this case, the Margarita was good. It was fairly sweet but otherwise the drink was flavorful and pleasant to drink. The stronger sweetness had a tendency to hide the tequila flavor, but I could tell it had a good amount of tequila, especially on the finish. I give the Margarita I had this afternoon a 7.5.