Reviews

My wife and I are foodies. Let’s just put that out there, in case you haven’t already figured it from reading this blog! In fact, my wife just started her own food blog recently, so please check it out! Being foodies we like to explore new places when we can. Niche restaurant in Clayton, MO is known as one of the top foodie spots in the St. Louis area. We had been wanting to try Niche for a long time but the timing was just never right. Luckily, things lined up and we were able to make reservations and finally see if Niche was worth the wait.

Niche definitely served some amazing food. From what we sampled that night, we can see why Niche has such a good reputation. The thing that made Niche stand apart from other restaurants was the uniqueness of the way the food was prepared. I would describe the presentation as being very ornamental at times, and I could tell the chefs were very skilled at combining interesting ingredients and flavors. However, I will say that based on the dishes we had that night, Niche was not necessarily better than our other favorites like The Crossing or Five Bistro. At some point we will try Niche again, but it won’t take us away from our usual favorites.

Of course, I tried a Margarita while I was at Niche. We were sitting close to the bar so I could see them making our drinks. My Margarita was made with Milagro tequila and I believe fresh lime juice. The flavor of the Margarita was very good, with the only real nitpick I have being that it was just slightly less sweet than I like. But overall, I give the Margarita at Niche an 8.

The “Elite” Margarita

We have some friends that live in a subdivision with a country club. They invited us out to dinner at “The Bistro” inside the country club and as usual, I wanted to sample a Margarita . They actually had two different types of Margaritas that the country club offered, so of course I needed to try both.

The first was called the “Elite” and was made with Patron tequila. Overall, it was a tasty Margarita. However, it did have a little bit of a bitter flavor up front and was a little more “fruity” flavored than I would normally like. So I give it a 7.5.

The glass may be curvy, but the Margarita is “skinny”

The country club also offered a “skinny” Margarita for those who are counting calories. The good news is that it was made with fresh lime juice, along with club soda. The bad news is that without much of a sweet component (as one would expect from a “skinny”) the lime flavor was overpowering. There wasn’t the balance of citrus and sweet flavors that a normal Margarita would have. But again, this is an attempt at a low-calorie Margarita so I can’t really knock it too much. However, I think they could probably add a low-calorie sweetener without really adding many calories. For a test, our friend had a packet of Truvia sweetener in her purse. Truvia is mostly made from Stevia, which is an all-natural, zero-calorie sweetener. I mixed in the packet of Truvia into the “skinny” and that made all the difference in the world. The sweetness balanced the tartness of the lime juice and it was actually a very good Margarita after that. The “skinny” Margarita at the Sunset Hills Country Club is tricky to rate because it isn’t a normal Margarita. So I’ll refrain from a specific rating, but I’ll say that if you are after a normal Margarita, then you probably won’t like it unless you add some sweetener to it. However, if you really like lime juice and club soda and are watching your calories, then it’s worth a try.

Mission Taco narrowly missed being a stop on my recent Margarita Run. I’ve read many good reviews about the restaurant and the Margaritas they serve, so Mission Taco was on my short list. Since I couldn’t fit it in on the Margarita Run, I wanted to try Mission Taco as soon as I could and so for Father’s Day, off we went!

I wasn’t expecting the a la carte, family style method of serving tacos at Mission Taco, but I liked it. This allowed my family and I to sample many different flavors. The variety of tacos served was distinctive and they were all very good. If you are a taco connoisseur, you definitely need to stop by Mission Taco.

True to the reviews I had read, the Margarita I was served was very good. It had a nicely balanced flavor and was light and refreshing. The only nitpick I had was that there was a slight bitter taste up front. But overall I would give the Margarita an 8.

Yes, it’s a plastic cup, but it is a baseball game.

They serve Margaritas at a baseball game? Why, yes. At least in the party suites at Busch Stadium in St. Louis they do. I was lucky enough to get invited to a friend’s 50th birthday party which happened to be in a party suite at Busch Stadium. As it turned out, it was the last game of a 3-game interleague series between the Cardinals and the Yankees. To boot, this was to be the last game that Derek Jeter would play in St. Louis (assuming the Yankees and Cardinals don’t meet in the World Series). However, the Yankees chose not to play Derek Jeter that game. WTF, Yankees? Thanks a lot.

Oh well, at least I got to try a Margarita at the ballpark. Of course, I wasn’t expecting much, given that beer is the traditional drink at baseball games. That and the menu specified that a mix was used for the Margarita. However, the menu also stated that they used Camarena tequila, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites. All that being said, the flavor of the Margarita, while not exactly top quality, was actually pretty tasty for a mix. Overall, I give the Margarita at Busch Stadium a 7.

By the way, here is my daughter singing a song about the St. Louis Cardinals!

After a Margarita-soaked weekend, some people wondered if I would be able to drink another Margarita any time soon. Fools! I will sample a Margarita any place, any time. Especially the day before my birthday.

I went for lunch with my wife and some friends to Jimmy’s on the Park Café in Clayton, MO. If I recall correctly, I had a tomato bisque soup to start – along with a Margarita of course. The tomato bisque soup was very flavorful and tasty. The Margarita was tasty, but not top-notch. While I like citrus flavor, the initial taste hit with this Margarita was a “hard” tart. In other words, too much bite to the citrus instead of a balanced flavor. There was a nice aroma of lime when bringing up the glass to drink, but there was a slight hint of mix flavor when actually consuming the Margarita. So overall, I give it a 7.5, which is good but not great. However, I really enjoyed the overall meal at Jimmy’s and I will definitely be back at some point in the future.

After four stops and an extra large Margarita at Tower Taco, my group and I decided that we would cut it short and make our fifth stop, Diablitos Cantina, our last of the night. The first thing that we noticed was that Diablitos Cantina had a decor unlike any Mexican place I had ever been. It felt like an upscale nightclub. It was definitely the most festive atmosphere of the night. Almost everyone in our party said they wanted to go back for the full experience with a meal as well as Margaritas.

Our table ordered a couple of pitchers of Margaritas to share. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which particular Margaritas were ordered as that was handled for me, but I believe it was either the House Margarita or Top Shelf Margarita. I guess I’ll just need to go back and try both! Regardless, the Margarita we had that night was very good. Well balanced and tasty. My only comment was that the sweet component had a unique taste to it that I couldn’t quite identify. Because of that different taste, I believe the Margarita was a House Margarita, as I could see the flavor coming from orange juice and/or triple sec, but I’ll need to go back to verify. Regardless, I give the Margarita I had that night an 8.

Having finished my first Margarita run, I can say it was an extremely fun experience, unlike anything I’ve ever done before. Pretty much everyone in our party also said they had a great time. We visited places that were upscale like Milagro’s and Diablitos, traditional like Pubelo Solis, festive like Amigos Cantina, and unique like Tower Taco. St. Louis may not be necessarily known for great Margaritas, but I think I proved that this town can definitely hold its own. We’ll need to do another Margarita run in the future, so start letting me know where you think I should go next time!

After sampling a couple of Margarita pitchers at Pueblo Solis, I had strayed from my plan of only having one Margarita at each stop on my Margarita Run. Since a couple of pitchers gave us each a little more than one full Margarita, I had a little extra. No big deal, I thought. I’d just get back on track at stop #4, Tower Taco. Well, I was wrong.

As with the other stops on my Margarita Run, I chose Tower Taco because of the reviews I had read. But Tower Taco also sealed the deal with the description of their Top Shelf Margarita on their web site. It seemed they really knew what they were talking about with their Margarita so  Tower Taco made the short list. We ordered our Margaritas and waited with anticipation. We certainly were not disappointed.

The only problem, not that it would have been a problem any other time, was that Tower Taco doesn’t mess around with their Margaritas. They came in a big fish-bowl sized glass and they didn’t skimp on the tequila. So instead of “one” drink, this was more like two. The fact that the drink was a little heavy on the tequila was just a slight detraction from the flavor, and of course if you like stronger tequila flavor than it’s no distraction at all. I’d say this was a “good” strong and otherwise the flavors were well-balanced. The only issue for me and my group was that we were already 3+ Margaritas into the night so this big and strong Margarita was enough to push us into tipsy territory! Some of us tipsier than others, not that I’m naming names. Then as we were leaving, the owner found out it was my birthday and offered me a shot of their tequila. Of course it would have been impolite for me to refuse, so I accepted and downed what amounted to another drink. Predictably, several minutes later I was moving beyond the capacity for rational thought. Overall, I would give the Tower Taco Margarita a 7.5. Of course, I’ll need to go back to verify my rating.

The ride over to our next stop, Diablitos Cantina, was quite animated as most of us were more talkative than usual. I wonder why that was?

With two stops done, our Margarita Run moved on from Amigos Cantina to our third location of the night, Pueblo Solis. I read more than once that Pueblo Solis had very good Margaritas, so it made my short list of places to visit this night. Now it was time to find out if the Margaritas could hold up to the hype.

Given that our group was composed of 9 people and that the restaurant looked busy, we were pleasantly surprised that were seated very quickly. The staff was definitely very accommodating and friendly. Our group decided to order a couple of pitchers of their “premium” Margarita, which was made with Grand Marnier and El Set tequila. I find that when ordering Margaritas, ordering a pitcher is sometimes a toss-up. It’s hard to know if they are made with the same care as a an individual serving. I’m happy to say that the Margarita pitchers we had that night at Pueblo Solis were not disappointing. Overall they were very good with a nice flavor and balance. Plus they were served in a very cool cactus-style glass! The consensus among our group was that they weren’t as good as at Milagro’s, but better than at Amigos Cantina. I’d rate the Margarita at Pueblo Solis that night a 7.5.

After finishing off our pitchers, we moved on to our next location, Tower Taco.

Other than our first stop at Milagro’s Modern Mexican, I had never been to any of the places on my Margarita Run. I have been researching the best Margaritas in St. Louis and each of the locations on my list were chosen because they appeared on one or more “best of” lists and also because of reviews on sites like Yelp. Amigos Cantina in Kirkwood, MO was our second stop, claiming to have been voted #1 Margarita by St. Louis Magazine.

Never having been there, Amigos Cantina definitely had a nice festive atmosphere and the staff were all very accommodating. We were seated in their outdoor patio area, which was specifically designated as non-smoking. This was a nice touch as most outdoor seating in our area is seemingly there to accommodate smokers. It was a pleasant afternoon so it was nice to sit outside without needing to deal with cigarette smoke. From what we saw of the food on tables and in the menu, it will definitely be a place I’d like to go back to eat sometime soon.

The description of the Margarita sounded excellent: 100% Puro de Sauza Hornitos Plata Tequila, Cointreau, fresh Lime Juice, & premium Organic Agave Nectar. The menu claimed “They’re Strong, Tangy, and O’ so Delicious!” Interestingly, other than the specific tequila used, the ingredients were exactly the same as the Top Shelf Margarita at Milagro’s, so we were all excited to sample this Margarita.

Such a beautiful sight!

Amigos has a bar right on the outdoor patio so I got to see a little bit of the Margarita making process, although I didn’t get to see the ingredients being put together. Looking back, I really wish I could have seen the ingredients going in because unfortunately, the Margaritas we had that night were a bit disappointing. The flavor had what I could only describe as a bitter “twang”. It was noticeable on the initial taste as well as the finish. Unfortunately, this bitterness distracted from the overall enjoyment of the Margarita. I’m not sure if this is part of what they consider “strong” flavor, but it just didn’t seem right.

For the description of the ingredients listed, I can’t quite figure out where the bitter flavor could have come from. It tasted almost as if they had used a mix instead of fresh lime juice, but why would they do that? I’ll give Amigos the benefit of the doubt and assume they didn’t substitute a mix. Hornitos tequila has a good reputation and I wouldn’t think that the tequila would impart this type of bitter flavor. So the only possibility I can think of is that they overdid the Cointreau. Never having tasted Cointreau straight, I’m not sure of its flavor, but from what I’ve read Cointreau is drier than most orange liqueurs, so it is within the realm of possibility.

I waited to see what others in our party thought of the flavor before I said anything just to be sure it wasn’t just me. One person had a very strong opinion that it was a terrible Margarita. Most, however, concurred with my assessment: the Margarita wasn’t bad, but the overall flavor just wasn’t great. Had I been at Amigos eating a meal, the Margarita was good enough that I probably would have had a second, but I wouldn’t go back just for the Margarita itself. My hope is that perhaps this was just an off-night and that something went wrong with the preparation of the drinks. But for this night, I’d give the Margarita a 6.5. However, I’ll definitely go back to Amigos Cantina and give the Margarita another try as the food alone looks worth the visit.

Having finished our drinks, we went on to our third stop of the night, Pueblo Solis.

I have had a concept for a “Margarita Run” ever since I started this blog. Basically the idea was to get a group of friends together, visit several places in one night, and sample Margaritas everywhere we went. However, plans kept falling through so it had yet to materialize. However, May being my birthday month and this being my 40th birthday year (#yearof40), my wife and I made certain a Margarita run happened this time. I researched a lot of places in St. Louis and made a list of places we would visit this night. Our first stop was one of our favorites, Milagro Modern Mexican.

Our original plan was to stop at 6 different places and try a Margarita at each. This later got shortened to just 5 places! Regardless, I planned to pace myself and have just one Margarita at each stop. For Milagro’s, I chose their Top Shelf Margarita with Don Julio tequila. As before, the Margarita was amazing. Looking over the ingredients listed on the menu, this isn’t surprising. It is very similar to my “Pure Mexican” Margarita that I’ve been making at home: 100% agave tequila, fresh lime juice, agave nectar, and a Cointreau float. With the only difference being the Cointreau, I knew the rest of the ingredients could make a very good Margarita. I strongly suggested that everyone in our party have a Top Shelf Margarita with their choice of tequila and just about everyone did. The consensus was that this was one of the best Margaritas they’ve ever had. Given that we’ve been to Milagro 3 times now, their Margaritas have been excellent every time, and adding to it the opinions of our Margarita Run party, I now rate the Milagro Top Shelf Margarita a 9.

Having had our fill of tasty appetizers and Margaritas at Milagro’s, we were on to the next stop on my Margarita Run, Amigos Cantina!