This is a pretty Margarita – with a taste to match!

The Crossing was were I came up with the idea for this blog and the first Margarita I wrote about. My wife and I came back here tonight and of course, I wanted to try another Margarita.

This time I’m happy to say the Margarita was much better than the one I previously had. This Margarita had good sweetness which was nicely balanced with the citrus flavor. The tequila flavor came through but it was not overpowering. Overall it was a very good Margarita, registering a 7.5 on my scale.

As I mentioned last time, my wife and I absolutely love The Crossing. This time we had the Grand Tasting Menu. Eight courses of pure deliciousness. If you enjoy food, you must treat yourself to the Grand Tasting Menu at The Crossing at least once. Trust me, you will love it!

Check out this crazy cup!

I have never in my life taken a boat to get to a restaurant. I hoped there would be a Margarita in my future that would match this special outing. Fortunately for me, there was.

Jolly Rogers Grub & Grog is a restaurant on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. Literally on the lake. Like you can park your boat in their docks to go eat. Pretty cool. As the name implies, this restaurant is pirate and nautically themed. So much so that they bring out a parrot you can have sit on your shoulder. The ambiance is very fun and they have a huge drink selection.

I chose the Swashbuckler’s Gold Margarita. The description claims it is the Ultimate Margarita. You can choose to have it made with a variety of tequilas: Patron, Don Julio, Cabo Wabo, Herradura, or Jose Cuervo. I had mine made with Don Julio on the recommendation of our server. It was served in a very interesting container, as the picture shows. The Margarita itself was very good. It had a good citrus taste and good tequila flavor. Gran Marnier adds some sweetness but not too much. Overall it had a bit of a light taste, which makes it a bit more refreshing and good on a hot day, which I would expect most lake goers would appreciate. Some people might say it is a little weak, which I won’t argue with, but I didn’t think it was too weak. In fact, I had a second. That one wasn’t served in the crazy container, but it was still good. Overall, I give Jolly Rogers’ Margarita a 7.5.

Same Margarita, different glass.

If you’re visiting the Lake of the Ozarks, make sure to stop by Jolly Rogers. The food is good and the Margaritas are worth the visit. And get a picture with the parrot.

The house Margarita was good …

My wife and I found ourselves kid-free on this Sunday afternoon so we took a little trip into St. Louis for some Margarita sampling. I did some research and we settled on Milagro Modern Mexican in Webster Groves. I’m glad we did because not only was the food excellent, but they also had some very good Margaritas.

I started with their house Margarita, while my wife had a “Top Shelf” Margarita with Riazul tequila. My impression of the house Margarita was that the tequila hit a little bitter at first taste. I would have preferred more of the citrus and sweet flavor to come through. However, it was still very good. But I took a few sips of my wife’s Margarita and I could tell the difference right away. The overall flavor was much smoother with a good hit of citrus flavor, a subtle sweetness, and the tequila balanced just right.

… but the Top Shelf Margarita was better!

I went ahead and had a second Margarita, opting for a Top Shelf but this time with Tres Generaciones tequila. Our server Natalie suggested that the “Tres Gen” would have a little more tequila bite, so I wanted to experiment. She was correct, as I could tell that the tequila did have a more prominent taste at first. With the Tres Gen tequila the Top Shelf Margarita was just a little less smooth due to the tequila bite, but it was actually a little sweeter with the citrus coming through at the finish. Still, an excellent Margarita. Given the various Margaritas I tasted that afternoon, I would give Milagro’s house Margarita a 7.5 and their Top Shelf Margarita an 8.5.

I mentioned their server Natalie, who was very knowledgeable about the Margaritas and tequilas. Regarding the choice of tequilas for their Top Shelf Margaritas, she said that Riazul was the smoothest (which my wife liked), she wouldn’t recommend Patron, Don Juilo had a “regular” bite, and the Tres Generaciones was not as smooth as Riazul but had less bite than Don Julio. Natalie also recommended that we try their Tuna Ceviche, which was an excellent appetizer that we had as a main course. Their guacamole was also very, very good.

If you’re in the Webster Groves area, I highly recommend stopping by Milagro Modern Mexican. I know we will again soon.

I had an opportunity to visit some friends at the TGI Friday’s in South County St. Louis. It helps to know the manager at any restaurant, and Megan made sure we were well taken care of that evening. TGI Friday’s has Margaritas on the menu so of course I had to try one … or two.

The menu showed two main options, “The BFM” or “The Best Friday’s Margarita” and the “Ultimate Margarita”. Which one should I try? The “best” or the “ultimate”? I was suggested that The BFM was the better option, so that is the Margarita I chose for that evening. I will later return to try the Ultimate to see if in fact it is worth of that title.

The first thing that struck me about The BFM was that it had a good full body. In other words, it wasn’t a thin, watery drink. Too often Margaritas taste watered down but this was definitely not one of those. The flavor as described in the menu, “ultra-smooth, perfectly balanced”, was pretty close in my opinion. It had a nice smooth flavor with the components all well-balanced. My only nitpick was that the finish was just a little on the bitter side. Obviously this was not too big of a problem as I ordered a second. My only other wish was that the drink was bigger! Overall, I give The BFM at TGI Friday’s an 8 out of 10.

Oh so good!

My family took a trip to Mexico the first week of June. I know what you’re thinking … sun, surf, and Margaritas! We stayed at the Dreams resort in Huatulco, a destination recommended to us by our travel agent. First off, kudos to the staff of Dreams, as the entire experience was excellent. Everyone was super-friendly and happy to accommodate. The several restaurants on the property were all high quality and of course, the drinks were flowing a-plenty!

Obviously I had to sample the Margarita they served at the resort, which I did on several occasions over our week stay. Happily, I am able to report that their Margarita was absolutely top-notch. The flavor of the Margarita at the Dreams was very smooth. All the flavors blended together nicely and complemented each other perfectly. Rarely does a Margarita make me stand up and take notice, but this one did. I’m normally not a big fan of frozen Margaritas, but even the frozen variety they served had the same excellent flavor. I watched the bartenders make a few of my Margaritas and I believe the reason they were so good was a combination of their skill and the mix they were using. I wish I could have gotten the recipe for that mix!

This was my last Margarita at the Dreams resort. So sad 🙁

Over the course of our stay, I ordered many Margaritas from the various bars around the resort. All but one were excellent, and I think the one that wasn’t so good might have been my fault as I may have let it sit out a little too long in the sun. Sorry – I was in the pool! Because the Margaritas at the Dreams resort were so good, and I was able to confirm this many times over the course of a week, I am giving them a rating of 9 out of 10. Unfortunately, I won’t get to easily revisit these Margaritas given the fact they are over 1600 miles away!

You can see the bright green wall in the background of this picture. I wish the margarita could have borrowed a little of that color.

To wrap up my birthday week, we took a trip to visit some friends in the Kansas City area. While there, of course, I had to try a local Margarita! Being fans of the Food Network show Restaurant Impossible, we were familiar with a Mexican restaurant in Kansas City named Poco’s. We had never visited a restaurant that had been made over by Robert Irvine, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone?

My first impression was that the restaurant looks so much bigger on TV! Overall, the food had its highs and lows, depending on which meal was ordered. All said and done, I wouldn’t tell you to make a point to visit here, but if you’re curious it’s worth a visit. Interestingly, the same can be said about the Margarita.

My first impression was that the color was very faint, which often means the Margarita will be weakly flavored. Not a good sign to start with. The flavor was nice, with a tequila taste up front followed by citrus. The finish was just a little too bitter for my preference. They do a nice job of blending the tequila, as I could tell this wasn’t light on the alcohol but it was not overpowering. The Margarita was overall pleasant to drink but the taste was, in fact, weaker than I would have liked. I would have preferred if the flavors were a little more prominent. So I give the drink a 7. Nothing to brag about, but it’s fine enough to drink if you’re here.

My birthday Margarita! Or I should say, one of many that day!

So May 22nd is my birthday and I requested that we have lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in our town, El Maguey. Besides wonderful Mexican food, great salsa, and amazing guacamole, as you can probably guess, El Maguey also has excellent Margaritas. But just how good are they?

I’ve been putting off writing about El Maguey’s Margaritas because I wanted to objectively sample many other Margaritas to confirm my previous thoughts. For several years now we’ve been eating at El Maguey and every time I have one of their Margaritas I’m never disappointed. Whatever they’re doing there, they manage to nail just the right balance of tequila, sweetness, and citrus flavors. I think my favorite part is that the citrus flavoring stands out but isn’t overpowering.

So far on this blog I’ve reserved rating any Margaritas a 9 or higher. This is because there is one factor that I can not account for with just one visit – consistency. I’ve been to various Mexican restaurants in the past and noticed that the quality of a Margarita can vary with each visit. It is quite disappointing to be served a Margarita of a quality less than expected. However, I remember going to El Maguey the very first time and commenting how good the Margarita was. This was in 2008 or 2009. Since that time I can not recall El Maguey ever serving me a less-than-excellent Margarita.

I’ve been taking pictures of El Maguey’s Margaritas for many years now 🙂

For just pure flavor, El Maguey in Edwardsville has one of the best Margaritas I’ve ever tasted. But because they’ve been serving them this way for so long, they rise a notch above the rest. I have no qualms giving their Margaritas a 9 out of 10. If you’re in Edwardsville and in the mood for a Margarita, run to El Maguey. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

To kick off my birthday week, we took a trip over to St. Louis’ Central West End to visit an old favorite of ours, The Wild Flower Restaurant. We’ve eaten here many times before, as it has excellent food and nice outdoor dining (as well as indoor dining). I recalled that they had a specialty Margarita so it should be no surprise that I ordered one!

The Wild Orchid Margarita, besides tequila, includes a house made sweet and sour plus raspberry liqueur. It was voted “best signature drink” by AOL according to the restaurant’s menu. The raspberry liqueur gives the drink a lot more fruit flavor than a standard Margarita. The tequila flavor comes out nicely. It isn’t overpowering.

To some Margarita “purists”, this drink might taste too much like a fruit punch. I won’t argue with them, but I do like the drink. It is an especially refreshing taste on a hot day. I give it a 7.5, with the caveat that for some people this might stray too far from a standard Margarita for their liking.

A friend had a surprise birthday party thrown at the Bossanova Restaurant & Lounge in Alton, IL. The party was in a private room upstairs from the main restaurant area. This party room had a little bar built-in, so I figured let’s give the Margarita a try!

Simply put, the Margarita had a decent enough flavor and balance. It was nice to drink, but it did have a bit of a pre-made mix taste. I prefer more natural tasting Margaritas personally. So nothing special here, just a 6.5 on my scale.

I don’t believe that this is necessarily representative of the main Bossanova bar down in the restaurant. The restaurant generally has very good reviews, so at some point in the future I will return to give their Margarita another try.

My wife suggested we go to the West End Grill & Pub in St. Louis on this Friday afternoon. I had never been there, so of course I had to ask if they had a good Margarita. Our server, Janine, who is extremely knowledgeable about all the food and drinks there, said “of course!” So I took her on her word and ordered one. I’m glad I did!

First off, for a “grill & pub”, the food at West End Grill & Pub is amazing. This isn’t your standard bar food. Janine explained all the details of the ingredients and food preparation and I was pleasantly surprised how good our meals were. So if you’re in the area, this is a bit of hidden gem in St. Louis. Make sure to stop by.

Our server Janine also made my Margarita (and my wife’s Old Fashioned, which she liked so much she ordered 2). It was very nicely balanced, with a good taste of tequila and citrus and a hint of sweetness. Janine explained that they make their own “secret” mix and she simply used their standard tequila in what she served me (Dorado Gold, I believe she said). She said I might have noticed the difference if she had used a premium tequila. I guess I’ll need to go back sometime and test that out! Regardless, it was an excellent margarita, flavorful and well balanced. An 8 out of 10 for me.