(Yes, I am stealing Kasmira’s formatting. I really liked it!)
So we scrapped the Via Vite idea. I think we were both looking for something low key: we had rough weeks, and we both had pretty busy weeks to look forward to. I also had just finished a reading of “Footwear for the Masses” over at Falcon Theatre (sorry, it closed on Saturday!), so I wasn’t in a fine dining mood. So, after grabbing an American Light (for him) and a diet Coke (for me) at Rock Bottom, we wandered over to Margaritas.
ETA: We went to the Sixth Street location.
We had a bad feeling when we walked in: first, Terry smashed his hand in the door (ow!). After the cursing abated, I commented, “This is a bad sign. The place is empty!’ Friday night and Margaritas had one full table, and I’m pretty sure they knew the staff. The restaurant has at least 20 tables, surrounded by TVs that carry soccer and telenovelas, and a pretty big bar. We got a table in the corner, and hoped that this experience wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be.
Margarita’s has won Best Margaritas from both Cincinnati Magazine and Citybeat several years running. They’re a local chain, with locations d
owntown, Beechmont, and a couple in Kentucky.
My concerns were unfounded: who needs chain Mexican (ETA: i.e. Don Pablo’s, Chevy’s, etc.) when you have this place? First, we ordered margaritas while we pondered whether or not we were staying. Since, on Friday nights, we are generally not into the effort of going to three restaurants in one night, we stayed and were not disappointed. The margaritas (lime only) were 2 for $7. We each got one on the rocks, his lots of salt, mine no salt. They were pretty good! The salsa and chips were good as well: warm, crispy chips and fresh tasting salsa. We added on some guacamole: it was okay, but undersalted, w
hich made it taste a bit bland. Terry’s is better.
We each ordered fajitas. I ordered the fajitas camarones, which were plump shrimp on a bed of grilled vegetables. I had them hold the rice and beans– I never eat them and they’d just go to waste. The flavors were really nice, and the shrimp were cooked very well. There were also tons of just slightly overly browned onions– my very favorite part of fajitas! They were great and I’ll definitely o
rder them again the next time I get a fajita craving.
However, the standout were the fajitas cozumel, which were steak, shrimp, chicken and chorizo with pineapple. Terry couldn’t get over how good it was, and it was! Everything was browned nicely, and the chorizo was spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. Very different from your standard fajitas– I wasn’t sure how the chorizo and the pineapple would go together, forgetting how the sweetness in pineapple is brought out by grilling! Next time, I’ll probably order this instead of stealing bites of Terry’s. Which I’m sure he will appreciate.
We ended up closing the place down (with their blessing), but I was very sad that we were the only customers. You’d think that a place known for margaritas would be more vibrant on a Friday night.
I think that this will become my regular “I need a Margarita, now!” place. My previous favorite place, Su Casa in Tri-County, is just too far for me to drive when I have a craving. Any other recommendations for a good margarita?
