Pete Tittl: Even sober, Margaritas worth a try
| Wednesday, Mar 03 2010 02:38 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Mar 03 2010 03:53 PM
MARGARITAS MEXICAN & SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
2681 N. Calloway Drive
589-1700
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. Reservations recommended.
Prices: Appetizers $7.95 to $12.95, salads $3.95 to $9.95, soups $4.95 to $5.95, enchiladas $10.25 to $12.95, burritos $7.95 to $9.95, combination dinners $8.45 to $10.45, specialties $11.95 to $14.95, seafood entrees $11.75 to $13.95. Child's plate $5.95.
Payment: MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover accepted. Personal checks not accepted.
Dress: Casual.
Amenities: Wheelchair accessible; full bar service; some vegetarian options.
Food: 3 stars
Atmosphere: 2.5 stars
Service: 3 stars
Value: 2.5 stars
Next week: Fred's Barbecue Factory
Images
Delia Serrano, a waitress at Margaritas, serves up a combination plate and a bowl of fideo soup at lunch.
A hot combination plate is ready to be served to a customer at lunchtime at Margaritas on Calloway Drive and Rosedale Highway. It opened in February.
Fideo soup, is ready to be served at Margaritas on Rosedale Highway and Calloway Drive, a new Mexican restaurant.
Restaurant owner, Noe Escobar, is ready for business at his new restaurant, Margaritas on Calloway and Rosedale Highway.
There's that old philosophical question about whether a noise is created when a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it. What about if a restaurant named Margaritas can't actually serve its namesake?
That happened when the restaurant off Rosedale Highway near Calloway opened in February. On our first visit, there was one of those notices on the door dealing with a transferred liquor license, the kind of legalese that kills my appetite so I never read it. Well, the couple right in front of us heading into the restaurant was caught short by the notice, looked to actually read it, then turned around and walked away.
On that particular night, Margaritas was strictly a soda and water operation -- not even those foul-tasting wine-based margaritas. But since I have a job to do, I did not turn around, I boldly walked forward and ate with a completely sober palate.
Our waiter was profusely apologetic when we asked if Margaritas had margaritas. Had he a flask of tequila in his back pocket, I'm sure he would've broken it out and spiked our water.
I must make one thing perfectly clear. We went back a week later and the notice was off the door. The legal demands had been met. The restaurant had a full bar. Margaritas now serves margaritas of all types. Just to emphasize the reading comprehension issue, I figure the power of italics would get the point across.
Reader W.L. Wasco had tipped me off to the new restaurant, which opened in what was last Jobie's El Chile Verde. His theory on restaurants struggling at that location was that the entrance to the parking lot is past the building itself, as opposed to in front of it. People with doctorates in parking management are paid to settle that stuff. I figure that Mauricio's is just a short distance west and large segments of the population just can't get past Chili's to the east, so it's a location sandwiched by tough competition.
Having said that, the food is worth a try, with some exceptions. On a first visit I ordered the triple fajitas platter ($14.95), while my companion selected the chili verde ($11.95).
The fajitas, made with chicken, beef and shrimp, was pretty exceptional. The sizzling metal plate had a lot of onions at the bottom, a few shrimp on top, a lot of chicken and beef strips, green pepper strips and a few pale tomato slices that seemed sad, useless and tasteless. With the exceptional rice and refried beans, I was a satisfied customer, even without a speck of tequila.
My companion was served a chile verde that had two big strikes against it: It was in a bowl and had a thin green sauce that made it more like soup than stew. The pork had not been expertly trimmed so she was working to get the fat off the meat before consuming anything. And it had a low level of spiciness, though it was that interesting kind of delayed heat that seemed to run across your tongue a second or two after swallowing. This is not a recipe for companion happiness. Especially without the mellowing effects of a margarita.
On a second visit, when margaritas were flowing and the place was much more crowded (coincidence? I think not!), we got a chance to sample another of the restaurant's specialties, the carnitas ($12.95). The pork straddled the fine line of crisp and moist perfectly, was not greasy in the least and had a stringy texture that made it an exceptional pleasure. Even my companion was impressed.
I was attracted by the warm pineapple cake with vanilla bean ice cream on the dessert menu ($5.95), but it was a disappointment, the cake being too dry for an upside-down cake.
Service was OK but not particularly exceptional on both occasions. For a new restaurant, that is actually a compliment.
