Now that patio season is upon us, there is just no excuse for drinking indoors and one of my favorite West Side patios is at Las Margaritas.
Dappled sunlight comes in through the copious greenery on the patio and splashes against the faux adobe walls and does a passable impression of a Mexican cantina…at least after you’ve had a few margaritas.
The drinks, however, are all American. There is a choice of 4 different sizes - regular $6.26, large $9.75, monster $13.45 and pitcher $27.95 - to ensure that you get the exact amount of liquid libation you’re looking for, as well as 9 different flavours: Lime, Strawberry, Peach, Banana, Apricot, Coconut, Pineapple, and Raspberry. Thankfully complimentary chips and salsa are dropped off soon after you arrive, in an attempt to soak up the alcohol. The food here is also quite good if you’re hungry. Inauthentic, mind you, but tasty.
According to their website, the fruit margaritas are all made with natural fruit juices and nectars, but after trying the Peach, Apricot and Strawberry, I found them to be exceedingly sweet and syrupy. There was no denying the flavour of the drink, but the thick mixtures were so perfumed and specific that they almost seemed bottled. A lime marg would have possibly been more up my alley with Triple sec, lime and lemon juice and house made sweet and sour mix. I will give that one next time, or else sample from the top shelf margarita list, where the choices seem clearer (less thick) and more cocktail-style.
At any rate, there is enough variation on the margarita page alone to keep a dedicated researcher like myself busy for several hot afternoons this summer, even considering that I will have to rotate heavily with the hand-muddled selections at the Tequila Kitchen. I shouldn’t even have brought the TK margaritas in here, because there is no way their complex, refreshing flavours can compare with the sweetness of Las Margaritas’ margs, but tequila is a friend that takes many forms and sometimes you want to hang out with your sophisticated friends while other times you just want to party. And if you’re the kind of person that likes serious friends, true tequila aficionados can take the Tequila Final Exam. Let me know if you can get it to work.
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1999 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver
4 responses so far ↓
Raul // July 4, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Um. No, Degan - we almost *never* disagree. But I *strongly dislike* Las Margaritas. Then again, it’s all good
We do agree on lots of restaurants, anyway!
Xxcaro // July 5, 2008 at 12:07 am
Ooh this isn’t fair. I’m on a bus reading about tequila battles. When I get back to DC, it’ll be 4th of July insanity and the fairly decent margaritas at the little Mexican/El Salvadoran place in our neighbourhood will probably be a zoo. Curses for not having anticipated this craving and bought some good tequila in time (I think liquor stores are closed here today. Argh). But how wonderful to read your adventures!
degan // July 5, 2008 at 4:33 pm
hurray for tequila wars! perhaps we need to do a patio crawl for compare and contrast. caro you can do compare and contrast from the east coast.
meg // July 15, 2008 at 6:09 pm
This was a block from my house last summer = many tough summer mornings. A fav.
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