Las Margaritas

In the mood for Mexican, we washed our fresh fajitas down with a fresh margarita at Las Margaritas.

By Katie Pollock Estes

Photo by Kevin O’Riley

There are Mexican restaurants in abundance in 417-land, so it’s fun to find one that stands out from the crowd. At Las Margaritas, the defining feature is—as the name might imply—the menu of fresh margaritas. (More on that in a bit.)

My husband, Eli, and I visited Las Margaritas during a busy dinner rush, but the wait wasn’t too bad. Once we found our seat, our server brought out warm chips and some of the house salsa.

We started the meal with one of the specials of the day: Fresh guacamole made tableside. The avocados were crushed along with onions, jalapeños, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic salt. It was a delicious way to whet our appetites for south-of-the-border flavors. Even though Eli and I looked at it and thought it was too much guacamole for two people, we wound up eating almost every single bite. The flavors came together perfectly. Our only complaint is that there was just too much of that garlic salt, and it overpowered some of the other flavors. Next time, we’ll just ask if they’ll go easy on the salty part; it’s made fresh, after all.

Eli opted for chicken enchiladas with a sour cream sauce and a little bit of poblano sauce, which he said really hit the spot. I decide to go with one of the fajita dishes, since I’d been told that they are made from scratch and are the restaurant’s specialty. The menu has several tasty-looking combinations to choose from. But, ever the adventurous eater, I decided I had to pick the create-your-own fajitas. I’m a sucker for anything that lets me customize. I opted for beef (they use sliced rib-eye), bell peppers, cactus and jalapeños. As expected, the dish came out sizzling and piping hot. The steak was tender and juicy, and the jalapeños added just the right amount of heat to my fajitas. And as for the cactus, it was delightful. I wrapped it all up in warm corn tortillas, and it was way more food than I could handle on my own. I barely touched the rice, beans and toppings because I was too busy enjoying the fajitas.

If you’re a fan of tequila, you’ll definitely want to order a margarita when you visit. Eli paired his enchiladas with the Margarita Las Margaritas. This particular option comes to the table a bright blue color (from blue Curaçao). But don’t let the color fool you into thinking it’s a frou-frou drink. Like all of the margaritas here, it is made with fresh squeezed fruit juices (not mixers), and the bartender does not go light on the tequila. It is strong!