I’m sure you guys all know my love for Mexican and margaritas by now. I put the only two Mexican restaurants in my neighborhood to test this weekend. On Friday I went to 5 Burro and on Saturday I went to Garcia’s. I was not planning on having Mexican 2 nights in a row but it is kind of tough to find a decent restaurant where I live. I refuse to eat at Friday’s and Applebee’s again (even if their drinks are half-priced!) I tried Garcia’s back in October of 2009 (thank you blog) and remembered the food being pretty decent. Garcia’s is one of the only restaurants with outdoor seating in the area so that was the determining factor in trying it again.
5 Burro Cafe never disappoints me. It is nice to know that I only need one frozen margaritas to feel tipsy there. It is hard to get drunk for just $8.00 in
New York these days.
At other restaurants, I order a margarita on the rocks with silver tequila since it is a lot less calories. I learned that at 5 Burro, non-frozen margaritas are $1.00 more and half the size so I need 2 or 3 to get drunk. I decided to just stick with 1 frozen margarita there since I know how strong they are.
I went with the Lobster Mexican Salad as my main course.
I love how generous they are with their lobster . I am always impressed by how fresh and delicious it tastes for a Mexican restaurant! My friend and I shared some rice and beans on the side.
We also got some guacamole. Perfect salad!!
My friend ordered the spicy sausage 5 Burro Quesadilla. I had a taste and it was delicious!
Sometimes the food can take a little long at 5 Burro but on Friday the service was great. We were there at 6:00 which is earlier than usual so that could be why. I wish 5 Burro had outdoor seating like Garcia’s!
We ate at Garcia’s around 9:30 pm so we got a seat outside right away. I decided to order a margarita on the rocks because I was not sure how the frozen drinks would compare to the ones at 5 Burro. I asked for a large margarita with silver tequila since silver is a little healthier than gold. On the menu it said the margarita was $11.00. Our server said okay but came back 2 minutes later and told me the only silver tequila they had was Patron so the drink would cost $28.00. I was not paying $17.00 extra dollars for silver tequila! I could buy an entire dinner for $28.0o somewhere else! She told me the drinks had 4 shots of tequila. I still was not paying almost $30 for a drink so I went with the house tequila instead.
The drink did not even taste that strong but whatever. I went with the Vegetarian Fajitas for dinner.
Hello grease! The fajitas were so much greasier than the ones at 5 Burro. I enjoyed some rice and beans on the side. I asked for extra guacamole instead of sour cream. The waitress said that the meal already came with guacamole. Did she not understtand that I wanted extra? Ugh. I did not argue.
My friend ordered the Mexican pizza but the waitress said they ran out of the sausauge (the main topping of the pizza). Instead she got Steak Fajitas which was also extremely greasy.
I needed more alcohol since my large margarita with “4 shots” did nothing so I played it safe and got a Corona Light.
The meal ended up costing double what we payed at 5 Burro the night before. I will never go back there. I don’t know where they get off charging so much for weak drinks and lower quality food. Glad I gave it one more try though! Looks like I am sticking with my 5 Burro Cafe forever!
1) What is your favorite Mexican restaurant?
2) What do you do if you have a bad restaurant experience? Write a letter? Blog about it? Never go back?
I am choosing the Michael Season’s Chip Giveaway! winner tomorrow!
Check out by post on Hollaback Health about 6 ways to get your readers involved!
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border cafe in harvard sq, boston is really fun for mexican!
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My fave ritas in the city are at Blockheads. Super delicious, super frozen, super cheap, and super strong! If you haven’t tried them yet, you should! (Oh, and their food is good too!)
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Missy Maintains Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I love Blockheads! I never had a margarita there though! Crazy, I know.
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Blockheads is always a good option in the city, even though it is cliched and packed. The margs are awesome though! I love that you decide what drink to get by how drunk it will make you. A girl after my own heart
Hope you’re having a wonderful Monday so far!! xoxo
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My fave mexican place is Mexico Lindo (Halifax, Nova Scotia). It’s owned by a mexican family so the food is extremely authentic! It’s absolutely amazing. I have to drive an hour to get there and my hubby and I go every Friday night!
If I have a bad meal, I always write a letter. It’s more likely to get to a manger then just complaining to the server.
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UGH. i seriously don’t think you should ever go anywhere but 5 burro haha i feel like you’re a part of their mexican family. plus garcias didn’t give you a marg toy! i want to go back there just for the lobster salad!! let’s go sooooon
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HAHa we both had crappy luck with mexican restaurants when we tried something new! We need to stick with what we like AKA 5 BURROS! I actually wrote a really nasty post about my experience with the Mexican Restaurant and even went as far as emailing them and telling them to read it!
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mmm, MEXICAN, I love it. But you love it more
I always get the chicken or veggie fajitas, and I hate it when they are so greasy that you can pour off the grease. Yuck.
The lobster mexican salad looks fabulous. And it tasted fresh?? haha, not in Ohio! I guess you are closer to good lobster. Lucky duck. haha, I just said lucky duck…
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That is so expensive! I hate how drinks are xo costly here. Usually, I’d rather pay money for delicious food, unless it’s really high quality alcohol. Good thing I’m still in college and live RIGHT next to all the frats. Free drinks pretty much whenever I want, lol!
There is an amazing mexican place near my campus called tacqueria. I am in love; it’s the only place I will get takeout from. Back in MI, there is a place called Tios that is awesome. I only go to mexican places when I’m really hungry since the portions are ginormous!
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LOL I love how you decide what drink you want depending on how strong and how drunk it’ll get you. Definitely something I do too. Which is why I tend to lean towards Long Islands when I go out haha.
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I’ve eaten at both Garcia’s and 5 Burros (I used to live in FH) and I agree with you completely! Garcia’s is SO OVERPRICED and the food is SUPER greasy and bland. Go 5 Burros! I like the toys you get in your drinks.
Since I am a fellow margarita enthusiast, may I recommend La Palapa on St. Marks b/w 1st and 2nd ave? The best f*n margarita I have ever had- consistent food every time. I get the chicken mole enchiladas and their fresh guac and chips. I’ve been eating there for over 4 years and am never disappointed. Try the fresh ginger marg or the watermelon marg- $8 or $9 bucks. Two get me pretty messy.
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MissyMaintains Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Thanks! I will add that to the list of places to try!!
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MissyMaintains Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
Thanks! I will add that to the list of places to try!!
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I love the local resteraunt here Guadalajara’s and a resteraunt in Las Cruces which i can’t think of the name right now but very good food.
We tried to place an order to be delivered at Jimmy Johns on a saturday for a party sub and they told us to call back later. After that I can’t eat there.
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The Margarita comes with the little plastic ladybug?! This I’ll have to try for myself!
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MissyMaintains Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
Yes! A new toy each time! I have a whole collection!
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the drink with the ladybug wins! that is absolutely cute! I want to visit NY just to go there!
Katherine
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nice little review of teh two places! i could tell from your pics that the fajitas at garcias were WAY greasier than the ones at 5 burros!! i think if I had bad service or a waiter was not nice to us, then I would write a letter and priobably not return BUT if we just had one semi bad experience, maybe ordered the wrong thing…i would go back and give it a 2nd shot!
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five burro cafe forever!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cant believe it was 30 bux for that to get good stuff, crazy! I am glad you tried that place again and realized it stinks!
Hope you have a great week! xoxox
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i love mexican… i think the ghetto little mexican eateries are the best.. apparently there’s a tiny mexican deli near me that’s super ghetto that has the best tacos around.. for a nicer place – i recently tried hell’s kitchen when i first moved here and it’s pretty good :]
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“It is hard to get drunk for just $8.00 in New York these days.”
Best line in this post. hahahaha!
There’s a place called Ruby’s in Somerville, MA that has the best Mexican and drinks I’ve had in my life.
Sorry the other restaurant was such a bummer
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miss tiffie Reply:
July 14th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
^^ oo i’ve been to that somerville place… you should try sierra’s in sudbury – love their food and booze
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Sounds like some great eats goin’ on. If you want the absolute best frozen margaritas, you can do that from the comfort of your home with the Cadillac of frozen drink makers, the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker. Trust me, if you like serving top notch margaritas while you’re entertaining, this thing will earn you rave reviews!
Mike recently posted..Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker-Ice Crusher With Margaritaville Universal Travel Bag
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What I really do not like are the people which abuse a well maintained site like this one simply to create a new link to their site. (-_-)
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Not exactly trending…
Not as news worthy as FIFA, but wonderful anyway….