It’s unusual to place the fourth-largest metropolis in America as an underdog. And but I discover that Houston’s extraordinary, kaleidoscopic culinary scene is usually missed by these past its borders. In truth, it’s their loss. The bayou, Beltway, and serpentine freeways of this sprawling metropolis traverse cutting-edge cocktail bars, full of life patios, stalwart ice homes, generations-old household eating places, tiny kitchens serving genre-defying multicultural cuisines, and a lot extra. Irrespective of the place you go, you’re not often removed from a frozen Margarita.
“We love our Tex-Mex, it’s so essential to the tradition. It goes past meals, it’s how folks share experiences,” says Bao Ong, the restaurant columnist at Houston Chronicle. “Frozen Margaritas are a giant a part of that.” After I go to Houston to go to household, I often hit a Tex-Mex restaurant or patio bar for a frozen Marg instantly on arrival. Listed below are 9 of my favourite locations for this iconic cocktail in one in all America’s greatest cities for meals and drinks.
Armandos
Margaritas crowd the bar and dot most tables at this 1978 River Oaks landmark well-known for Tex-Mex staples like flour-tortilla-wrapped queso flameado and tacos al carbon, to not point out its raucous Thursday evening events. The bar serves conventional or mango frozen Margaritas in addition to frozen Palomas. Customise your frozen Marg with a salt or Tajín rim. Or add a $3 tequila floater and sail into the sundown.
Eight Row Flint
If you happen to’re craving artistic cocktails in a buzzy house or breezy patio, cease by Eight Row Flint’s two places within the Heights and East Finish neighborhoods. The frozen drinks record consists of slushy Gin and Tonics, Painkillers, Palomas, and traditional Margaritas. Can’t select? Order a flight of three for $18 and really feel the Gulf humidity dissipate.
Flora
In Grant Cooper’s sceney, glass-walled restaurant, trendy Houstonians sip Large Vibe Frozen Margaritas beneath 40-plus glittering chandeliers. Made with blanco tequila, recent lime juice, and agave nectar, the Large Vibe is garnished with dehydrated lime wheels and might be ordered with a salt, Tajín, or cricket salt rim.
Dish Society
I’ve little doubt that together with this Austin export on this record will rankle some Houstonians. (RIP my inbox.) Nonetheless, I’d be remiss to not point out Dish Society’s vibrantly hued prickly pear frozen Margarita, which is offered in small or giant glasses or a $28 carafe. Professional tip: Come between 4-7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, when standard-size home cocktails are $7.
Los Tios
“If somebody needs a traditional Tex-Mex expertise in Houston, I’d level them to Los Tios,” says Ong. A 1970 establishment with six places citywide, Los Tios’ bartenders imagine they launched the frozen Margarita to Houstonians circa 1975. Whether or not that declare to fame is true or not, Los Tios does “a very good job,” Ong says. “That frozen Margarita is iconic in Houston.”
Monkey’s Tail
One of many specialties of this Lindale Park cocktail bar is its frozen Tommy’s Margarita, the Margarita riff made with out orange liqueur to showcase the standard of its tequila. Monkey’s Tail’s frosty model is available in two sizes—neither of which I can honestly describe as small—and is made with Cazadores blanco tequila, agave nectar, and recent lime juice.
The Authentic Ninfa’s on Navigation
One of many elder statesmen of Houston’s Tex-Mex scene, The Authentic Ninfa’s on Navigation has a number of Margaritas with hibiscus, tamarind, spicy mango, and extra. Nonetheless, it’s laborious to disclaim the frothy, frosty enchantment of its conventional frozen Margarita, made with recent lime juice and accessible by the glass or pitcher.
Teotihuacan
Served in outsized goblets, the frozen Margs at this family-run Tex-Mex establishment with 4 places citywide are giant sufficient to be a meal—although you need to save room for the kitchen’s flautas, fajitas, and different Tex-Mex favorites. Along with the lime-hued traditional, Teotihuacan gives frozen watermelon, peach, banana, and mango Margaritas.
Truck Yard
There’s an terrible lot happening at this expansive patio bar in East Downtown, the place the expansive digs embody a rotating solid of meals vans, karaoke room, day by day reside music, and full-sized Ferris wheel. Take all of it in with a salted watermelon frozen margarita, a fruity riff on the unique with a pleasing sprint of salinity.
