On The Border, Mexican Grill & Cantina 2/52

On The Border, Mexican Grill & Cantina



www.ontheborder.com

298 East Via Rancho Parkway
Escondido, Ca. 92025



Time for another review! This time my man and I went to "On The Border" in Escondido. Otherwise referred to as OTB. This was kind of an easy review to do, because we have actually been there many times. We already knew what we enjoy there, to eat, and what we enjoy to drink! Their Happy Hour (HH) is daily from 3-7, in the bar and patio only. They do stand by that one. Which is OK, even though we bring our 5 year old with us, we are still welcome in the bar area. Good to be able to take advantage of the HH prices with the family. The HH menu includes half price appetizers and I am not sure what the discounts are on drinks, but my 'rita was only $4. No matter what time of day, HH or not, thats a great price. I do not think ALL drinks are half price, but they still have a nice selection of HH drinks.

The list of drinks were nice, and extensive. Next time I go, I will venture out more to a choice other then the house 'rita. They also have a decent line up of beers. The BEST part of their beer service, is they always put your beer in a frosted glass. A total bonus for beer drinkers!




The margarita!
Lets talk about my 'rita. I ordered the OTB house 'rita. The tequila in this 'rita is Gold tequila. (Did not label a brand on the menu) Truth be told, this is my usual choice when we go. I kept true to my order, because I wanted to review it for you. The price during HH is $4. Not sure for non HH times, but I would definitely pay more. This 'rita came to me NOT separated! TOTAL bonus! However, if you take a walk by the bar you can see why it is perfectly blended, it does come from a dispenser! A 'rita from a dispenser is always a better consistency then it would be if it were made that moment by a bar tender, and it is ALWAYS the same, each and every visit. I always know how it will taste. Thats just the way it is. The down side, they don't "accidentally" bonus you up with an extra shot of something. Some times we need an extra something, know what I mean? The flavor of this 'rita is spot on. Not too sweet and surely not too "strong" ether. I found myself not needing the salt on the rim of my glass at all. It really is a perfect balance. However, I will still only give this 'rita a total of 4 out of 5 stars. Why? Because this 'rita offers a bit of a buzz, but the buzz does not last long enough, not at all! So close to perfect, so close. Also, the 'rita was not all the way full, they could have added another ounce at the top! :D

Note from my man,"This is often my complaint when the beer comes out. It looks like someone already took a drink out of it. Every ounce is precious."




The OTHER margarita!
Yes, the OTHER 'rita. My man, ordered a 'rita! For the first time ever. With me any way, he really is a beer drinker. However, he did not stray too far from home. He ordered the Margarona. The Margarona is an OTB house 'rita with a Corona sticking out of it, upside-down. As you drink away at the 'rita, the beer dispenses into the 'rita. Now would be a good time to allow my man to take over, for the review of the Margarona, "The beer really did not dispense naturally into the 'rita for some reason of physics I cannot explain. I had to lift up and let it burble out, leaving an unnatural ratio of beer to 'rita depending on how much burbled. Maybe I did something wrong, I don't know. The combination actually wasn't that bad. The only negative I came away with was the occasional brain freeze sensation from the frozen 'rita. Did not care for that, which reminded me why I don't usually order that drink. Overall, the combination of the two made the post-dinner traipse through the mall that much more tolerable!"




The Food!
The food here is OK. The honest truth is, I would not come here for the food. For me, its about the 'rita, else I am not interested. However, I have learned what I do like and do not like on the menu. What I had this time, was a single cheese enchilada. Between the chips/salsa and the 'rita, thats just about all I could consume. I did like the enchilada, but the 'rita was far better and its what keeps me coming back. The service was good too. Being in the bar and not in the regular seating, the service can be spotty, but on this night, the service was good. I really like their chips, yet they are rather large. The salsa is a bit on the tangy side, which is good when you consider the fact that salsa should NEVER be on the bland side. In my opinion any way! All in all, the food is not very especial, but the drinks are worth the trip and effort!




Note from man,"From the husband's perspective, the salsa is barely tangy, but I notice that the older I get, the less tolerant I am of spicy heat, so that's ok. The chips are unnaturally shaped. Traditionally, tortilla chips are tortillas cut into 4 or 6 triangles. These are tortillas cut in half - ONLY! That's right, half moon shaped. The chips are so big in fact that if I weren't with "immediate" family, I would have kept an eye out for double-dippers."

Thank you for reading my review on OTB, if you would like to follow me as I hit San Diego for some more 'ritas, you can do so on twitter, @SD_Rita.

Play Grill & Margarita Bar 1/52

Playa Grill and Margarita Bar



www.playagrill.com

2401 Fenton Parkway
San Diego, Ca. 92108

OK, so for my first review, my husband and I went to Playa Grill in Mission Valley. I thought this would be the perfect place to start my 52 or more 'ritas in 52 weeks because hey, its a Margarita Bar! At least thats the name of the place! Nice looking place. Their Happy Hour (HH) is daily from 3 to 7pm. The great part about their HH is you can take advantage of their HH prices no matter where you sit, not limited to the bar or patio like their web site suggests. That is a great thing because we had with us little M who is 5, VERY close to 6. The next great part, and I really mean GREAT, of their HH, ALL alcohol beverages and appetizers are half off. Most places, they offer only the house 'ritas or beer for a discounted price, and usually only a dollar or two off.

The list of drinks were quite nice, I do think they would benefit from having a dedicated margarita menu. After all, it is a margarita bar! All of the margaritas were on a menu that was titled "Margarita & Specialty Cocktails", making it so I had to weed through all of them to really tell which were on the 'rita list and which were on the specialty cocktails list. Now that I have taken on this project, I am starting to really focus on the different choices I have with the offered 'ritas and not always having to settle for the house choice.


The Margarita!
The 'rita I ordered was the "Eldorita." Menu price, $10. Happy hour price, $5. I ordered it blended with salt, the most common way for me. I choose this one because it has Grand Marnier, and I really like Grand Marnier for a 'rita. The tequila used for this one is Cuervo Tradicional Silver. That is an important bit of information because I am also on the look out for which tequila makes the best 'rita. They sure do go hand in hand, in my opinion any way. Lets talk about the "Eldorita." When it arrived to my table, it had already separated. When I see that happen, I know that it did not come out of a dispenser, pre made and a lever pulled by some bartender behind the bar. The second clue that it did not get dispensed, was the chunks of ice still crowding the drink. This is not the best start for a drink that is originally priced $10. Perhaps next time I should order this one on the rocks? The first taste, I could taste the Grand Marnier, yum! One thing I have noticed about a frozen/blended 'rita, is that when its well blended, and stays that way through out most of the drink, the flavor is constant through out the entire life of the drink. However, when it separates, the flavor is different between the frozen part and the no longer frozen part. It has a much stronger "tequila" flavor to it, which is not so enjoyable for me. I would rather be able to taste their house made sweet and sour along with the tequila and Grand Marnier. That all being said, by time I finished my 'rita, I was wishing for more salt along the rim of the glass, it was gone, but the drink was not. The best thing I can say for this 'rita, is the buzz. It was a perfect buzz, to the point where the excessive tequila flavor at the end no longer mattered as much. I did, however, save the last bite of my food for after I finished my 'rita, because I wanted to finish off with something that was more tasty! Final opinion, I would not be as happy if I had spent the $10 for this one drink, $5 was just the right price for the buzz despite the lack of the sweet lime flavor I so look forward to in the perfect 'rita. So far, Playa Grill & Margarita Bar did not deliver me the perfect 'rita. I think I would give it 3 stars, only because it did deliver the perfect buzz, with out the perfect flavor.




The other stuff!
In all, the place looked very nice and the staff was very friendly. Of course we were delighted to start off with the house chips and salsa. The salsa was nice and tangy! Just the way my husband likes it. It also came out with a salsa verde, its texture was smooth and somewhat viscous. We ordered from the "Aperitivos - Small Plates" menu, the taquitos. This came with three chicken taquitos and salsa verde. It was supposed to come with queso fresco. When we asked our server about it, she said, "oh." Then did nothing about it. When a second server brought us our food, we asked a second time about the queso fresco, he told us the kitchen is running "low" and then walked away. Needless to say, we never did get our queso fresco! Next, for dinner, my husband ordered the "Carnitas plate" and I ordered an a la carte cheese enchilada. I had a taste of my husbands carnitas and MAN it was so good! Very moist and tender. My cheese enchilada must have been one of the best cheese enchiladas I have ever had. I had the choice of a mild ranchero salsa or the spicy one. The spicy one is the same one that comes with the chips and salsa. I chose the mild and it was perfect. I really did enjoy each and every bite. I even used the salsa and cheese on my plate to continue dipping chips into, wonderful! Our son got the kids cheese quesadilla. He ate it all, which is a good sign. However, a few kinks in the kids menu. For starters, the menu says drink and dessert are included. They charged us $1 for the lemonade, because it was not a soda. They also failed to bring out his dessert. We had to ask about it as they were handing over our bill. Kind of odd.

Thank you for reading my review on my 'rita at Playa Grill, if you would like to follow me as I hit San Diego for some more 'ritas, you can do so on twitter, @SD_Rita.

52 'ritas in a year?

I am out to find the best margarita in San Diego! For vacations or other various travels, I might blog about a margarita from other locations out side of San Diego, but for now, I am on the hunt for the BEST margarita, right here, where I call home.

To start off with, I have only come across a few perfect 'ritas in this area. I think thats a crying shame! Then again, I always go to the same places over and over again! Am I limiting myself? If I only go to the same old places, I won't find the bigger and better I crave! Right? So, for the next 52 weeks, a year, I want to try 52 'ritas. (OR MORE) Heck, why limit myself? Lets set down the rules, 52 'ritas, does not mean 52 new restaurant this year! I might spend some time at the same spots as I have already been, but a different 'rita. For example, the restaurant I went to tonight had at least 10 different margaritas on there menu! For a second example, I would also LOVE to learn how to make the best 'rita possible! So, on weeks that I am just not able to go out, I will stay at home and play around with different ways to make the perfect 'rita.

Next topic, not all 'ritas are created equal, and I am a no fluff kind of lady. Meaning, I want an original type 'rita. No pomegranate or any other strange flavors! I want my 'rita to be green, have some lime, preferably blended with salt. I am OK with a 'rita on the rocks once in a while, not all 'ritas should be blended. However, salt is a must. If they cannot get salt to stick on the glass, then at least give me a salt shaker. Yes, I have done that before. I desire my salt with my 'ritas!

So, lets get started!

Follow me on Twitter @SD_Rita, where I plan on tweeting on location!