On The Border, round two, 10/52

On the border, round two. 10/52




There will come a time when I will revisit a place, because I happen to like that place. When I revisit a place, and they have many choices of margaritas on their menu, I will then blog about the 'rita I get, making sure it's not the same as the 'rita I already blogged about. So, on my second visit to OTB, I went for a different 'rita. This time, I went for the "Mercedes Margarita." Different then what I normally would have gotten, but hey, it has Reposado tequila, how could I go wrong?




The 'rita:
For starters, when my "Mercedes Margarita" came to me, the first thing I noticed was there was quite a bit of room between my drink and the rim of the glass. I would guess this drink was missing an ounce or two! Not a great start, but lets give it a try before I develop an opinion. First sip, an eye opener, a tad strong. OK, this could be good, strong means one will do, right? I have learned over the past year of "tasting" margaritas, there are two different types, strong and sweet. It's very rare that a place gets a balance of the two. This 'rita, no different, no balance, all strong. (Not always a bad thing, as long as I have enough salt to make it through to the end.) During the consumption of this 'rita, I noticed an odd thing. The 'rita and the salsa was not a good pairing. After having some chips and salsa, and going back to the 'rita, I noticed an unpleasant flavor in there. UGH, not the best 'rita at all. The salsa and 'rita together produced an almost woodsy taste, like adding a branch as a stir stick. Any way, once I put the salsa down, to finish my 'rita with out the woodsy notes, all was good. Except for the lack of any real buzz. Oh well, next time I will stick with the house 'rita. Better priced and better tasting. This one ended up being $8.99 and not covered in the happy hour special. I'm not sure this one was a bad as a 3 star 'rita, but I sure cannot give it 4 stars. So, I'm gonna have to give this one 3.5 stars.




The food:
The second reason why we pick where we pick when going out. (Ya, the 'rita is the first thing we think about when we choose where to go out.) I'm not gonna lie to you, I have not been the biggest fan of OTB when it comes to food. In my opinion, this place is all about happy hour and the 'rita! But, food is required in life, so here we go. I got the chicken flautas, which are half price on the HH menu, I have gotten them before, and I have been happy with them before. On this particular night that we went, the flautas were not so good, they were actually over cooked. But, I am not the type to say something to the server over a small detail, it really was not that big of a deal. OK, but not perfect. Thats all I really have to say about that.

All in all, not the best visit, but I have been here, at this location, many times and I would go back again. Not the best 'rita and not the best flautas, but it wont stop me from coming back. The service is always wonderful and every one is always so nice.

Please follow me on Twitter to see where I go next! @MamaGMaHaRita

Changing names!

A quick note, not a review, just a name change note. I have found a new twitter home for my blog, I really hope to find followers soon!

@MamaGMaHaRita

Drop on by, follow me and look out for more reviews, soon. Coming up soon, had a great 'Rita, or two, at DownTown Disney!

9/52 Chili's in Poway

Time to hit some new places. Chili's in Poway. To start off with, this is not a place we go to often, my husband is not a huge fan of their food, but the food is not horrible. This really is a place for drinks if you are into drinks. Just my opinion any way. Sometimes it can be loud and not as kid friendly as some would like it to be. We did eat on the dining side, not the bar side, so we did not get to take advantage of HH. (That and we were about a half hour too late.) This particular location is open during a remodel, so, there again, a distraction.




Lets start with the margarita. As I was looking at the menu, the server came up and asked if I wanted a 'rita. HA, YA I DO! But I had not yet looked at all my choices. So, I did what any one would do at this point, ask for a recommendation. I had in mind top shelf, but the menu was a bit confusing, add this, add that, sort of thing. You can get a base 'rita and add a shot of this or a shot of that for different add on prices. Odd, but cool, all at the same time. I asked my server and she gave me the, "Well, um…." I let her know that the choice of 'rita mattered to me, I want the best, because I was going to blog about it. She got totally excited and went for a great suggestion, "Presidente Margarita." This 'rita is top shelf all the way. Sauza Tequila, Patron orange liqueur and Presidente Brandy. A lot of what I have not heard of before, but it sure was a bunch of GOOD! This 'rita came in a shaker, at which the server, Dana, did the first pour and then she handed it to me, I was all on my own now. Now, I am not bad at pouring drinks, but with these shakers, you do have to be careful. The lid was a bit leaky, and a little did spill on the table, WHAT? Tequila on the table? This 'rita was almost good enough to lick the table. Just kidding, I'm not that OCD about my 'ritas! Lets talk about the taste. It started off with a clean start, trailed by some sweet. Not too much sweet, just enough. By middle of the drink, I was still on the fence with the flavor, it was the most original 'ritas so far out of all the 'ritas I have reviewed, but it just was not perfect. I have to say though, I was enjoying the wedge of lime on the rim, as I consumed the beverage, the smell of the lime really added to the drink. Once the 'rita was done, and the buzz was OK, I think I will have to give this 'rita a total of 4 stars. Strong, but not perfect. Well done Chili's.




All right, the food. On this particular night, we really were not in it for the food, it was late and we all had some dinner already. We were happy to stick with appetizers, and we have always wanted to try the Chips and Queso. We were going to get a dessert too, but the Queso was filling enough! The Skillet Queso is a cheese dip with seasoned beef, to be honest, the color was not that great. It was an off-putting color for food indeed. But it was tasty. What I enjoyed the most, was the flavor pairing of the Queso with the 'rita. A great pairing indeed! Of course, this was not something I could of had in place of dinner, but it was a nice end to my long day.

Well, thats just about it. I hope this review was helpful to you, especially if you were to venture to a Chili's for some 'ritas and chips! Please feel free to follow me on Twitter as I look for the best 'rita in San Diego! @SD_Rita.