Wild Salsa

I’m always stoked to try new places and the new taco joint (if you can call it a joint) on Main was a pleasure.  Upon walking up to the front door, I was worried that the entire place would take the lead of the awkward sign in front, but it certainly didn’t. 

The decor was complete with backlit Patron bottle columns (top right), authentic Día de los Muertos art from Mexico City, and a curtain separating the walkway from the bar seating area with rose designs on them.  It was quite a festive atmosphere and I look forward to heading back to explore the concrete bar further - it spanned half the restaurant!

The patio was lit by large string lights and was complete with tables and one in particular with a fire pit smack dab in the middle.  I look forward to heading back to enjoy the patio when it dips below triple-digit temperatures to watch the beautiful people frequenting the adjacent Mercantile pool.

Once at our table, our waitress recommended the Wild Rita … the Wild Rita was no slouch.   It was spicy, fragrant, rimmed with chili-lime salt, and it was BIG.  I’d give the drink a AAA rating - and I don’t even like tequila!  They also have Negra Modelo, Dos Equis, and Bud light on tap, a drink list with five interesting margaritas and six cocktails to choose from.

The only thing better than the margarita was the food.  The chips were just about average, but the avocado salsa was to die for; it’s no wonder that this place is called Wild Salsa (I went through two bowls myself before our food came).  They offer other salsas for a cost and sadly my dinner guest didn’t feel the need to try them … bummer.  I partook in the three-taco platter with rice and beans and tried three different ones … including a “lengua”, or beef tongue, and it was delicious!  They use local ingredients and they are listed on a chalkboard at the front of the shop.  

Bottom line: I like a swanky place that can still keep its focus on the food and drink, and Wild Salsa does just that.  Definitely put a night aside to jump in here and enjoy the unique fare and strong drinks.

Extra info: they have a great wait staff, everyone is very friendly.  Food is served late on Fridays and Saturdays (but I don’t know how late).  ALSO, they may be opening for some serious late-night drunk taco action because they have what looks like a to-go window on Main. 

Drink strength: 4.5
Overall: 4 

Wild Salsa 
www.wildsalsarestaurant.com
1800 Main St (Downtown) | 214-741-WILD

Specials:
Monay-Friday | 4-7 p.m. | $3.50 beers, $4 house margaritas, $4 wells 

mario sabino’s

Thanks to one of my delightful readers, Candace Drury, I knew about this little gem of a watering hole.

I’ll start by saying that it’s kind of tough to find … not really tough but it’s just further than you’re probably accustomed to driving down Lemmon to find good margaritas (cite: Uncle Julio’s and Gloria’s). When you find this place, though, sit your butt down and order a margarita as fast as your mouth can say the words. They have margaritas that will make your head spin (both because they are good and because they are so strong). Blackberry, blueberry, guava, and pineapple along with their traditional margarita are available.

The happy hour hours aren’t anything to snear at … it’s all day every week day. Not bad, eh? It’s nice to have the chance to take your time getting to happy hour and not worry about missing last happy hour call.  As my mom said, “It’s always happy there!”

The place is good for some margaritas, that is for SURE. For food, I’d stick with something simple. It’s really pretty generic food (not bad at all, just generic) so just some queso with your margaritas is probably the best plan.

Candace told me to ask for Pancho because he is the best but he wasn’t working the day I was in. It wasn’t a big deal because the rest of the staff is snappy and incredibly friendly. I asked our waiter to have a blueberry margarita ready for my mom when she met us and he set it down less than 30 seconds after she sat down - frozen as it could be. Mario is usually there hanging out at the bar overseeing his staff. I don’t know where “Sabino” came from, but it’s comforting when the owner uses his own name — or at least part of it.

Drink strength: 4.3
Overall: 3.6 

Mario Sabino’s
www.mariosabinos.com
5404 Lemmon Avenue | (214) 599-9744

Specials:
Sunday | after 4 p.m. | $2 house margaritas
Monday-Friday | all day | $3 house drinks (including mojitos), $6 specialty drinks

iron cactus

When Iron Cactus says they have the biggest happy hour in Texas, they aren’t kidding - I think their only rival would be The Oasis on Lake Travis!  Three patios and an inside bar area comprise the happy hour wonderland that is Iron Cactus.  Their drink options include wells, domestics, and margaritas for incredibly reasonable prices … along with half-price appetizers to keep you from floating away. 

While the wait staff is friendly, the service here leaves a little something to be desired but the slow service gives you time to watch the wait staff on the street level patio chasing the pigeons away.  Make sure you ask for chips because your waiter may not bring them automatically and if you ask for an extra lime or ketchup … you better be prepared to wait.

Watch the clock because they won’t give you a last call for happy hour; but you may be able to convince your server to double up your last drink to make the happy hour a little longer.

Drink strength: 3.5 
Overall: 3

Iron Cactus Mexican Grill & Margarita Bar
www.ironcactus.com
1520 Main Street | (214) 749-4766

Specials:
Monday-Friday 4-7 p.m. and Monday-Saturday 11 p.m. - close | $3.00 house wines, wells, beers, small margs (rocks or frozen), mexican martinis, Texas tea, 1/2 price appetizers (available throughout the restaurant and not just in the bar!)

monica’s aca y alla

We’re in a recession, right?  Well, whether your wallet is hurting or you just like to get a lot of bang for your buck, you need to head over to Monica’s.  We brunched on Sunday and for the three of us to share queso and each have three drinks and an entree, we only spent $11 each!

The prices aren’t the only appealing thing … the food was to DIE for.  They had white queso that’s the best queso I’ve had in Dallas - hands down.  We all loved our meals and our waiter, Pedro, was very friendly and hooked us up with an “extended” happy hour.

The clientele was INCREDIBLY varied.  There were Nebraska fans watching the football game (there are 2 TVs), a couple tables of Deep Ellum residents, and an older couple.  At the end of our meal, we were the only people in the restaurant which was nice because we had full run of the TV!

Definitely try this place!  Good food, amazing drink specials, free valet on the weekends, and dancing after dinner on Saturday.  What more could you want?

Drink strength: 3
Overall: 4

Monica’s Aca Y Alla Restaurant
www.monicas.com
2914 Main St | Dallas, TX 75226 
(214) 748-7140‎

Specials:
Tuesday | all night | 1/2 price food (selected items only)
Wednesday | $0.75 margaritas (with purchase of entree - limit 3)
Thursday | all night | $4.50  Tex-Mex, $3.50  happy hour
Friday | all night | $3.00 happy hour
Saturday | Live Music and dancing
Sunday | (til 3 p.m.) $1.00 Mimosas & Margaritas, $2.50 Bloody Mary & Screwdriver (night) $4.50 Top shelf Margaritas, Flavored Margaritas and well drinks

primo’s tex mex

For a good two years, every Sunday evening you could find me at the same place.  It was a tradition that my friend Sam and I would grab a table on the porch of Primo’s and sip meltdowns while observing Dallasites in their natural habitat.  You could see families, couples on their first date, and sixty-somethings trying to hit on the sweet young things at the next table.

The varied clientele is there because of the fantastic location, the awesome drinks, and the great food.  You can order a yummy salad, tacos, or the very surprising hamburger (try it! really!) along with a meltdown to wash it all down.  I guarantee, two meltdowns and you’ll see why everyone loves this place (get the magic trick that is the queso flameado and you’ll never leave!).

Tuesday is the best night to try Primo’s due to the $2 margaritas - make sure you get there somewhat early to get a good table.  As for the weekends, it’s a great place to start your night, and for that matter, to end it (Primo’s has saved me many-a-weekend-night if I missed dinner by keeping their kitchen open late).

Enjoy the scenery and the meltdowns … after all, it’s a Dallas tradition!

Drink strength: 3.5
Overall: 4.2

Primo’s Tex Mex Grill
www.primosdallas.com | @primostexmex
3309 McKinney Ave | Dallas
(214) 220-0510

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 3-7 p.m. | $1 off mixed drinks and beers, $3 margaritas
Tuesday | all day | $2 margaritas
Saturday & Sunday | $8.99 bottomless mimosas

Check out Primo’s new catering offers … perfect for holiday parties!  Primo’s Catering Menu

jorge’s tex mex

While I love to tell you how great bars are, I also love to tell you which ones not to waste your time on.  I had high hopes for Jorge’s because, let’s face it, I like that they spell George with a J (should out to my Cuban friend, Dr. J!).  Sadly, my experience here wasn’t great.

When we walked in we were sold on choosing Jorge’s over The Screen Door because I spotted the word “bottomless” on the brunch menu.  So my sister and I ordered a quick meal before heading to the Winspear.  I ordered the bottomless mimosa and, while it arrive in a cool, stemless champagne glass, it had ice in it … ICE IN A MIMOSA!  I could have overlooked the ice if it tasted a little better; it tasted like it was made with cheap orange juice.

Our meal was just OK and the service was pretty bad.  Everyone was friendly and attentive enough … when we saw them.  The staff seemed to be too enthralled in the lumberjack competition on ESPN to be bothered with customers.  We actually had to walk up to the bar to get our check.

A third guest joined us late and ordered the mimosa and was told only after she got it that it would be regular price since she hadn’t ordered a meal.  I understand rules but sometimes you have to learn to break them in the name of customer service.

Don’t waste your time on this mediocre restaurant when you have such great choices all around you in One Arts Plaza - life is too short to drink bad drinks and eat bad food!

Drink strength: 2
Overall: 2

Jorge’s Tex Mex Cafe
www.jorges.com
1722 Routh St (in One Arts Plaza)
(214) 720-2211

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 2-6 p.m. | $5 house margaritas, $6 wells and select wines by the glass
Saturday & Sunday | $6 bottomless mimosas (with purchase of entree)

chuy’s

I suppose it was inevitable that I would end up reviewing a chain.  While I don’t love chains, this one wasn’t too shabby aside from one major hitch in the giddy-up (since this site is for Dallasites, I feel that I can use Texasisms!).

$3.50 margaritas usually wouldn’t impress me but these come in a hefty glass and you get your choice of regular, strawberry, or swirl (sadly, sangria swirls are extra).  Our bartender, DJ, was quite efficient and friendly but the other bartender working wasn’t much of either.  We ordered an appetizer and it arrive very quickly.

Now for the hitch: Chuy’s draw for happy hour isn’t so much their drink specials as it is their corvette trunk full of free chips and queso.  The dip and such usually are a great perk, but there were three people who had to wait 4-1/2 minutes for bowls for the queso.  A fellow happy hour-goer offered his thoughts on the matter.

“While the incident was regrettable, I’d say it didn’t affect my happy hour experience overall, but if you’re asking me to critique the service industry I would say they definitely failed in their attentiveness to the situation.  It would have been nice if someone was quicker to recognize people had assembled in front of their ‘appetizer buffet’ looking confused and bowlless.  I think it goes a long way if a server let’s you know they’re working on it and people probably wouldn’t care about waiting a few minutes in that situation.  It’s four and a half minutes of my life I’ll never get back.”

Thanks for your comments, Mark!  ;)

Overall, Chuy’s wasn’t a bad pick, just try to take your own bowl with you so you don’t have to leave your happy hour buddy all alone at the bar.

Drink strength: 3

Chuy’s
www.chuys.com
4544 Mckinney Ave | Dallas, TX 75205-4214
(214) 559-2489

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 4-7 p.m. | Fully loaded nacho car, $3.50 Margaritas, $6.75 house Texas martinis, $2.75 domestic beers

the hacienda on henderson

All I can say is, “What a night.”  Not only is a Tuesday at Hacienda $3 margarita night, but  as it turns out, it’s also the night they bring in liquor companies to hand out samples.  Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves.

I got there before everyone else and the waitress took the time to have a chat with me so I wasn’t sitting alone for too long (how nice!).  When my friends got there … menus were distributed and it came time not for the decision of WHICH tex-mex tapa to try, but which to try first.  Mouths watering, we ordered our tapas and margaritas and partook in the chips and salsa.

The food was great and the margaritas were even better.  You can add a shot of “infused” tequila (choose from strawberry, pineapple, and mango habanero) for only $2 - and they sure pack a punch.

Fun things about Hacienda:  a great porch, a great location, live music Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, free booze from promotors on Tuesdays, and a kitchen that stays open til 2 a.m. (perhaps an homage to Cuquita’s which was formerly housed nearby).

Drink Strength: 3

The Hacienda on Henderson
www.haciendaonhenderson.com | @haciendadallas
2326 N Henderson Ave | Dallas, TX 75206 
214-515-9990

Specials:
HAPPY HOUR DAILY | 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. | $1 off all drinks
Tuesday | $3 house margaritas and $3 tapas
Sunday |  brunch 11am-3pm

trece

I’ve heard about the ladies night at Trece but always seem to be busy on Thursdays. I finally made it in and it was quite interesting. Trece has always been a magnet for the lounge lizards of Dallas and the Thursday before Halloween was no exception. We rubbed elbows with Balloon Boy, pirate hookers, and a cute sailor who just happened to be our waiter.

My friend was running a bit late so I grabbed a booth in the bar area. No less than three waiters tried to serve me before she even got there. The ladies night blueberry mojito was really good (even though they haven’t changed the prices on their menu) but their frozen drink machines weren’t working.

The free quesadillas were pretty yummy even if it was a small portion. Our dinner (which we shared) was simple and quite good but a bit expensive.

Overall, it was a somewhat expensive night even though it was ladies night. Maybe try a Monday when they offer a free two-course meal (seriously).

Trece
www.trecerestaurant.com
4513 Travis St | Dallas, TX 75205-4126
(214) 780-1900

Specials:
Monday | free two-course meal (you must make a reservation, no more than 6 per party)
Thursday | 4-9 p.m. | ladies night - free quesadillas, $3 mojitos and margaritas, free valet parking
Sunday | family day - 3-course meal $15.95, kids 15 and under eat free

cuba libre

Truth be told, my group was set on Vickery Park for brunch.  Since the wait was going to take quite a while, we took a walk down the street and ducked into Cuba Libre to check out their drink specials.  DING DING DING, WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER … $5 bottomless mimosas and bellinis and $5 bloody marys AND their patio is dog friendly (my best friend’s dog, Leo, tagged along for brunch).

We gathered around the table and our waiter took our drink orders (though we could tell the idea of alcohol made him shudder from his activities the night before).  There were so many tempting options on the menu for food we had trouble picking so we made some snap decisions, laid back, and sipped our drinks.

The bellini is frozen and very sweet, one was enough so it was great that they let us switch between the bellinis and mimosas with our bottomless deal.  The first round of bloody marys were had to stomach.  They weren’t very strong and they tasted quite terrible actually.  When the manager came around to check on us, I let him know how I felt about the bloody mary and he apologized.  Two minutes later we saw him run across the street and come back with a bottle of bloody mary mix - what a champ.  Needless to say, round two was much better!

In the future, I’d say that you can’t go wrong with the steak and egg tacos and their delightful blood orange mimosa.  That’s what I’ll be having on my next brunch trip!

Cuba Libre
www.cubalibredallas.com
2822 N Henderson Ave | Dallas, TX 75206
(214)827-2820

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 4-7 p.m. | $2 off specialty drinks, $20 pitchers frozen drinks
Tuesday | all day | 1/2 off frozen drinks
Wednesday | all day | 1/2 price mojito pitches
Saturday & Sunday | until 4 p.m. | $5 bottomless mimosas and bellinis, $4 bloody marys