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