Margarita de la Casa

One recent blustery night, suffering from my second cold of the season but feeling like I was coughing up bird feathers and had become the first North American victim of the bird-flu pandemic, I grabbed a few friends to test out this new proverb: "Drink a cold, feed a fever." We decided to conduct our experiment while escaping winter at Señor Rita's -- a new Mexican restaurant/bar that's the latest venture by Mark Gerzin, the fellow who's already brought us the Spot, the Irish Hound, the Elm and Wyman's No. 5 -- and dreaming of a trip south of the border. Our travel plans included sitting by the pool reading trashy novels and drinking margaritas as the shirtless, hot pool boy catered to our every need, fluffing our towels and strutting up with another icy-cold Corona. Fashioned to look like a beach bar, complete with tacky Christmas lights and thirty varieties of beer sitting in ice on the back bar, Señor Rita's certainly has the fun, kitschy feel of a real Mexican joint. Although some of the food made Taco Bell look authentic, the chips and salsa were great. And our liter of Margaritas de la Casa ($18), made with the standard Cuervo Gold and far-from-standard fresh squeezed juice (OJ and lime), was just what the doctor ordered. I was feeling better -- not to mention no pain -- in no time.