Here, for reveling purposes, are five Denver places that make a good marg.
Lola, 1575 Boulder Street There's plenty of debate over whether margaritas taste best with triple sec, grand marnier or cointreau, but if you're of the coin-style camp, Lola is where you want to go. The eatery has a long list of coin-style margs that should satisfy just about any tequila drinker in the city. Our favorite entrant is the tart and smoky D'Oro Coin, a coin-style sipper made with El Jimador añejo tequila and cointreau. Hurry and grab a happy-hour seat on the enclosed patio, which should be particularly nice today.
El Diablo, 101 Broadway We hardly need an occasion to spend an evening at the bar at El Diablo, noshing on chips and salsa and drinking through the tequila- and mezcal-focused cocktail list. But in honor of this holiday, we might post up there with a Picoso, a tequila-and-lime sipper infused with muddled jalapeños. We realize this might be cheating a little, but since the base of a margarita really just has to be tequila, lime and some sort of sugar, we think it counts. Ask for more simple syrup if the combination is too spicy. And go early: El Diablo has a special Republic Tequila dinner tonight.
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, 1525 Blake Street The Rio's margaritas are a gateway to a hangover, not only because they're allegedly pumped full of Everclear, but because they're so sugary they coat your teeth. But they're also something of a Denver institution, and we'll occasionally fight the hordes at the LoDo location (there are others along the Front Range, but this one's the best) in order to go the three-drink limit on a truly debauched evening out.
La Loma, 2527 West 26th Avenue When we think house marg, we think of something very specific, made with tequila, triple sec and some sort of sweet citrus blend that creates a truly quaffable drink. Using 30-30 Reposado, triple sec and sweet and sour mix, La Loma makes a damn good house marg, available frozen or on the rocks in a couple of different sizes, including one that looks like a birdbath.
Your own home, or anywhere that will mix you a Tommy's Margarita We've tasted our way through plenty of margaritas, and we've got special places in our heart for everything from the frozen variety made with a terrible mix to the standard tequila-lime-triple sec (or, uh, grand marnier) to the coin style. But our very favorite is also one of the simplest: the Tommy's Margarita, made famous by Tommy's Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco.
Here's the recipe: Tommy's Margarita
2 oz. tequila 1 oz. fresh lime juice 1 oz. agave nectar
Shake, serve over rocks.
You could make that yourself, but we're also willing to bet that just about any bar in Denver has the tools to mix one for you. We've ordered Tommy's margs at both Steuben's and Colt and Gray.
