StL Adventures: #57

February 24, 2011

StL Adventure #57: Drink an avocado mango margarita from El Borracho.

Just a few weeks in and already “My List” as it has become known is serving its purpose fabulously. My list of 70+ things to do in St. Louis this year was more than just a challenge – I was hoping it would help me find some “hidden gems” around the St. Louis and discover new places to love and frequent. Now admittedly they aren’t all “hidden” gems. Some of them I’ve known about for a long time, but never visited. Others, for all I know, could be the most happening spot in the city.

But that’s the problem I’m trying to solve with this list…I always want to go into the city. For dinner, drinks, music or whatever. But aside for a handful (a good sized handful at that) of places that we’ve discovered by recommendation or chance, I never know where to go. So we go to the same places over and over.

The same day I posted my list, when my friend Jenny rang up and asked if we wanted to go to dinner, I was pumped to pick a place on the list. We picked El Borracho – a Mexican restaurant downtown.

When we pulled up, it was pretty plain from the outside. An unassuming little brick corner spot I’d never seen before. The kind of place that would catch my eye, but I’d surely never wander into because for whatever reason, I never have the nerve to go wandering into places. You just never know if it 1) is gross 2) is insanely expensive 3) requires you to be dressed like you just fell off a runway and into a Mexican restaurant.

Interestingly enough, this problem never plagues me if we’re visiting a different town/city. What is that about??

So in we went and I was instantly glad! It was dimly lit (points for that!), full of all sorts of odd, brightly colored decorations, strings of lights and colorful lanterns and a generally awesome atmosphere.

We grabbed a booth and I eyed the Avocado Mango Margarita that I’d come to try. I don’t have any strong feelings about avocado. I love mango. I worship margaritas. I figured it would be fine, so I ordered it.

Here’s what she looks like:

A little disturbing in color. And thickness. The thickness was what threw me at first. Unlike your standard margarita, it was a little thick, almost like a smoothie but not quite that thick. I’d had zero reservations about drinking an avocado mango margarita until I stirred it. But I took a sip anyway…

And she was delicious!! I loved it!  The more I drank, the more I liked it. (Go figure, right?).

We’d mentioned to the waitress that we’d come to El Borracho specifically to try this margarita since I had a goal of completing most of the just-published list. Not long after I got my margarita, the manager came by to chat. Except I didn’t know he was the manager, I just thought he was a random dude from the bar and he was all “Are you the girl doing the list?” and I’m like “Yeah! Are you doing the list too?” and he’s all “No dude that’s my margarita on the list! I made the list!”

We chatted about the list and the margarita and the general fabulousness of El Borracho.

I’m an extra big fan of any place where the staff – top to bottom – is cool enough to shoot the breeze with patrons in a sincere way, not in a “Can I get you another water” bull shit kind of way. More points for that.

And let me just say – they got big points for the food! Admittedly, I’m pretty easy to please with food. Gourmet, drive-thru, or dive bar – I just like food. Aside for a few sad visits to Applebee’s I can’t think of a single time in my life I’ve gone out to eat and disliked my food. But the tacos, burritos and especially the rice were all excellent. I’m told the fajitas are also great so I have no choice but to return and try those.

So the list is off to an excellent start because El Barracho will be added to our regular location of places to grab good drinks and good food in a fun atmosphere.

St. Louis Adventure #57, complete. And we didn’t stop there, after the margarita we moved on to another item from the list, so stay tuned!

As a side note…I hope these posts will be fun for you to read, encourage you to try new places or at the least break up the monotony of your work day. I know fun photos will add to all of that – but I’m also making a real effort to not spend my entire life behind a camera unaware of what’s actually happening around me. So please accept the fact that these posts will only include a few photos each. K? Thanks.


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