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July 1, 2006
View Comments |Las Margaritas and the Rule of Complimentary Appetizers
In all of my experience eating at restaurants, one crucial element sticks out to me among successful establishments: complimentary appetizers. Nothing says you have your stuff together as an eatery like having food to munch on placed in front of you minutes after you are seated.
Noone seems to understand this more than Mexican Restaurants. Most Mexican places always have unlimited complimentary chips and salsa, and I applaud them. I think every restaurant should aim to have this type of thing. Not only are chips and salsa delicious in and of themselves, they actually make customers more patient in waiting for their food seeing as how they already have something to eat. Happier, more patient customers equals satisfied customers. Satisfied customers equals return business.
In Gainesville (Florida) there are many Mexican restaurants, but only one of them is king: Las Margaritas. Not only do they subscribe to the complimentary appetizers rule (as probably required by Mexican law), but they are the only Mexican restaurant in town whose ingredients don't taste like they were haphazardly mixed with some disgusting taco seasoning from the grocery store. Their prices are very affordable, the service is always great, and the server always has a genuinely limited command of english, so you know the place is authentic.
On top of that, I now live in walking/biking distance from the place, so I went there tonight with my roomates and decided to bring a camera along to share the experience.
Recommended Dish : Enchiladas Rancheras
This probably won't mean much to you if you don't live in Gainesville or will never be coming through, but the Enchiladas Rancheras is one of the best dishes you can get at Las Marg. Its comprised of 3 large cheese enchiladas covered in tomatillo sauce, topped with grilled onions and generous portions of shredded pork. At $7.85, it is well worth the money, as you probably won't be able to finish it due to the richness of the ingredients. It comes with guacamole salad an sour cream, which mixes in perfectly with the meat-and-cheese orgasm on the other side of the plate.
The affordability and unwavering quality of Las Margaritas earns it my designation as the Best Mexican In Gainesville. The food never takes too long too come out and the servers are always happy to be there, even when the house is packed. Hours are 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM M-R, 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM F-Sat, and 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Sunday.
For those of you around the interweb, I challenge you to post up pictures of Enchiladas Rancheras from any Mexican restaurant that you think could be better than the one pictured, or to just rant about your favorite local Mexican place.
Posted by Chris Santoro at July 1, 2006 10:55 PM | EatFoo 1.0 Posts
