The Perfect Margarita

Ditch the limeade: Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a perfect margarita

The margarita may be Houston's favorite cocktail, and no one knows more about what makes a good one than Pico's Mex-Mex. For 30 years, the restaurant has been serving its signature perfect margarita to hordes of happy Houstonians.

In order to get some advice about how to make the drink properly for Cinco de Mayo, CultureMap turned to Pico's beverage director Monica Richards, the daughter of chef/owner Arnaldo. In the video above, she takes us through the importance of freshly squeezed lime juice and the value of high-quality tequila. Shaken together with agave nectar and orange liqueur and served straight up, the ingredients come together with the perfect balance of sweet and tart.

Over the four days Houstonians will celebrate Cinco, Richards estimates the restaurant will serve 10,000 margaritas. What to pair with it? Well, TexasMonthly recently named the chilorio pork one of the city's best dishes, and Pico's signature fried soft shell crabs are always a good choice.

Pico's Perfect Margarita Recipe

1 1/2 ounce Herradura Silver tequila
1 ounce Cointreau orange liqueur
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce agave nectar

Fill a shaker with ice. Add lime juice, agave nectar, liqueur and tequila. Shake vigorously. Pour into a martini glass, salt rim optional.

What's Eric Eating Episodes 416 and 417

Houston restaurateurs dish on their 2 globally-inspired concepts

Traveler's Cart exterior

Photo by Jenn Duncan

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On the most recent episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Thy and Matthew Mitchell join CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss their two, globally-inspired restaurants, Traveler’s Table and Traveler’s Cart.

The conversation begins with Matthew Mitchell explaining his decision to leave behind a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry in favor of culinary school and becoming a restaurateur. Thy Mitchell brought experience from working at her family’s restaurant as well as others to the endeavor.

Traveler's Table Matthew Mitchell Thy Mitchell Stanton Bundy Owners Matthew and Thy Mitchell with culinary director Stanton Bundy. Courtesy of Traveler's Cart

After Houstonians responded favorably to Traveler’s Table — as anyone who’s attended its popular weekend brunch service will affirm — the couple created Traveler’s Cart as a more affordable sister concept that would potentially be easier to grow into additional locations. As Matthew explains, choosing to serve street food came with certain requirements.

“The first thing you have to do, which is to be exhaustive in this. You’re not going to have every food cuisine in the world. Some cultures don’t do a ton of street food,” he says. “There’s some things you have to have. Dumplings, some kind of satay or kebab, we debated where to enter the burger or taco wars. You have to enter the game a little bit, but I think there’s some things other people don’t have.”

Listen to the full episode to hear the Mitchells share some behind-the-scenes details from their appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, including how Guy Fieri helped influence the decision to open Traveler’s Cart.

In the previous episode, Sandler and food writer Chelsea Thomas of The Infatuation Houston discuss the news of their week. Their topics include the new dining district coming to downtown’s GreenStreet development as well as the openings of the first Houston-area locations of Portillo’s and P. Terry’s.

In the restaurant of the week segment, Thomas and Sandler discuss their recent meal at the recently-opened Heights location of Dandelion Cafe. Thomas praises the restaurant’s take on breakfast staples such as pancakes and omelets, while Sandler discusses how far the restaurant has come since its first location opened in 2016.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 10 am on ESPN 97.5.

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