mucho margs

Where to eat and drink on Cinco de Mayo: Houston's favorite bars and restaurants fire up feisty fiestas

Raise a margarita at River Oaks hot spot Armandos' two-day Cinco de Mayo bash.

Photo courtesy of Armando's

It's time for Houstonians to celebrate the historic day on May 5, 1862. That date marks the Mexican army's pivotal defeat of the French army at the Battle of Puebla, during the Franco-Mexican War. Contrary to popular perception, May 5 is not Mexican Independence Day, but Cinco de Mayo is a time-honored calendar date in the U.S.

And it's a time to party. Here in Houston, that means local bars, clubs, and restaurants will serve up Mexican fare, beer, and mucho margaritas. Here are some favorite spots for a serious Cinco de Mayo celebration. Fiesta safely, Houston.

Legendary River Oaks hot spot/see-and-be-scene hang Armandos kicks things off on Thursday, May 4 with the restaurant's now-legendary, anything-goes, late-night dance party.

The fiesta continues on Cinco de Mayo proper, with one more late-night bash a DJ spinning danceable tunes. Indulge in classic sips or the extravagant River Oaks Rita ($46), made with Jose Cuervo Reserva de la Familia Tequila, Patron Citronge, fresh lime juice, agave, a house-made “green” salt rim, and a 24-carat gold lime slice.

Tacos A Go Go is spicing things up with irresistible specials and a party on the patio at its Greenway Plaza location. Taco lovers can head to any of the four locations to enjoy $5 elote street corn, $2 Mexican sandy shots, $5 Ranch Water or a bucket of 6 for $25. 7 am.

The five Los Tios bustling locations will serve an all-day happy hour, featuring the famous $5 house margaritas, $6 gold margaritas, plus $1 off beers, plus merch giveaways. Those near the flagship San Felipe location can enjoy a Cinco de Mayo Parking Lot Party from 2 pm to close. Those festivities include a DJ, mariachi, a live donkey for photo opps, food, and more.

Over at Home Run Dugout, enjoy $4 Mexican Beers, $4 Mexican candy shots and $12 margarita flights. Stick around for live music by Los Cool Arrows, starting at 7 pm, and surprise contests with your chance to win a Home Run Dugout gift card. 11 am.

Hilton Americas-Houston will offer a Tacos and Tequila pairing. Enjoy two Blackened Gulf Snapper tacos with avocado crema and charred jalapeño lime slaw and a Classic Margarita with House Tequila for $25. Available at Lobby Bar and 1600 Bar + Grille.

All the Molina’s Cantina locations will have $6.50 Molina’s margaritas during happy hour and mariachis from 6 to 8 pm. To eat, choose from grilled fajitas with beef, chicken, or combo. 11 am.

The Rustic will have live music, drink specials, food features and more! This free event will also feature $5 margaritas (frozen or rocks), $5 Dos Esquis drafts, and $20 Dos Esquis beer buckets. 11 am.

Over at The Union Kitchen's Memorial location, indulge in a mouth-watering three-course dinner for $60, and savor the flavors of Mexico. 11 am.

Chic Montrose Italian steakhouse Marmo will serve up the Margherite ($18), a special, off-menu cocktail featuring Corazón Blanco tequila, cantaloupe, honey, and smoked salt. 11 am.

Axelrad will feature two drinks with Gimmie Gomas, a locally made chamoy. Customers can also enjoy $1 off margaritas all day and enjoy live music starting at 7pm from Mariachi Imperial de America and Andrea Mariachi. Noon.

Houston, Axelrad, April 2016, patio The party is always brewing at Axelrad. Photo by Jamaal Vince Photography

Authentic Mexican eatery Arnaldo Richards’ Picos — or Picos, as it's commonly known — will celebrate outside in the parking lot underneath a 50-foot tent from noon to 11 pm. Look for a cash bar full of Cinco de Mayo drinks and margaritas, a food station offering street tacos, ballpark nachos, and guacamole and chips for purchase, and more. Tunes come courtesy of two DJs and a mariachi band from 6-7 pm. Be sure to grab the goodies and swag. Noon.

Heights Thai favorite Kin Dee will shake it up with two, award-winning margaritas — with a buy two, get one free special from 5 pm to 6:30 pm. Try a sweet and spicy Tom Kha Margarita ($18), featuring Don Julio Blanco, lime juice, Thai herb-infused syrup inspired by the famous Tom Khaki soup, and a kick of galangal. The Butterfly Pea Margarita ($18) is made with Don Julio Silver, Cointreau, fresh lime, and butterfly tea infused with lemongrass syrup.

La Grange will open early, with DJ Blue Heron Yacht Club providing tunes from 7 pm to midnight. The Montrose hotspot will also serve up a special cocktail, called Millionaire Margarita, for $25. Noon.

Downtown favorite El Big Bad's 13th annual blowout will feature liquid nitrogen frozen margaritas — touted as “the coldest frozen margaritas on the planet” — along with $5 house margaritas all night long. In addition, the night will offer a holiday market, face painting, and DJs. The party continues on May 6 with a charity pub crawl (3-7 pm) that benefits MuXerHTX. 1 pm.

Kirby Ice House will celebrate the festive holiday in style with tequila, margaritas, and Mexican beer buckets all day and night. Partygoers who stop by the Memorial or Eastside locations can also enjoy the mariachi bands that will be onsite. Happy hour specials run from 2-7 pm.

The Heights Social will have festive Cinco de Mayo-themed drinks, a special kitchen menu and featured deals on bottles of tequila. A DJ will join the festivities in the evening. 3 pm.

Warehouse 72 will have chef Jaime Salazar’s special, four-course Tres Generaciones Tequila dinner for $99 a person. Enjoy dishes like aguachile de atun, sopes de pollo ahumado, wagyu carne asada, and tres leches cake for dessert. 3 pm.

Bar Louie is offering $7 Dos Sauza margaritas, plus guests can also enjoy the brand-new Rock & Rita on this special holiday. Pair these refreshing drinks with 50% off bar bites such as the trio dips & chips, chicken quesadillas, and other flavorful options. 4 pm.

Cadillac Bar will have a party DJ, along with a mariachi band so you can enjoy live music all night long and dance the night away. There will also be a taco stand with street tacos, cantina nachos, chips & queso, and chips & salsa. 4 pm.

East End Backyard will have a fiesta with music, food, and drinks. Enjoy tacos, tortas, gorditas, quesadillas, and more from La Esquina Food Truck. Mariachi Houston will also stop by to play some of your favorite classic songs. 4 pm.

Hilton Americas-Houston will have a tacos and tequila pairing at the lobby bar and 1600 Bar + Grille. Enjoy two blackened Gulf snapper tacos with avocado crema and charred jalapeno lime slaw and a classic margarita with house tequila for $25. 4 pm.

Houston Cinema Arts Society is teaming up with The Storyhive for "Cinco de Hive-o" bash. Join them for an evening of entertainment featuring Folklorico dance by Ballet Folklorico Herencia Mexicana de Houston, a photo booth, and some fantastic raffle prizes. 5 pm.

Urban South HTX will have a celebration, with a DJ, a taco truck, beer releases, a michelada vendor, a Mexican candy vendor, and more. Also, sign up to paint your very own canterito to take home. 5 pm.

Down on Allen Parkway, Flora will celebrate with festive decor, $8 Flora margaritas, and free pours of Santanera Tequila. In addition, its private dining room will become the Frida Patio Bar. 6-10 pm.

Cinco de Mayo Parties holidays news-you-can-eat

food news roundup

6 things to know in Houston food: Openings, a closing, and more

Photo by Madelynne Grace

Atlantic Ocean recently opened on Washington Avenue.

From an intimate new Italian restaurant in West U. to the surprise shutter of a Midtown pickleball venue, the Houston food scene moves pretty fast. Read on to find out how Winsome Prime is celebrating its anniversary, an Atlanta chef who just opened his first Houston restaurant, and an exciting new dinner series that’s bringing one of Austin’s best chefs to the Heights for a one-night-only meal.

Openings and closings

Osteria di Mercato has opened in West University Place. A sister concept to Mercato and Company, a gourmet grocer that opened last year, the 30-seat, dinner-only restaurant aims to serve traditional Italian fare in an intimate environment. The menu features dishes such as saffron arancini, tuna crudo with passion fruit chili sauce, fettuccine with braised rabbit, smoked ricotta and spinach agnoloti, swiss chard-stuffed quail.

Executive chef Mauricio Alvarado spent 16 years working for various Tony Vallone restaurants, including Ciao Bello, Vallone’s, and Tony’s. The Michelin Guide designated general manager Marco Thompson as Toronto’s sommelier of the year in 2023.

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30-9:30 pm. Reservations are available on Resy.

Atlantic Ocean has opened in the former Passerella space at 6011 Washington Ave. Open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday, the wide-ranging menu offers seafood dishes from around the globe.

Starters include cornmeal-crusted crab cake, chargrilled oysters, clams calabrese, and Moroccan lamb shots. Entrees offer similar diversity, ranging from blackened redfish and grilled branzino with chimichurri and citrus mojo to a soy-martinated ribeye and lobster pasta that’s made with butter-poached claw meat.

Chef-owner Virgil Harper is best known for Toast on Lenox, his acclaimed brunch concept in Atlanta. He’s joined in the kitchen by executive chef and partner Aliyah Watley.

"Atlantic Ocean was created to deliver a dining experience where every detail feels intentional, from the quality of the seafood to the warmth of the service and the atmosphere around you,” Harper said in a statement. “Houston’s dynamic food culture makes it the perfect home for this concept, and we’re excited to share a menu that respects seafood traditions while bringing a fresh, creative perspective."

Midtown pickleball bar Solarium has closed, according to its Instagram page. Opened in April 25, the bar transformed the former Holman Draft Hall space with six outdoor courts and five private rooms to watch the action.

Solarium was a joint venture between the Kirby Group and Rex Hospitality, the restaurant group owned by Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr. and his business partners, Juan Carlos de Aldecoa and Jimmy Doan. Earlier this year, Rex closed its Maven Coffee location in Sawyer Yards to concentrate on its wholesale business that sells coffee products such as cold brew concentrate.

Other news and notes

Zaranda, Hugo Ortega’s California-inspired restaurant in downtown, is now open Sunday. It will serve an a la carte brunch from 11 am-3 pm. Options include cornbread with Mandarin-honey butter; tostada de campechana with octopus, shrimp, raw oysters, cucumber, avocado, ancho-morita purée, Clamato, Maggi, soy, and olive oil; steak and eggs with refried beans, guacamole, salsa, and flour tortillas; Baja breakfast burrito with bacon, chorizo, scrambled eggs, potato, onion, salsa roja y verde, avocado, and cheese-crusted sobaquera; chilaquiles with shredded chicken, sunny-side-up eggs, totopos, salsa verde, crema, and housemade queso fresco; and more. It will also be open for dinner from 4-9 pm.

Winsome Prime is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a limited time menu. The three-course, $50, prix fixe menu includes choices such as chili-glazed shrimp, crab beignets, spinach and artichoke dip, kung pao pasta, and chicken royale. Upgrade to the signature Hawaiian ribeye — a nod to the location once being home to Houston’s — for $10. Choose one of three desserts to complete the meal.

Food events

Doke concepts will host a series of guest chef dinners in April, May, and June. Each evening will begin with champagne and hors d’oeuvres at Lazy Land. Diners will then be driven to The Green Room for a three-course dinner, followed by dessert cocktails and s’mores at Heights & Co. The lineup includes chefs recognized by the Michelin Guide and the most recent winner of the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Texas.

April 15: Joseph Geiskopf, chef and co-owner of The On’ry, a traveling culinary concept based out of Houston, formerly of Ciel and Credence
April 29: Kevin Fink, chef and co-owner of Emmer and Rye Hospitality, which operates Michelin-recognized restaurants Emmer & Rye, Hestia, Isidore, and others.
May 13: Louis Maldonado, a former Top Chef contestant who held one Michelin star at Cortez restaurant in San Francisco.
May 26: Thomas Bille, chef-owner of Belly of the Beast in Spring and 2025 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Texas
June 10: To be announced
June 24: Ryan Lachine, executive chef of State of Grace, formerly chef-owner of Riel

Photo by Madelynne Grace

Atlantic Ocean recently opened on Washington Avenue.

“This dinner party series is designed to give our guests an upscale, unique dining experience while highlighting each of our restaurants' distinct personalities,” Doke Concepts owner Brian Doke said in a statement. “With the help of our incredible guest chefs, we’re confident we’re going to give our guests an unforgettable evening.

Tickets will be available via the Lazy Lane website.

news-you-can-eat openings closings chefs