Where to drink on national margarita day

Where to drink in Houston right now: 17 top-shelf spots to toast National Margarita Day

Eight Row Flint's refreshing 'rita.

Photo via Agricole Hospitality

Not to get too meta, but food holidays are silly. No one should need a PR-driven fake food holiday as the excuse to eat a cheeseburger or oysters or anything else.

And yet, this article is about National Margarita Day, which takes place this Wednesday, February 22. Are we hypocrites? Maybe a little, but we have a good excuse. Promise.

Houstonians love margaritas. On-the-rocks, straight up, or frozen, we consume them at bars and restaurants all over the city — not just Mexican and Tex-Mex. Restaurateurs know this, obviously, and they go all out on margarita day with specials designed to lure all but the most abstemious teetotaler to indulge in a drink or two.

So, yes food holidays are silly, but we love a good deal on delicious drinks. Forgive our hypocrisy. Enjoy a margarita (responsibly) on Wednesday.

Axelrad
The sprawling patio bar will offer both frozen and on-the-rocks margaritas for $5 all day. Wednesday is also steak night.

Blanco Cocina + Cantina
This Mexican restaurant is taking 50-percent off pitchers of its house margarita that serves five people.

Candente
The Montrose Tex-Mex favorite will offer all day happy hour pricing on margaritas, which is $3 off per drink.

Chapman & Kirby
The EaDo bar and restaurant will feature $15 Patrón margarita flights that consist of a Classic Margarita, Blood Orange Margarita, and Jalapeño Pineapple Margarita.

Cucharita
The breakfast and lunch sister concept of Montrose Mexican staple Cuchara will sell its house margaritas for $5. In addition, it will feature a special margarita cake.

Eight Row Flint
Get all day happy hour pricing of $7 per drink on the bar’s margaritas, including its Eight Row rocks margarita and frozen margarita.

El Big Bad
Known for its infused tequilas, the downtown bar and restaurant will feature drink specials, tequila tastings, live music, and more. House margaritas are $1 at 1 pm, $2 at 2 pm, $3 at 3 pm, $4 at 4 pm, and $5 the rest of the night. In addition, DJ Richard Floor + Friends will spin on the rooftop patio all day and night.

Jax Grill
All three locations will feature $4 margaritas all day. Pair it with one of the restaurant's signature cheeseburgers.

The Margarita Social at Common Desk - East End
Presented by Not Too Sweet Ventures, attendees will sample different types of margaritas made with spirits from sponsored brands such as El Tesoro, Herradura, and Mezcal Union. The event will also feature music, a margarita demonstration, and tacos for sale by Caluma Tacos. Proceeds from the $25 tickets benefit Latinos for Education, 7-10 pm.

Molina’s Cantina
Get happy hour pricing of $6.50 on house margaritas all day long at all three locations of the Houston Tex-Mex staple.

Monkey's Tail
The former CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Bar of the Year winner will celebrate margarita day with $6 rocks margaritas, $9 mezcal margaritas, $13 Cadillac margaritas, and discounts on frozens ($9 for small and $13 for large).

Southside Sporting Club
The massive sports bar in Stafford will offer frozen margaritas for $2.50 from 4-8 pm.

Swallow's Nest
This cocktail bar inside downtown’s Finn Hall is offering $5 margaritas. Options include traditional, blood orange, and mango. Spice it up with jalapeño-infused tequila

Tacos A Go Go
All four locations will feature $2 house margaritas for both dine-in and to-go. In addition, get a half-gallon of chilled margaritas for $10.

The Taco Stand
Get both canned and frozen margaritas for $5 all day at this Heights-area taco spot. Use code 5MARG for online orders.

Tulum HTX
Newly opened in EaDo, the tropical-inspired bar and restaurant will feature a number of specials, including Mayan Margaritas (small, $5/large, $8) $7 frozens, $5 tequila shots, and buckets of Cerveza Sol or Tecate for $15.

Urbe
Hugo Ortega’s street food restaurant in Uptown Park will off happy hour pricing on margaritas all day. In addition, the restaurant’s signature “Greatest Margarita Ever Sold” — made with Gran Centenario Añejo Tequila and 25-year-aged Grand Marnier — is discounted from $29 to $18. The restaurant will also feature a flight of margaritas from its sister concepts Hugo's, Caracol, Backstreet Cafe, and Xochi.

where-to-drink holidays cocktails

truffle masters recap

Street corn shines at Houston's truffle-powered chef competition

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.

One of Houston’s top Mexican restaurants took the top prize at this year’s Truffle Masters competition. Victoria Elizondo, chef-owner of Cochinita & Co., bested 24 other Houston chefs with Elotitos, corn brushed with chiltepin aioli, dusted with seven chile spice, and finished with shaved truffles and Parmesan.

“The team killed it last night,” Elizondo wrote on Instagram. “We won 1st place at @thetrufflemasters all while having fun and cooking with love! Food doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to be made with corazón!”

The attention couldn’t have come at a better time. As CultureMap reported last month, Cochinita & Co. is currently in the process of opening a second location in Lindale Park. Customers can invest in the project via the NuMarket platform in exchange for credits at the restaurant.

Second prize went to Camaraderie in the Heights for its black sesame and black truffle gelato, while Cocody, a French restaurant in River Oaks, took third place for its truffle-shaped Lollys Persillade Escargot Cromesquis, essentially an escargot lollypop with with black truffle and quail egg in the middle.

Montrose sushi restaurant Soto won People’s Choice with its Engawa fin muscle with truffle balsamic unagi sauce, kizami, and chocolate black truffle masago arare. Aniket Bhingare, a bartender at Michelin-starred restaurant Musaafer, won the cocktail competition with his Pour Me a Slice, made with truffle and herb-infused and a clarified mix of roma tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, basil, and truffle oil.

Other standout dishes included a Yukon Gold potato with truffle brown butter from Michelin-recognized sushi restaurant Hidden Omakase, truffle s’mores from Israeli-inspired steakhouse Doris Metropolitan, beef tartare and truffle ice cream from fine dining sushi restaurant Katami, and Credence’s truffle duck sausage with plums and truffles. Maximo, a Mexican restaurant in West U., maximized (sorry) its truffle usage with a Cachetada de Barbacoa Taco, made with nixtamalized truffle tortilla, truffle-braised barbacoa, and sottocenere al tartufo cheese with black garlic-habanero salsa

More than 350 attended the sold-out affair, which took place at the Astorian events space in Sawyer Yards. The judging panel include both media members (such as this author) and hospitality pros. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the KNOWAutism Foundation.

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.