Margaritas, Mayhem, and Messages

Two Jersey girls walk into a bar and order a margarita.  But it was no joke.  At least not for the bartender at Bua at 122 St. Marks Place in the East Village; she handled the patrons in this buzzing, cozy, brick-walled establishment with ease, laughing and conversing with them, all the time moving and working, multitasking with finesse.  It took her approximately 10 minutes to acknowledge Cindy and me, but it was well worth the wait.  I watched her prepare the drinks from a distance at the other end of the bar: lime juice from a plastic squeeze bottle which we prayed was real lime juice, Herradura, and a short squirt of agave.  She gave it two quick shakes and served it with a straw in a tall glass filled with ice and rimmed with flaky sea salt.  These top-shelf margaritas at first sip were tart, crisp, and clean as a Granny Smith apple, but after the second sip I was able to suck it down like it was merely lemonade. I finished it too quickly, as I was thirsty from our hot sunny walk from the subway station.  The slight heady buzz was worth the $13 plus tip.

 Our next stop was Empellon on 105 First Avenue but, alas, we arrived there too early.  They didn’t open until 5:30 and so we had an hour to kill - but not to worry.  We took a walk to Avenue B, passing the gorgeous Tompkins Square Park on the way, filled with fuchsia rosebushes, Congo drums beating somewhere in the distance.  Our next stop was to be a small Mexican restaurant but upon arriving there, the restaurant was clearly abandoned - dark and empty, graffiti on the windows.  Our hearts sank; our quest for the best margarita in the East Village was on a downward spiral.  “But wait”, I said, checking the spreadsheet Cindy had created, “This isn’t the right address”.  We needed 179 Avenue B, not 170.  And there ahead of us, across the street, was the name Mercadito – clearly they had moved on to a bigger and better location, and what a little gem this place was, all décor, atmosphere, and upbeat music.  And happy hour on a Saturday!  As we were seated at a table, we were not able to observe the making of the margarita, but I did glimpse the bartender shaking the drinks to the beat of the salsa music.  These drinks arrived in short salt-rimmed glasses along with a small dish of guacamole and chips.  Divine all around.  I sensed a bit of sweet and sour mix or possibly triple sec in these drinks as they were ever so slightly sweet, and halfway through finishing it, I clearly was starting to feel the alcohol.  We then ordered a second round along with fish tacos and I could feel these margaritas had the potential to knock me off my feet, and I was glad we were eating.  The fish tacos were absolutely delicious so we then ordered a plate of shrimp tacos.  These tacos were simply some of the most flavorable (I know that’s not actually a word) foods I have ever eaten, and hands down the best $5 margarita(s) you will probably ever find. 

 Clearly someone was cheering for us!

Since we spent a good deal of time at Mercadito, it was time to head back to Empellon as their doors were now open for business.  In our research for the best margaritas in East Village, this place was voted number one for “Classic Margarita”.  Upon entering, at first I felt slightly intimidated, as this clearly was an upscale place and we were dressed casually, but we were warmly greeted and shown to the bar area.  The bartender was a slight and pale but very friendly man who set to work on our margaritas right in front of us.  Lime juice, tequila, and agave.  His shaking technique was interesting; very slow at first and then he rocked it hard.  There were three plates of fine sea salt in varying muted colors and he first rimmed our glasses on a fresh orange slice.  Somewhat to my disappointment, he only used one of the salts on our glasses, but then I saw he rimmed only one side, covering approximately half an inch down the side of the glass, and he got points for that little bit of creativity.   Cindy and I were getting texts from our husbands that they were now in the area and were on their way to meet us for dinner, so I knew our little tequila-laden adventure was soon to end.  We enjoyed these margaritas and the environment and the friendly banter of the bartender.  I asked him the ingredients for the drink, just to confirm:  lime juice, tequila, and agave.  And again: lime juice, tequila, and agave.  That’s it.  Pure and simple.  End of story. The classiest classic margarita you will ever have will be at Empellon. 

 

The Classiest

All told, we had five margaritas that day, the last one being at Hearth, the restaurant where we went for dinner.  It was as good as all the prior ones but at that point I almost had to force it down! 

So, what did I learn from this little foray into the world of lime and tequila?  Well, if you want a syrupy sweet limey drink or a frozen concoction, you’ll have to visit your local sports bar or chain restaurant.  They’ll have none of that here in the East Village.  The one regret of the day was that we did not have time to visit The Wayland, where their “garden variety margaritas” are infused with kale ginger juice, but there will be other sunny summer days when the thirst for tart and tequila will eventually bring us to that spot.