First of all, if you like Mexican food, Margaritas, and live music, this restaurant is a Must in Downtown Denver! My family and I visited Denver for the first time, and we stayed downtown following a convention I attended. My wife is vegan and both of our children are over 21. This wonderful restaurant is right on 16th street, has a nice front patio for seating, and the interior bright, colorful, and with high ceilings felt spacious. The seating was varied with traditional height tables, tall tables, bar seating, and even some comfortable couch style seating. Our server was attentive and friendly, and made great recommendations. We even met Esteban, the owner, and had a nice conversation about the amazing food a the wonderfully creative and delicious margaritas while listening to a talented and entertaining band that played a mix of traditional Mexican music and classics. The lead guitarist was extraordinary on both electric and classic Mexican, acoustic guitars.
The food and libations were impressive. First, my wife is vegan and it's often a challenge to find a restaurant that makes both good vegan and non-vegan food, 3 Margaritas nailed it. For starters we got chips (warm and crispy) with good salsa and ordered the very flavorful guacamole. I asked if they had a spicier salsa and was brought their habanero salsa, also home made and very spicy (SO GOOD). My daughter ordered a frozen strawberry margarita, which hit the spot. I tried a creative margarita and ordered the Tamacumber w/ Pueblo Viejo tequila, fresh lime, house made orange syrup, natural tamarind & cucumber over ice and rimmed with some tamarind/chili/lime salt. Perfect! The starter margaritas were refreshing and my Tamacumber was surprising flavorful, tangy, and delicious.
For entrees, my wife and I ordered fajitas. She got the Veggie fajitas w/ black beans (even thought the refried beans were vegan) and it was packed with tons of well seasoned vegetables cooked to perfection. I ordered shrimp with refried beans (worth a visit just for the beans btw!) and was equally pleased with the amount of yummy shrimp, tri-colored peppers, and onions. Fajitas were accompanied by the beans, rice, more guacamole, a pico de gallo topping that included shredded cabbage as a welcomed crunchy element for the dish, and warm tortillas.
My oldest daughter ordered the black bean soup, also a vegan option. It was flavorful, onion, tomatoes, cilantro, lime and more for flavor and crunch. It was served with tortilla chip strips as a topping. She loved it!
My youngest daughter ordered the shrimp ceviche. The presentation was beautiful in a large bowl with a wide rim covered with sliced cucumber, oranges, and tomatoes. The large serving of ceviche itself was filled with of citrusy, well seasoned shrimp, cucumbers, onion, cilantro, tomato, carrots (a surprise, but added a great additional texture and flavor to the dish), and plenty of citrus. She said it was her favorite ceviche she's eaten.
After dinner we stayed around to watch the band and have an after dinner drink. We went with the owner recommendations shown in the picture. I had the Carbón Negro, made with Mia Kasta Mezcál, anchor chili liquor, muddled blue & blackberries, rimmed w/ toasted salt. I don't usually like mezcal, but I can't wait to order this drink again! My daughter had the Mile High Guava margarita with Pueblo Viejo tequila, natural guava, orange syrup & fresh squeezed lime juice. It was another exceptional drink. We also shared another Tamacumber.
This was a spectacular dining experience from start to finish. I can't recommend this restaurant highly enough if you're looking for great Mexican food, creative and delicious margaritas, great local live music, or a welcoming overall dining experience. We will be back again before we leave. read more