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The perfect margarita, just in time for Cinco de Mayo |
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Written by Morgan Kriz/Tahoe World
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
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Although May 5 falls on a Monday this year, it is not stopping many restaurants around the area of celebrating this Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo is not like the 4th of July for Americans. In fact it is not even a federal holiday in Mexico, but instead marks the anniversary of the initial victory of Mexican forces over French forces in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.
Just like the non-American holiday Saint Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo has been hyped up even though most people who "celebrate" it are not of Mexican descent.
However, who needs a reason when there are deals on Corona and tequila shots? (And if you are looking for a reason to celebrate this Cinco de Mayo, celebrate freedom and liberty, two ideals both Mexicans and Americans have fought to protect.)
 With that motivation, we have a list of what is going on around the North Shore and Truckee for Cinco de Mayo.
Hacienda de la Sierra
931 Tahoe Blvd. in Incline Village
(775) 831-8300
The Hacienda de la Sierra offers five nights of Cinco de Mayo. The long-standing Mexican restaurant offers family style dining with a laid-back authentic atmosphere. The Hacienda has been throwing a Cinco de Mayo bash for more than 22 years and just in the past decade have been making cinco days of celebration on the North Shore.
Starting Thursday, May 1 the annual Incline Village Board of Realtors Affiliate Party will kick off the five-day celebration. On Friday, May 2 head to the Hacienda for a Mexican dining experience and fundraising event where $5 from every meal (off a special menu) will be donated to the local Boy Scout Troop 37 to help finance their canoe trip to the Northern Tear this June. The special dining menu is created with the price point that patrons would want to help out the troop and includes a beer, margarita or bottomless soft drink. The night is usually a great success and the dinner will go all night long, starting at 4 p.m.
The 5th Annual Tequila Tasting Party will start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Selected tequila aficionados and regular customers will participate in a blind taste test of nine different tequilas. The tequila is paired with appetizers set up by Hacienda chef Martin Torrez. The panel will choose a winner of each category (añejo, reposado and blanco) and decide the overall “best in show” tequila that will remain on the Hacienda menu for a year.
Sunday, May 4 is special for kids with a family night filled with food, games, clowns a balloon sculpture, coloring contest and activities for the kids. The party for all ages will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
 The annual Cinco de Mayo Bash will take place appropriately on Monday, May 5 with live music, limited T-shirt giveaways that promotes “helping the earth and save water by drinking tequila.” The restaurant coverts its outside deck into a heated tent over the patio. The night always lives up to its reputation.
The Hacienda de la Sierra has been making margaritas for many years and while they continue to serve their original exotic flavors (raspberry, peach, strawberry, mango and banana) they also offer a variety of creative margaritas that will leave you wanting to dance the Cha Cha.
Casa Baeza
10004 Bridge St. in Truckee (across from the Post Office)
(530) 587-2161
Casa Baeza will be offering Cinco de Mayo specials all day long. Specials include pitchers of margaritas for $15 (regular price $21), well tequila pitcher of margaritas for $10 and beers for $2. Casa Baeza will open its doors at regular time, 11:30 a.m. and will serve food all day long.
The deals on pitchers of margaritas can’t be beat and many locals believe are the best around the North Tahoe for their value. Customers can order any type of tequila with the margaritas for the same price (on the $21 pitchers). For $15 on Cinco de Mayo, get your friends together and enjoy drinking on the cheap. The house tequila is Pedro Morales Tequila, but can be switched out for Casadores or any type of tequila they offer. Pitchers can serve up to four people.
Pete N' Peters
395 North Lake Blvd., in Tahoe City
(530) 583-2400
Pete N' Peters will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with tequila specials and Coronas will be $2.50 all night long. It all starts at 5 p.m., come in and shoot some pool, throw some darts, play a game of foosball or shuffleboard.
El Toro Bravo
10186 Donner Pass Rd. in Truckee
(530) 587-3557
El Toro Bravo features a Cuatro de Mayo and deck opening party on Sunday, May 4. They will feature free raffles, prizes, food and drink specials and a DJ will start at noon. Happy hour prices will continue all day from noon to about 6 p.m. Everything will happen on the large outside deck, including music and specials.
On Cinco de Mayo El Toro Bravo will feature its regular happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with food and drink specials. If the nice weather continues the deck will stay open.
 La Esmeralda
930 Tahoe Blvd., in Incline Village
(775) 831-3551
La Esmeralda, in Incline Village, is hosting a Cinco de Mayo celebration all weekend long. Starting on “Free Taco Friday,” saddle up because every beverage you order, you get a free taco along side. You can choose between a shredded chicken or ground beef taco for the special, but they also offer fish and veggie tacos and other items on the menu served with homemade guacamole. This special continues throughout the spring, but you can’t beat free tacos and don’t forget about the free chip and salsa bar too.
Many drink specials will be happening all weekend with $10 buckets of beer, giveaways during happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m., happy hour prices in the Cantina all weekend and a family day on Sunday. Kids always eat free with an adult on Sundays at La Esmeralda, but this Sunday will feature games and giveaways for the kids.
Having a margarita at La Esmeralda in Incline Village is very mellow and personable. The bar is located upstairs in a loft-type space with plenty of seating at tables or at the authentically blue tiled bar. While they have a variety of recipes for margaritas, the highlighted margarita is The House Margarita. It comes in a slushy form with a variety of flavors; mango, raspberry, banana, strawberry, wild or mixed berry, just to name a few. The margaritas are made from a purée, mixed with a margarita mix, tequila and blended together with ice. Salt on the rim doesn’t fit well on these margaritas, but the option of sugar on the rim has the perfect touch to add a little more sweetness.
The mango flavored house margarita tastes like a virgin drink because the sweet, fruity flavor overpowers any taste of tequila, but that is not the case, they are full of alcohol. While most of the flavors come premade, the strawberry margarita is always made with fresh strawberries. One would think blending margaritas for large masses would be a bartender’s nightmare, the recipe is so simple that the hardest part is the sword with lime and cherry garnish is what is most time consuming. The house margarita goes down real easy and watch out for slight brain freezes because it isn’t hard to want to drink more and more real fast.
 Sunnyside
1850 West Lake Blvd., south of Tahoe City
(530) 583-7200
For a view of the lake and to color coordinate your margarita with the Alpenglow Glow sunset, try the Sunnyside Margarita. What started off as the drink bartenders would make for employees after their shift, was put on the menu became the house margarita. Ingredients include Sauza Gold Tequila, Sweet and Sour, Quantro, a splash of orange juice and cranberry juice. The juices are what give the drink the burst of vibrant colors and gives more of a fruity, fresh taste.
For more of a top shelf style margarita, Sunnyside offers the Major Margarita that has the taste of a traditional margarita. Ingredients include Hornitos Tequila, Quantro, Sweet and Sour and a floater of Grand Mariner.
Caliente!
8791 North Lake Blvd.,
Kings Beach
(530) 546-1000
Caliente will be kicking plenty of events this weekend in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. If weather stays nice the upstairs deck and outside bar will be open. Caliente kicks off its Tequila Tasting Thursday, tomorrow starting at 4 p.m. This complimentary tequila seminar and tasting will continue the first Thursday of every month.
Every Thursday is also Chupacabra Thirsty Thursdays with $4.75 Chupas all night long. Caliente created the drink to mimic the Wet Woody combining juices and tequila in a frozen style beverage served with a straw and Mexican flag. Just like the Wet Woody Wednesdays at Gar Woods, Thirsty Thursdays at Caliente will live up to the standards of a good time and there will be plenty of Chupacabras to go around. The event will continue throughout the summer.
On Friday, May 2 there will be an extended happy hour in the bar area, from 4 to 10 p.m. (normal happy hour is from 4 to 6 p.m.) and offers food and drink specials. Whoever can guess the amount of beans there are in the jar at the bar, will win dinner for two — you better be good at guessing because this jar full of beans will make you think.
Saturday, May 3 there will be $10 Corona Buckets all day and all night long (five Coronas for $10). A piñata party for kids under 10 years-old will start at 1 p.m. and for adults there will be a jalapeño eating contest at 3 p.m., with a prize for the top contender. Caliente will feature Huevos Rancheros and Chilaquiles for $5.75 and kids 10 and under eat free with adults from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. There will be $3 Bloody Marias, the Caliente twist to the Bloody Mary, all day long. There will be Chihuahua races in the parking lot starting at 2 p.m. Tahoe's first ever Chihuahua races sponsored by Northstar at Tahoe.
The public is invited to cheer on their favorite local Chihuahua as they dash for the finish line of a 25 foot race course set up in the parking lot of Caliente. Prizes for this prestigious canine event will include a free Northstar golf pass and a Big Mack fishing trip. Interested participants will want to arrive about an hour before hand to register their Chihuahua, and owners should not be worried the race course is securely gated.
On Cinco de Mayo the celebration continues with Chupacabras and Cazadores shots for $4.75, well drinks and 16 oz. drafts are $2.75 and 50 percent off quesadillas and combo tacos all day and all night long. A tortilla tossing contest will take place at 4 p.m. with prizes for the longest, straightest and most accurate toss. The Trio Bossanova will perform live music from 7 to 10 p.m.
With more than 130 tequilas on the menu, Caliente serves up some unique margaritas. Instead of using a sweet and sour mix for most of their tequilas, Agave Nectar is used in place for that sweet flavor. A lot of time and creativity has been put in to the margaritas and with such a selection, we have picked out a few varieties to highlight.
For a refreshing taste anytime of the year, the Strawberry Basil Margarita is one of a kind. Mixed with strawberry, fresh squeezed lime juice, brown sugar, tequila, Agave nectar and fresh basil leaves, this drink may look like a Mojito because of the basil leaves floating, but it has a healthy and sweet aftertaste. Along side of the Strawberry Basil Margarita is the Cilantro Margarita.
Again, created from the idea of fresh herbs, this drink is either loved or hated. If cilantro doesn’t sit well on your pallet, this drink is not for you, however it is an acquired taste. To continue the idea of fresh ingredients in margaritas, during the Farmer’s Market months, Caliente plans to have specialty drinks that include a fresh vegetable or fruit found at the Farmers Market.
Sol y Lago
760 N. Lake Blvd., in Tahoe City
(530) 583-0358
Sol y Lago will feature a Cinco de Mayo Extravaganza on one night only, Monday May 5. Don Julio and Corona are sponsoring the party with drink specials all night long, doors open at 4:20 p.m. There will be live music and dancing all night long in the Luna Lounge.
Tahoe Biltmore
Highway 28 in Crystal Bay, Nev.
(775) 831-0660
The Tahoe Biltmore will be hosting a Cinco de Mayo festival in the Biltmore parking lot from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 4. There will be authentic Mexican food, live roaming Nortena band, piñatas, a bounce house and plenty of family entertainment. Drink specials featuring a tequila bar and Corona buckets will be offered all day long.
A dance party will take place in The Breeze bar from 7 to 11 p.m. with DJ J.P Tornado spinning a mix of reggeaton, cumbia, banda and Nortena music.
On Cinco de Mayo, the Biltmore will feature Nortena music in the casino starting at 5 p.m., put on your dancing shoes and enjoy a dance party in the Breeze with DJ J.P from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Blue Agave
425 N. Lake Blvd., in Tahoe City
(530) 583-8113
Blue Agave will host Cinco de Funo starting Friday, May 2 with Pancho Villa Day at 4 p.m. where sombreros and moustaches will be provided for party goers. On Saturday, May 3 Partida Tequila will sponsor a 3 Point Basketball Shoot-out starting at 4 p.m. On Sunday, May 4 at 3 p.m. Blue Agave will bring back karaoke for all ages. Enjoy food and drink specials all day long.
On Cinco de Mayo, The Blue Agave will continue its tradition of throwing The Big Enchilada with live music and Corona girls.
The Blue Agave is located in Tahoe City and has been a Mexican family style restaurant for more than 20 years. When you walk into the bar, it is apparent that there is enough tequila on the shelves to satisfy an army, but until you sit down and talk with owner Steve Topol, there is more to Topol’s knowledge of tequila than just naming his place after “blue agave.” Tahoe World Associate Editor Morgan Kriz, had the opportunity to talk with Topol about his knowledge of tequilas. In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, here is some advice and history about tequila.
Many people believe that tequila is made from a cactus. However, tequila is made from the agave plant. The agave plant is grown near the town of Tequila in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The history of tequila stretches back to the early years when the Aztecs made a mildly intoxicating beverage using the agave plant called “pulque.” After the Spaniards occupied Mexico, they disliked the taste and distilled the pulque, making “mezcal.”
 About 100 years ago several distillers in the town on Tequila, namely the Cuervo and Sauza families, made a superior form of mezcal from the agave plant — the spirit of tequila. By Mexican law, only spirits made within the confines of this region can be called tequila. If produced elsewhere, the spirit must be called mezcal. The way you know it is tequila is by the label, if it says “NOM 1420” it is government certified. As of March 31, 2008, there are 122 registered tequila distilleries producing 800 certified brands.
On average, the agave plant is ten years old before it is harvested for tequila production. The juicy core of the plant, which looks like a pineapple, is trimmed, cut into chunks and baked in steam ovens. The juice (agave nectar) that is produced is fermented and distilled at least twice or up to 60 days. The agave plant has a bluish tint on the top and can weigh about 100 pounds and stands 6-7 feet tall. Most producers age tequila in 50 gallon white oak casks. Aging the tequila makes it mellow without altering its inherent taste. Sometimes barrels of bourbon are used for flavoring.
There are three categories of tequila:
Blanco (white or silver tequila) is un-aged and bottled immediately after distillation or aged less than two months in oak barrels. “Gold” tequilas are a mixtel which means a coloring is added to resemble an aged tequila. The gold tequila adds a sweeter taste and will leave the burn.
Reposado or “rested” tequila is aged up to a year or more and has a light yellow tint. This type of tequila is a bit smoother, subtler and more complex than blanco tequilas.
Añejo or “aged” tequila is stored in wooden barrels for up to a year or more. The longer the tequila is aged, the more expensive the bottle can be priced. Some tequilas that are aged more than three years are extra añejo.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 02 May 2008 )
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