only the finest/funnest margaritas

[sushibox]

tell me where to find the very best or at least some really fun margaritas in the area. friday, after all, is national margarita day!

[MC Slim JB]

This is a tough question. 95% of Boston bars make crap Margaritas: mixto tequila, some awful bottled or otherwise pre-fab mix, and cheap, syrupy orange liqueur. I mostly gave up on Margaritas out to concentrate on perfecting my recipe at home. But a few places that do them well enough to be worth ordering:

Tremont 647 -- fresh juices, real tequila, a dash of fresh OJ. Consistently strong bartending helps.

East Coast Grill -- similar virtues to Tremont 647, though I think their mix is based on fresh lime juice only. But the bartending has been less than consistently stellar over the last 18 months or so, and I've been let down especially by my last few Margaritas here. A shame, as they long were my Best In Class for this drink.

Ole Grill -- very good, with some interesting variations and some quality tequilas to choose from.

Masa -- as long as you avoid the Masarita (a horrible, oversweetened house specialty) and the Scorpion Bowl-sized one (not the good deal it appears to be), these are very good, and they have one of the best tequila selections in town.

The Biltmore -- their specialty cocktail lists features a drink called the Potomac Wave, essentially a top-shelf Margarita, superb.

Toro -- surprisingly strong bartending, and their range has only gotten better since Courtney (ex-No. 9) took over as bar manager there. (I'm guessing she's responsible for the addition of raw-egg cocktails.) An excellent Margarita.

My "usual suspects" list of great bartending -- B-Side, No. 9, ESK, Green Street, plus the bench players of Deep Ellum, Alchemist, and now Highland Kitchen -- all do very fine fresh-juice, pure-agave-tequila Margaritas. But I find it hard to order Margaritas as these places given all the more-interesting alternatives on their cocktail lists; it feels like going to the Publick House and ordering a Bud.

[Prav]

The Biltmore's Potomac Wave is pretty tasty! I'm lucky to work a few blocks from there - for those stressful days.

[jajjguy]

What MC said.

[Bluebell]

Forest Cafe and Rudy's Cafe both have pretty good margarita lists. Rudy's has an impressive range of tequilas as well.

[DoubleMan]

I really like the margaritas (and the food and the atmosphere) at East Coast Grill. They have a number of different versions and sizes.

[heWho]

My votes would go for Masa and La Verdad.

In the *ahem* "affordable" category, I'd have to say the Border Cafe. They're $6 I think and they range from a perfect poor to really strong, to weak as water. It's like playing the Margarita Lotto... you gotta be in it to win it!

[Prav]

How about Sunset Cantina on Comm Ave?

[cambridgeMike]

I'm a fan of the Grand Margarita at Casa Romero though definitely not the most fun place. One of my guilty pleasures is Border Cafe in Harvard square. Definitely not chowish but i always have a great time there with the margaritas.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

What's a "fun" margarita? Does it come with a Christmas cracker?

[mmmpointy]

Drink enough of them and all margaritas are "fun."

At least until the next morning.