When in Rome Part 2 – The Tequila/Mexican Bar

When in Rome Part 2 – The Tequila/Mexican Bar

In the last edition of When in Rome I touched on Irish Pubs and how to not be a complete Douche by embarrassing yourself with a Bud Light or Pina Colada. In the spirit of keeping yourself free from merciless taunting in yet another temple of alcoholic consumption, I bring you “The Mexican/Tequila Bar”…


(pictured) One of my favorite tequila Bars in Denver is La Sandia at Stapleton.

For the sake of establishing this conversation, I am going to refer to a Mexican Bar as any type of bar or tavern that makes a real attempt at establishing a “Mexican” style theme. Most of these types of places serve Mexican food and many have Spanish names like “El Coyote”, or “Las Margaritas”, or “Frijoles Grandes”. For anyone here in Denver, “Casa Bonita” DOES NOT qualify as a Mexican Bar. Mexican bars typically have Hispanic style décor like bright colors, pictures/paintings of cactus, and signs advertising Corona or Margarita specials… A “Tequila Bar” may or may not follow any of the guidelines above, but they pretty much always advertise the fact that they are a Tequila Bar so they are pretty easy to spot.

Ok, so you’ve established that you have indeed entered a Mexican/Tequila Bar, now what? First of all, any Mexican beer is just fine (Corona, Tecate, Negro Modelo, Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Dos Equis, etc). Any drink with Tequila like a Margarita or Tequila Sunrise is also encouraged. What else you ask? Well, given its overwhelming popularity in Mexico and in the Mexican community here in the US, Bud and Bud Light are acceptable in a Mexican Bar. Another very acceptable alternative to beer and Tequila is Sangria. Sangria is usually pretty different everywhere you go as there is no “official recipe” so try it before you buy it.

Now on to the most important part any visit to the Mexican/Tequila Bar… Shots. Tequila is the only acceptable shot in a Tequila Bar. If you don’t like Tequila, refraining from shots is probably your best bet, although many higher end (read: expensive) Tequilas are quite smooth and have almost nothing in common with cheap well or Cuervo shots. Try a Premium or Super Premium Tequila like Don Julio, Herradura, or Cabo Wabo and see if they don’t change your mind about Tequila. Shots in a regular Mexican bar (read: not a Tequila Bar) are a little easier. Any shots that are on special or advertised in the table tent or menu are fine although Tequila is still preferred.

There you have it. Hopefully you can now go into the world and seek out a Mexican or Tequila Bar and not have people pointing at you and talking behind your back. If so, my job here is done.

A Mexican Slut (Don't worry, it's a shot).

So, some friends and I were at a happy hour earlier this week at a local dive called Doc's here in Denver. This is not a fancy place or really the kind of place you would expect to find new things so it figured to be a nice relaxed happy hour with a couple of pitchers of Coors Light (on special) and maybe a standard shot or two of Jager with some good friends.

Imagine my surprise when I asked our waitress if they had any shot specials. She apparently misunderstood me and thought I was asking for "special shots" so she busted out with the Mexican Slut. According to her, a few customers had come into the bar a week or so ago and told her about a shot called a Mexican Slut that they claim is very popular in Chicago where they had just moved from.

Intrigued, I leaned in and asked "So, what's in it and how much will it cost me?" She responded back with the following: "A Mexican Slut is a shot of pickle juice followed immediately by a shot of Tequila.

Unsure if this sounded even remotely palatable, I turned to my friend Sommer and raised my eyebrow. Sommer loves pickles, so she quickly responds that we should give it a try. No one else at the table would agree so I ordered two and waited uneasily...

So, sure enough, it arrives as a two piece shot, a shot glass of pickle juice and a shot glass of well tequila garnished with a lemon. A minute or so of curious study and trepidation followed it's arrival. Finally, a "Cheers!", the clanking of shot glasses and down goes the pickle juice followed by the tequila followed in turn by the lemon...

Wow. It was actually really good. I like tequila but can have a lot of problems with well. The pickle juice really helped take the edge off of a very unsmooth well tequila and the lemon was a perfect compliment to the overall flavor profile of the shot. Ultimately, for the price ($3) this was a decent shot with some incredible flavors and was surprisingly smooth and easy to drink. I ended up getting two...

In summary, give it a try the next time you're out. It may not be your thing, but it may end up joining your shot repertoire.