Before you send me your email… no, I 100% didn’t try every single margarita in Cincinnati before writing this – so it’s not as comprehensive as it could be. I did, though… drink a lot of them. More than I care to admit. I drank so many margaritas while preparing for this post that the “research phase” alone for this has taken me two years to complete it. Not that there is much to complain about when it comes to drinking margaritas at every chance you get for a couple of years.
I’m not playing around when I tell you that I took this seriously.
Like I said though… I haven’t had them all – as much as I have tried. It’s become a never-ending quest for me, this margarita hunt, but I feel confident in what I’ve had so far to tell you that I believe I know where you can drink the best margarita in Cincinnati. I have made the right choice.
It was really difficult coming up with what makes a margarita ‘The Best” especially in a city full of great cocktails the way that Cincinnati is. The development of the criteria itself was tough to nail down. I’ve had drinks that while sitting at one bar are just amazing, but you pick it up and place it in a different place are a little lackluster, and vice versa. It’s all very complicated. So – with that… what makes a drink “the best”?
The Critera
There are a ton of factors that makes a margarita a contender to the “best” in town. To set one drink above another though, it has to hit on just a piece here and a piece there – it’s gotta nail every category.
Also to note: I’m basing all of this off of a place’s ‘house margarita’. What that means is if I walk into quite a few places and order a margarita while sitting at the bar and specify how I want it made, or if I order a “top shelf” margarita, I might get a drink that is damn good, but if I sit at a table and just order a normal, every day marg… it’s a shadow of their best ability. That means that there are plenty of places that make really great margaritas that fell short because their “house” drink was made with a little less… pizzaz or attention. There are places that once you play around on their menu, you might find a margarita that you fall in love with (there’s a ton of them at places like Condado) – but it doesn’t help them out on this quest – it’s difficult to become the “best” – and we’ve got to make things a little difficult, don’t we?
So what puts a drink above the noise? It comes down to a few factors in my book:
Fresh Ingredients
This might be the most important factor in the whole formula. A margarita made with a big jug of that neon-colored margarita mix will immediately stand out amongst cocktails that have been made with fresh lime juice. It’s like night and day when you really start to compare.
Price
This is a factor, but admittedly not the highest priority when I’m making the overall decision. You have to make it so that I want to drink your margarita. If a drink is insanely expensive… it doesn’t welcome the friendly, laid back feeling that I want my margarita to carry with it.
Balance
Here’s a good one, and one that when you taste it the clouds seem to part and all becomes clear. Not too tequila heavy, not too sweet… the right amount of tart lime snap, it’s a thing of beauty.
Tradition
I love your cool pineapple margarita, and the spicy concoction that you slide over the bar is really great with my food – but it’s not what I’m looking for. I want traditional, “normal” margaritas. You don’t have a shot at being the “best” if your house margarita isn’t traditional.
Size
Oh… ok. We all know that size doesn’t matter. But with a margarita? I can’t lie – when I get a four-ounce drink that tastes damn good, and I put it next to a 10oz drink that tastes just as good… you know what happens? The 10oz one starts to taste better.
The Contenders
Before I go and get to the point – I want to tell you that there is a TON of great margarita options in Cincinnati. You can find them all over. From Nada to Mazunte, La Ofrenda, and Mita’s, I could go on and on… but there are far too many contenders to really go into detail on them here. Get out and explore. I will fully admit that my personal favorite might not be yours, and half of the fun is discovering for yourself. This entire hunt doesn’t even start to take into account the atmosphere of a bar, or the food that you’ll enjoy with your margarita. It all plays into the whole equation, and I’m ignoring it.
Go. Drink. Tell me why I’m wrong.
The Best Margarita In Cincinnati
Skipping right to the point – it’s Bakersfield.
I have tried margarita after margarita trying to find a place that does it better, and they just don’t exist. There are plenty of places that do a damn good job, though (as I talked about a second ago…) but Bakersfield still seems to stand out above the others for me.
Their margarita uses fresh juice (a must if you even want me to consider you the “best”). It’s served in a big mason jar with good tequila as the base of the drink. It’s not too expensive at around $7… this drink hits all the points I could want, and it’s freaking delicious.
There Might Not Be A Bad Margarita
After all of this, with an endless quest and a ton of margaritas under my belt, I’ve come to a great realization. There isn’t really something that exists in the realm of a “bad” margarita.
Hear me out.
You can make the most mediocre margarita and give it to me with a big plate of chips and hot salsa, slide a couple of carnitas tacos over to me… and I’m in absolute heaven. I’m drinking that margarita, and I’m really enjoying it also. That means that we’re in a really good position when it comes to doing our own quests to find our own best margaritas. You’re gonna have fun. Walk into any Mexican restaurant around town and order their special. You’re gonna enjoy yourself.
But hunt. Keep exploring, and keep sharing with me the places that you find that surprise you. Tell me where I need to go next to try their version of this cocktail – I’ll give it a fair shake, and if for some reason I’m ever proven wrong that Bakersfield is the best margarita in Cincinnati – I’ll correct myself right here.