On The Border- Knox Location 10/22/08

Kicking it old school today with K-ueso and Courtney.  Battling Uptown traffic was a little dreary and slow but once we got there and took our place at the bar we all breathed a giant sigh of relief.  Margaritas were much better then expected for this chain restaurant and the prices were perfect!  A big schooner swirl rita for $4.25???  A large bowl of queso for $2.50???  My total bill was less than $5!  Bonus points for sure.  No one got paged either... another super bonus!  Oh yes... back to the "quesorita."  Queso was served warm and spicy and was deliciously not unlike Velveeta!  I didn't have to mix any salsa in it either!  Salsa was wonderful and I'm pretty sure we had thirds.  And finally, a shout out to Cal our awesome server!  Next week we're heading to Mia's- you know our numbers.  Quesorita girls here.

Queso 3/4

Margaritas

*Happy hour swirl with sangria 3/4

*Top shelf 3.5/4

*On the rocks shelf 3/4

Manny's October 15th, 2008

I realize the first picture is out of focus- manual was on and I need glasses. Will do better next time.
Happy to have guest judges Courtney Layton, Shelby Melton and Kristen Ohlenforst!!

Mixed reviews on the queso- but again- the bowl was reduced to finger scraping (mostly by L.E. who thought it was pretty good). Lauren again had to dump lots of salsa in it to choke it down. Service was pretty awful- no refills on the salsa or water. Now- to the drinks. The on the rocks margarita was the clear winner here, good job Courtney! The frozen was too sweet, ditto for the swirl. All and all not impressive but the company made for a great late lunch. The nap afterwards was pretty awesome too!!  Next week we will kicking it old school with On the Border- get excited!! ( We realize we are saving the best for last- Mi Cocina mambo taxis and Bob Armstrong queso at Matt's- but hold your horses, we have all year!!!) 

Overall scores:

queso- 2/4 (*disputed)

on the rocks margarita- 2.75/4

frozen margarita- 2.5/4

swirl margarita- 2.5/4

Taco Diner (West Village) 10/8/2008

Oooh. I love Taco Diner. We sat outside (weather is finally nice) and enjoyed the scene while sipping some mango margaritas and lapping up queso. The margaritas are swell, delicious, not too sweet and appropriately strong. The queso was good but not amazing, we still scraped the bowl though. Lauren is still getting over her gonorrhoeal eye infection so she whined about that a bit. I was nice and tipsy but had a few hours to sleep it off before Kol Nidre. Next week Manny's to complete the West Village area. Come join us- we'll be there around 4 unless we can sneak away earlier.....you know our numbers. 

Margaritas 3/4 (best fruit margarita)

Queso 2.5/4

State Fair Of Texas 10/1/08

Let the fried food extravaganza begin with an introduction of our guest judge for the evening, Kelly Lisle.  This was a two hour sprint through the fair in search of the best fried food there.  Reviews had rated the fried bacon as numero uno, but our guest judge thought the fried guacamole (not pictured) was superb.  I have to disagree and say that the fried queso rocked!!!  By far the best fried food there, especially with your choice of different flavors of ranch dressing (who knew?) as your dipping sauce.  There was a "food baby" competition to end the evening (please see above picture), and as you can see I should have consumed more.  There was no room for margaritas this evening as I was saving room for the fried grilled cheese, corn dog, fried bacon, chicken fried steak slider, fried snowball, fried queso, fried PB&J, fried guacamole, and beer!

Margaritas ** too full

Queso 3.5/4

Casa Blanca 9/24/08

So, this was a long shot- but it was on Lemmon Ave, so we gave it a whirl. Too freaking hot to sit outside but that is okay because their patio was super depressing, just a slab of concrete with iron fence. The queso was AWFUL but we still finished it. It tasted very very fake- like all Velveeta, no Rotel. The margaritas were FINE but got an inflated score because I started to get misty-eyed talking to Lauren about how much I love being a pediatrician.  Would never set foot in here again, except for a margarita, skip the queso.

Margarita 2.75*/4  (score is higher due to the emotional response after ingestion)

Queso 2/4

Uncle Julio's (on Lemmon) 9/17/08

Saddled up to the bar by 4:15 never felt so good.  The swirls were a little overswirled for my taste (needed more rita, less swirl), but they did the trick.  Queso was a little below average and I had to dump a large amount of salsa in it to make it better (always a good judge).  Would definitely go back as the prices are right, and it's muy circa to the hospital and LE's house.

Margaritas 2.5/4

Queso 2.25/4

Gloria's (on Lemmon) 9/10/08

Ahh, the first of our weekly quesorita happy hours. Gloria's, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways, #1 the delicious black bean dip which comes with the salsa #2 the happy hour margarita swirls are $4 and really solid #3 the chips are nice and crispy.  It was too hot to sit outside so we went with a table inside, which is really a shame cause they have a nice patio. We might need to go back in that case.  

Margaritas (swirl): 2.5/4

Queso: 2.5/4