There's some rude, tequila-flavored lemonade out there unabashedly masquerading as this darling of the libation crowd. No one got brownie points for serving them in gallon-sized quantities or ornate glasses or accenting with frilly paper umbrellas. Serve it straight up over the rocks, avoid that frozen slush . The drink should exude good, solid flavors, and a proper balance of high-quality ingredients. Most drinks we tried didn't make the list because proprietors used either gasoline tequila, reconstituted lime juice or lousy sweet and sour mixes.
Bad ingredients make bad margaritas.
Fine ingredients, properly blended, make happy campers of us all. The place is always packed, and service can be maddeningly indifferent, so you may have to wait for one. First you taste the sweetness, then the acid, followed by the tequila. This beloved grand-daddy goes down like silk skimming over sunburned skin. But the latter, blended primarily with fresh lime juice, a splash of sweet and sour, and Triple Sec, captured our tastebuds.