Steak a la casa, a platter with flame-broiled beef and shrimp, is one of the specialties at Las Margaritas.

LAS MARGARITAS Location: 4426 E. Independence Blvd. Phone: 704-567-2359 Price range: $4.25-$22.95; lunch specials, $4.75-$5.75. Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Details: Takeout, separate bar area, smoking and nonsmoking sections, all ABC permits, lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., reservations accepted.

As spring blooms in the Queen City, new restaurants are burgeoning too, many open just since the first of the year.

Open just six weeks now, Las Margaritas has gotten some good word of mouth that is quickly spreading. The location is perhaps off the beaten path for some but well worth the drive; the hidden hacienda offers excellent, freshly made Mexican cuisine.

Dónde está?
Located on Independence Boulevard in a nondescript strip shopping center called Lanier Square, Las Margaritas is just west of the intersection of Independence and Sharon Amity. Coming from South Charlotte, take Sharon Road or Sharon Amity to Monroe Road, turn left onto Monroe, drive a block or two and turn right onto Lanier. The entrance to the shopping center will be on your left.

All in the family
Las Margaritas is run by two couples: Polo and Irma Serrano and Jose and Jennet Serrano. Polo and Jose are brothers, and their wives are sisters – talk about a family business! The four came to Charlotte from Jalisco, a Mexican state located in the country’s western region, bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean. Jalisco’s capital is Guadalajara, and the state’s most well-known port of call, Puerto Vallarta, is on Jalisco’s Banderas Bay.

Muy bueno
Much of the menu at Las Margaritas reflects the cuisine the Serranos grew up enjoying in their homeland. Polo and Jose are the talent in the kitchen. Both men are self-taught, having worked their way up in the restaurant business in this country from sudsy starts as dishwashers. Sisters Irma and Jennet work the front of the house, greeting customers in Spanish and English and waiting on tables. The majority of the wait staff at Las Margaritas does not speak English as well as Irma and Jennet do, although they do their best. Be patient and know that if you have a question, a waiter or waitress can’t answer, Irma or Jennet is close by.

Everything is cooked to order and to customers’ specifications as much as possible. For the Serranos, one of the most important parts of owning their own restaurant is making customers feel comfortable. It’s all about customer service. No onions? No problem. Sauce on the side? Done. Another margarita? Our pleasure.

Food and drink
Margaritas come in three sizes and six flavors, including the traditional lime variation. In addition, Las Margaritas offers 14 tequilas, a few wines and an array of beer, both domestic and Mexican.

In an attempt to appeal to the tastes of Americans as well as those of the Hispanic community, Las Margaritas offers two menus. The first includes the standard choices most Americans are familiar with – tacos, fajitas, nachos, salads and a much-better-than-average array of enchiladas, burritos, and chicken, seafood and vegetarian specials. Everything is prepared with fresh ingredients: sauces are made from scratch and the results are top notch.

The second menu is what the Serranos call their picture menu. It is a photographic listing of more tradi- tional Mexican specialties, often recognized more by Hispanics than Americans. Be sure to ask for the picture menu if it is not offered. Several excellent entrées are shown that you will not want to miss.

Both menus are full of choices, so take time to look through everything before you order and don’t be afraid to ask questions. As you peruse the selections, enjoy the bottomless basket of warm toasted chips and small bowls of salsa and pico de gallo that arrive at the table just after you are seated. Let me suggest ordering a side of homemade guacamole right off the bat. Studded with small pieces of tomato, the thick, chunky blend of avocado makes a nice creamy companion to the chips and salsa. One caution here: pace yourself as you dive into the chips because there’s much more to come.

After several dinners with friends at Las Margaritas, new-found favorites for us include the highly recommended enchiladas de camaron. This dish is composed of two oversized flour tortillas rolled and filled with a plentiful portion of shrimp, white cheese and a mild but flavorful green tomatillo sauce. Likewise, we loved the tamales made from shredded pork and sauce wrapped in a cornmeal paste and then steamed in a corn husk. Tamales are hard and timeconsuming to make, and these are some of the best I’ve ever tasted. The tamales are served topped with additional sauce. The enchiladas are an entrée on their own, served with ample sides of delicious refried beans, Spanish rice and a wonderful homemade slaw; but the tamales, served with the same sides, may be enjoyed by themselves or paired with a choice of an enchilada (chicken, beef or cheese), a taco, a tostada, a burrito or a tasty chile relleno.

Like the shrimp enchiladas, all of the seafood at Las Margaritas is fresh and quite good. Be forewarned, though: the camerones (or shrimp) a la diable, the camerones con chipotle and the pulpo (or octopus) a la diable are extremely hot and spicy. For something with less heat and more flavor, try the campechana. Plenty for two or four to share as a starter, this is a delightful, cold, marinated mix of shrimp, tender octopus, tomatoes, lime juice and chopped onion. It’s like a Mexican shrimp cocktail.

If your taste turns more toward something grilled or broiled, move on to the entrées and try the carnitas y cameron, a platter with grilled steak, pork and shrimp found on the picture menu. The grill at Las Margaritas is a flame broiler, giving everything from shrimp to steak the flavor of being grilled over charcoal. In Mexico, many entrées are simply chargrilled or flame broiled, sans the cheese and sour cream we Americans tend to pile on. Because of the technique used with the flame broiler, nothing is oily or greasy – just hot, perfectly cooked and full of flavor.

Another favorite from the picture menu is the huilotos, or grilled quail. This dish is exceptionally well done. Two boneless quail are grilled to a crispy finish, served hot from the broiler with rice, beans, slaw and a couple of thick slices of avocado.

Other picture menu items worth considering include chiles poblano, mojarra frita (fried tilapia) and mariscos Jalisco, a seafood platter that includes shrimp in bacon, octopus and shrimp a la diable, fried or broiled pieces of tilapia and breaded and fried cheese sticks. All entrées are served with your choice of warm flour or corn tortillas on the side.

For dessert choose from several specialities including Mexican apple pie and churros, a sugar-and-cinnamon doughnut of sorts.

Well-known Charlotte restaurant critic, food writer, cooking instructor and connoisseur of food and wine, Heidi Edidin writes "The Charlotte Weekly: Culinary Corner," a restaurant review or food feature that appears weekly. Contact Heidi with questions and restaurant, food or story ideas by email at heidi@thecharlotteweekly.com.

CW photos by Sean Busher.

This article first appeared in "The Charlotte Weekly" on March 11, 2005. "The Charlotte Weekly" is a free, locally owned, independent newspaper that's "About the Community, For the Community," available every Thursday in North and South Charlotte and Uptown.

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