The Margarita Cafe: Serving Tex Mex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

At the Margarita Cafe on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida it's all about earth-tones, bright yellow, aqua, Tex-Mex and loud music. Oh. And huge margaritas....

This is a typical beach hot-spot designed to draw the old Spring-Break crowd before they were run outta town. Margarita Cafe's loud music and party atmosphere does not sit unnoticed though even without the original target customer. There's still plenty of young adults cruising to pick up other vacationing young folks so Margarita Cafe still does a pretty brisk business in season.

I stopped in here a few afternoons just as a break from my usual haunts and wasn't disappointed, but I have to say that there is a reason this place isn't frequented by locals as much as the other restaurants along this strand. They have the tables out on the sidewalk so you can enjoy the weather and the ocean scenery like all the restaurants, but they also have some way-high prices and in this case, they really aren't warranted given the food.

The food isn't bad, mind you, just not as good as the prices would lead you to believe. It's all about Tex-Mex with a Florida slant. Let me explain...

Let's start with appetizers. You would expect to find some form of Quesadillas here and you would be right. Their version is Flour tortillas stuffed with melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses. Served with salsa, jalapenos and sour cream. Now, you can have chicken like most places offer, but since this is Florida, you can also choose to add crab or shrimp. Another starter you don't see everywhere are the Shrimp Jammers - Fresh Gulf shrimp fried golden brown and stuffed with jalapenos, cream cheese and cheddar cheese. (descriptions courtosy of http://www.fortlauderdalebeachrestaurants.com/html/margarita/menu.htm)

See how this works now? Their on-line menu does not list prices, but trust me when I say this was a bit too high for what it is.

Entrees include such favorites as Fajitas, Mexican Pizza, Enchiladas, Grande Burritos (these really are crammed full of cheese, rice and refried beans and the chicken ones are really very good), Chimichangas, and oooh yeah.. a Snapper Margarita which is Sauteed Snapper lightly dusted in seasoned flour and sauteed in garlic, lime and cilantro. Served with black beans and rice. Pretty good, that.

Service is sketchy and not always friendly. To be honest about it I think the gals waiting tables save those sunny smiles for the young men who come in to drink and tip big. It's not that they're mean, per se, but ummm.. well.. just not really thrilled to be waiting on an ice tea drinkin' table like mine. But then, in the middle of high season (Dec-Apr) it kinda gets like that just about everywhere in Lauderdale..

They do have an excellent Mariachi band every Wednesday night through Saturday night. You can hear them all up and down the strand. Plus, although not part of the Margarita Cafe itself, the Palm Leaf Benders hang out on the sidewalk right by the tables here. What they do is take big ol' Pam Leafs and bend & twist and come up with the coolest stuff... like beach hats, animals, and things like that. So, it is kinda cool to sit at the Margarita Cafe at night just to watch these guys do their thing.

As I said, the on-line menu does not list prices, but I do know that I have never gotten out of here for less than a $25 lunch by myself. That's a bit pricey to me for the level of the food. If you are out to party in the evening and like a young crowd though, this would be one of the stops you should make. They do have fun here. I've walked by numerous times at night and they were all definitely having a good time.

I'm going with 3 stars for this one simply because there are many places I prefer along Fort Lauderdale's beach that are also more reasonably priced... but I am also saying that the food is pretty good here, so you make the call.

954-463-6872

221 S. Ft. Lauderdale Beach Blvd. (North-bound A1A)
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316