Speak up!

By Kyle Teal

Enticements like margaritas and guacamole make adopting another country’s celebration a pretty simple feat. At this Tuesday’s Cinco de Mayo festivities across South Florida, the historical significance of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza’s severely outnumbered soldiers defeating Napoleon’s French soldiers in the Battle of Puebla might be irrelevant to some people. Even so, the sprightly spirit of that inconceivable victory lives on 147 years later. While May 5 isn’t even a federally recognized holiday in Mexico, leave it to SoFla revelers to ensure enough José Cuervo is consumed on that date.

Three quick steps to get in the Cinco de Mayo mood if you aren’t already:
1) Turn off the computer
2) Let go of that embarrassing tequila-instigated memory
3) Listen to Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba” two to three times.

OK, you should be game to hit any of these spots for cheesy enchiladas and cold cerveza(s).

Plunge at Gansevoort South (Miami.com fiesta)
Miami.com will be hosting its own Cinco de Mayo party at the Gansevoort South’s rooftop near its pool and rustling palm trees. DJ J. Felix will be spinning his house beats from 9 p.m. to close. Enjoy Patrón wells and chilled shots for $10 all day and Tecate Mexican beer for $5. Miami.com readers – eh hum, brilliant people – can grab a plate of homemade guacamole and chips for $8. You could also go rock star-style with a $250 bottle of Patrón Silver Mexican tequila (what recession?). Gran Patrón Platinum, the top dawg of tequilas, will go for $20 a shot (normally $50 to $60 a shot). We hope to see you there.
Gansevoort South; 2377 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach; 33139; 305-604-1000; www.gansevoortsouth.com

Coconut Grove, Fête du Cinco de Mayo
Three restaurants in this neighborhood are making a collaborative effort to celebrate the fact that the beef between France and Mexico has long been squashed. Jaguar Ceviche Spoon Bar and Latam Grill, Le Bouchon du Grove and George’s in the Grove will be hosting fiestas with specialty drinks, prizes, traditional French and Mexican clothing, and of course, a mariachi band at Jaguar. The celebration, dubbed “Fête du Cinco de Mayo,” will be a five-year-old tradition between Jaguar and le Bouchon du Grove. The employees of each restaurant will be traveling to their competitor’s establishments to trade complimentary tequila for French wines and mariachis’ cheerful trumpets and guitars for the romantic sound of accordions.

Shockingly, none of the owners hold any grudges from the 1862 Battle of Puebla. “They won that battle,” says 37-year-old Le Bouchon co-owner Bruno Tommasini of the Mexican soldiers. “But when we play soccer against them now – they’re out!” When Tommasini and crew march down to Jaguar on Tuesday, they’ll perform France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise.

Jaguar will be offering special Mexican-style soups, appetizers, and red tomato sauce or a green sauce made with pumpkin seeds and other ingredients, called pipián verde, to slather over organic chicken breasts ($17) or a hunk of filet mignon ($27). Jaguar has an impressive selection of Peruvian and Mexican-style Ceviches at its stylish bar.

Event is from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Reservations recommended (call ahead for Jaguar); Jaguar Ceviche Spoon Bar and Latam Grill is located at 3067 Grand Avenue, 305-444-0216, www.jaguarspot.com; Le Bouchon du Grove, 3430 Main Highway, 305-448-6060; George’s is located at 3145 Commodore Plaza, 305-444-7878

Paquito’s Mexican Restaurant
This relaxed North Miami Beach gem will host a mariachi band, free T-shirts, hats, $4 beers and $5 margaritas made with Hornitos Tequila. The Alonso family, hailing from Mexico City, runs the fun-loving eatery. When the former restaurant building was demolished for renovations the family took advantage of its time off, traveling back to Mexico to bring back truck loads of traditional Mexican decorations and trinkets that hang on each wall of the three large dining areas.

Typically, the restaurant takes reservations for large groups, but “it’s too crazy to take reservations on that day,” said manager Francisco Alonso, 25. The cheery restaurant apparently gets packed wall-to-wall May 5. A DJ and a mariachi band will be filling the dance floor and playing traditional Mexican tunes. The crowd is a good mix of calm families and partiers (partiers are near the fully-stocked bar). Karaoke on Thursday nights brings out some solid entertainers, like loyal patron John Hurtado, who seems to be friends with everyone in the restaurant and enjoys its delicious margaritas.

No special menu offered, but considering the restaurant’s vast regular menu, this is probably a good thing. The food, tasty and authentic, fits well with the restaurant’s atmosphere: flavorful and loudly colorful. Some of the tastier dishes include mole poblano con pollo ($16.50), steak paquito’s ($14.25) with chewy, flavorful bites of steak with fried cheese, a zesty jalapeno and onion sauce, rice, salad and refried beans. If Mexican food isn’t your thing, check out the “North of the Border” portion of the menu: hamburgers, chicken fingers, etc.

Party until 11 p.m.; Paquito's Mexican Restaurant, 16265 Biscayne Blvd.; North Miami Beach, FL 33160; 305-947-5027

Rosa Mexicano
Brace yourself for a barrage of mask-wearing young professionals at this modish hotspot in Mary Brickell Village. A Mexican Masquerade contest is sure to bring out some extravagant costume-wearing revelers to vie for prizes. In fact, the first 200 freaks to show up in costume will take home a complimentary 1800 Tequila shot glass. 

Maracas will be shaking, piñatas will be hanging and a fresh fruit margarita cart will be making the rounds to the thirsty tables. Management says the pomegranate and mango margaritas are crowd favorites. The spacious restaurant will also be serving up table-side guacamole, and dishes like chile ancho relleno – ancho chiles stuffed with slow-cooked marinated pork – and shrimp quesadillas will be available on a special menu.

Small figurines of Acapulco cliff divers decorate an epic, 15-foot water wall, bull masks hang everywhere along the colorful walls, and trumpets in Mexican songs sound through speakers. Flautas de Pollo, three rolled crispy chicken tacos topped with salsa pasilla de Oaxaca, salsa verde and crema for $9 will be served until midnight Tuesday. But if people are still celebrating, the party keeps on.

All day; Rosa Mexicano; Mary Brickell Village; 900 South Miami Avenue, Miami, FL, 786-425-1001

Mi Riconcito Mexicano
Hungry Cinco de Mayo revelers who’d like to attempt to eat their weight in Mexican food without spending much should check out this blue-collar, family-oriented diner on Calle Ocho. It won’t be a fine dining experience or any sort of party, but you can easily start your own party as the restaurant’s fridge is stocked with Tecate, Modelo Especial, Dos Equis, or Pacifico beers selling for $3 a pop. By the way, that’s not a special price – it’s always that low. Staff says they’ll be making margaritas on Tuesday (a new step for the restaurant).

The décor is a little barren, lighting is less than romantic and there is nothing traditional about the mid-90s pop tunes playing, but the food more than compensates for a lackluster ambiance. Traditional side dishes like cactus-looking stems, or nopales, are diced and cooked until slimy, chewy with a slight bite that’s oddly satisfying. Massive combination plates of gorditas, taquitos smothered in red sauce are more than appetizing. Soups and flautas drizzled in subtle, creamy white sauce compliment tender beef and a lusciously fatty hard-shell crunch. The two sisters who own the joint, Maria and Maria Gutierrez from Hidalgo, Mexico, have mastered the art of making fresh guacamole and adding just the right amount of cilantro to the food. Each dish is a colorful, heartburn-inducing explosion. Meals range from $5.50 to $15.95 for an enormous combination platter (the latter price is an outlier).

9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 1961 SW 8th St.; Little Havana; 305-644-4015

Carlos and Pepe’s Cantina
A local trio of mariachi singers will be playing recognizable tunes like “Cielito Lindo,” while margaritas made with fresh limes and Sauza Gold Tequila will sell for $7 – a buck off the usual price.

Munch on warm tortilla chips, fresh salsa, tasty tuna dip, and crab enchiladas. Soak up the lounge feel, natural woods, adobe and Mexican tiles, and vibrant colors of this entertaining Broward spot. Beers are $4.50 imports and $3.50 domestics. Promoters with Sauza Tequila are expected to pass out free Carlos and Pepe’s shirts, visors and shot glasses.

According to General Manager Jerry Kelly, the place has been open for 30 years so, “we must be doing something right.” The restaurant is sticking with the regular dinner items like chimichangas with rice and beans for $12.75 and super nachos for $10.50.

No reservations: party  until 11 p.m. Carlos and Pepe’s Cantina: 1302 SE 17th St; Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316; (954) 467-7192

Don Chile
This new restaurant in downtown Coral Gables is offering $3 beers – Tecate, Dos Equis, Modelo Negra, Corona, etc. – and margaritas around $5, despite not having a liquor license (the mix is made with a slightly toned down tequila type called Tequesta). It’s a relatively quiet place, but on May 5, a mariachi band will be performing.

The burritos are gargantuan, and the menu boasts some unusual items, such as braising fish wrapped in banana leaves for $15.95, or a veal rib-eye meal for $32.95. Bright orange and fuchsia painted walls contribute to the eatery’s overall mod vibe, with large ceramic, tribal masks adding to it. Translucent, pastel-colored curtains hang from the ceilings – something that might remind you of a scene from Cirque Du Soleil

Closes at 9 p.m. Monday to Weds., and at 11 p.m. Thursday to Sunday; Don Chile, 1915 Ponce de Leon Blvd; Coral Gables, FL 33134; 305-461-1566

Lime Fresh Mexican Grill
Free margarita samples and $3 Dos Equis will be available for anyone who visits one of five Lime Fresh locations scattered around Miami-Dade and Broward. Meals are relatively cheap here, the popular grilled fish tacos are $3.50 each or three for $8.49, and a fajita platter is $9.95. An impressive list of nine different burritos makes ordering a challenge.

The small, casual South Beach location is a half indoor, half outdoor arrangement that serves its food fresh and made to order – produce is delivered fresh everyday. It will be open until 11 p.m. and the other locations will shut down at 10:30 p.m.

Lime Fresh Mexian Grill, 1439 Alton Road, at 14th Court, Miami Beach, FL; 305 532 5463 Locations all over Miami-Dade and Broward, see website: www.limefreshmexicangrill.com

Los Tres Amigos
Free José Cuervo margaritas! It really does always look like Cinco de Mayo in this modest eatery on a quiet Miami road. An old school jukebox of nearly all Latin music will provide the musical entertainment Tuesday. There isn’t much of a party planned, but do you need a better reason to go somewhere than a free margarita, considering you’re usually charged for smelling and/or so much as looking at a cocktail?

“Whenever the customers leave here on Cinco de Mayo, they leave happy,” owner Ariel Sanchez, 51, said.

One free margarita until 10 p.m.; Los Tres Amigos; 1025 NW 20th St.; Miami, FL. 33127; 305-324-1400

El Rancho
The Cinco de Mayo parties at this colorful, quaint South Beach eatery off Lincoln Road have become legendary. Once again they will be hosting an outside party with margaritas made with Hornitos Tequila for $5, and beers for $4. Best of all, $5 fajita wraps will be selling outside.

El Rancho Grande, 1626 Pennsylvania Ave.; Miami Beach, FL 33139; 305-673-0480; or 314 72nd Street, Miami Beach, FL; 305-864-7404.