Fare game

The year: 2001. Our Best New Restaurant winner: Las Margaritas

By Steve Lange

What we wrote then: “Though the restaurant is named for the margarita, that tangy and salty drink that goes down oh-so-easily, visit for the awe-inspiring fajitas. With lots of fixings and variations, Las Margaritas delivers them sizzling and fast. It’s the perfect place for a quick fix of spicy food.”
How they’re doing now: They’re not. In July of 2003, Las Margaritas closed—voluntarily—after an investigation by county officials linked some mild stomach illnesses to food served there. A health department investigation showed possible food-refrigeration problems and other issues. The restaurant, though, never reopened, and Dos Amigos moved into the location in 2003.
What those in the know say: “I believe the owner [Hector Castro] came here by bus, lured by Rochester’s award [Money magazine named Rochester ‘Best Small City in America’ in 1999.],” says Pauline Walle, a former P-B food critic who reviewed the restaurant soon after it opened in late 1999. “ He met with a Realtor and settled that very day on the property along Highway 52 South. It truly was a family operation.”
Our take: The old Highway 52 frontage road location was less of a drawback than you might have imagined—think The Smiling Moose and Dos Amigos. Las Margaritas served authentic Mexican food (huge portions of everything from the breakfast-y huevos con chorizo to a dessert of sopapillas, a tortilla laced with honey and chocolate sauce) and killer margaritas (our mouth is watering right now thinking of The Gold, which featured gold tequila classed up with Grand Marnier). But nothing spells doom faster than a shutdown for health reasons, especially for a three-year-old restaurant that was facing a lot of competition in the Mexican food category (from Fiesta Mexicana, Carlos O’Kelly’s, and Dos Amigos).