A margarita mission — just in time for Cinco de Mayo

By:  | April 22, 2025 |  Dining |  Monmouth County

By Ryan Loughlin

One of spring’s more festive days, Cinco de Mayo gives us all a good excuse to head to our favorite Mexican watering holes. While shots of tequila and rounds of cervezas are key components of the fiesta, everyone knows when it comes to Cinco de Mayo libations, the margarita is king. But all margaritas are not created equally. To avoid sipping nasty Applebee’s quality margs this Cinco, here are a few spots that are sure to mix you up a masterpiece with a salt rim.

Meximodo, Metuchen

Yeah, it’s a bit of a drive from Monmouth County, but it’s worth taking the trip up to Metuchen for the experience that Meximodo offers. The restaurant is gorgeous and hip, the queso fundido is addictively delicious, and the bar set the Guinness World Record for having the most bottles of tequila in the world. The cocktail menu is superb, and we particularly love the fact that when it comes to margaritas, they give you the option of choosing either tequila or mezcal as the main spirit along with the flavor of your choice (classic, mango, passion fruit or guava). It’s hard to pick a flavor, but we find ourselves returning to the exotic and gorgeously colored guava margarita with its lovely torched lime wheel garnish. It’s refreshing, it’s unique and best of all, it’s hard to drink just one.

Loteria, Asbury Park

Loteria has been in the same spot for a decade, but recently they updated their bar from its former status as merely a service bar to now boasting a fully seated experience where one can mosy up to it and order any of their fabulous margaritas. You can’t ever go wrong with the classic style, but when there are so many interesting variations on the menu, we implore you to step out of your comfort zone and order the Strawberry Thyme Margarita, a glorious mix of blanco tequila, mezcal, lime juice, banana liqueur, strawberry thyme cordial and salt. It’s a complex mashing of fruit flavors balanced out by the smokiness of the mezcal to create a perfect cocktail to raise in a toast.

Chilango’s, Highlands

Chilango’s has a long-earned reputation as one of the best Mexican restaurants in all of NJ, and that’s because it is. Owner Leo Cervantes opened up shop in Highlands in 1999 and made a name for himself, serving the cuisine of his homeland of Mexico in a fun and festive atmosphere. Even The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen is a famous fan of the spot on Bay Ave. and can occasionally be found at the bar. So can we, and with 275 varieties of tequila, you can understand why. Another plus is that margaritas are available by the pitcher here, and flavors are plentiful. Our favorite of the bunch is the somewhat rare orange margarita, a citrusy, yet not overly sweet spin on the classic that pairs perfectly with a plate of their outstanding  mini chimichangas.