Margaritaville, Beijing

Mexican Wave
Dongdaqiao Lu opposite the Silk Market
200m north of Gui You Department Store,

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We decided to go to Mexican Wave mostly because it’s near the Sour Cream Emporium, that is, the Friendship Store.

Inside, the place was like any little Mexican joint at home, with ads for Mexican beer on the walls and a guitar player. The menu is pretty extensive, with typical dishes like enchiladas and burritos as well as less-Mexican options like burgers and jamabalaya, and of course, pizza. (Why does every Western-ish restaurant offer pizza?) Our waitress spoke decent English, and she was helpful about getting our difficult customer fed.

The appetizers we tried, stuffed jalepenos and chicken taquitos, were amazing. The only way the appetizers could have been improved is by offering a sampler plate to combine all of the options.
The margaritas were fantastic as well. Let’s be honest here, margaritas and guacamole are the best things about Mexican restuarant! There are all kinds of flavored margaritas, and there’s also a selection of beers and cocktails in case you don’t share my love for the margarita.

Sadly, the entrees were second-rate versions of typical dishes, which came all with “Spanish rice,” a sticky rice compote with bits of tomato, potato and the ubiquitious corn, as well as “refried beans,” a black bean puree. Very disappointing, especially after the fantastic starters.

Cleanest bathrooms since the Vegetarian and Tea place. Plus there was a cool Aztec-looking design on the wall.

I’d go there again, mostly for the margaritas but also to try some of the appetizers we didn’t get to sample.