9711 S Mason Rd, Richmond, TX 77407
House Frozen
Rita Del Sol
Pablo’s Tea
Cucumber and Jalapeno
Jazz-Mataze
A new year and a new place for margaritas with friends. Pablo’s appears to have a good curbside business going and we have had the restaurant on our list for a few months. Tonight was a rare treat to celebrate with a friend and her son for dinner. We were happy to find a good selection of margaritas, tequila cocktails, and happy hour prices until 6:30 PM.
We sat down and received chips and salsa right away, but soon learned we were caught up in some kind of miscommunication because our waiter did not arrive. The table next to us was seated and a drink order taken when I asked for a waiter. Two minutes later a waiter appeared and apologized for the delay. He was very quick and attentive.
The first margarita we tried was as usual the house frozen with salt We compare the house margarita and top shelf when possible as we rate each margarita and search for the best margarita in the world.
The house margarita was okay, a little on the sour side. Happy hour price is $6.00 for a regular size drink made with premium tequila and homemade sweet and sour mix. That is a fair price for a decent house margarita. We give Pablo’s house margarita a rating of 3 margarita glasses.
Next we tried the Rita Del Sol and Pablo’s Tea. The Rita Del Sol is $10 and made with Playa Real Mandarin-infused tequila and 1800 Coconut tequila, Cointreau, fresh orange, lemon and lime juices, and agave nectar. A great recipe on paper that did not deliver the expected mandarin orange flavor we were expecting. We gave the Rita Del Sol a rating of 3 margarita glasses.
The Happy Hour price convinces us to try Pablo’s Tea at $8 and boasting three types of tequila: Silver, Añejo and Reposado with a homemade lemon sour, topped off with a splash of cola. It could use a garnish to liven up the brown liquid in the margarita glass. The visual was not appealing, but what about the taste? Pablo’s Tea is surprisingly good. Very smooth and the lemon sour blended perfectly. If we weren’t trying more margaritas, we would happily have ordered another round of Pablo’s Tea. While not a traditional margarita, we think this drink is worth a return trip. We give Pablo’s Team a rating of 4.5 margarita glasses.
Cucumber margaritas with a kick have been a favorite in the past. We still recall Ambriza’s was really good. At Pablo’s, the Cucumber and Jalapeño infused margarita with silver tequila should have been good, but it wasn’t. A little too spicy, the flavors did not balance and the tequila choice did not help. Our waiter was kind enough to pick it up and offer another margarita.
For a replacement we tried the Jazz-Mataze made with muddled raspberries, silver tequila, agave nectar and Cointreau. There is nothing sweet to this drink. It is surprisingly on the sour side which does not highlight the raspberries. We wanted to like this margarita, but we did not. We rate both the Cucumber and Jalapeño and Jazz-Mataze with two margarita glasses.
