Lunch At Las Margarita’s 411 Mexican Grill With Kathy And Bev

Once again this year, my Christmas gift to friend Kathy was five lunches at the restaurants of her choice and most of the time, she just has me pick one.  The adjoining towns of Maryille and Alcoa, TN (county population of 140,000) surprisingly have nine Mexican restaurants and one combination store and restaurant.  And for this meal, we picked one of them we had never been to as it was conveniently located for all of us.  Las Margarita’s 411 Mexican Grill is located in a building that had been the go-to mom and pop 411 Restaurant since before I came to the area in 1969.

We arrived at 11:30 so the larger tables in the restaurant center were still empty.

The meal began with the usual basket of tortilla chips but they provided bowls of bean dip and cheese dip in addition to the usual tomato salsa.  And to wash them down with, Bev and I had a Jumbo and a Monster Margarita.

The ladies are pouring over the menus but I always look online at home and usually know what I will be ordering when I walk in the door unless they have a special that over rules my choice.

Kathy’s meal was just a burrito smothered in queso sauce.  

Bev had a lunch combo containing a chile relleno, a burrito, and a taco along with rice and beans.

I ordered the Chile Verde which came with rice and beans.  Any chile verde I’d had in the past either in a restaurant or made at home, was more of a soup like this one from the web.

But this one was chunks of pork on a plate then covered with verde sauce.

The Verdict:

The dips for the chips were good but the chips had been cooked in rancid oil.  I really liked the margarita and you could tell it had tequila in it both from the taste and from Bev’s rosy cheeks.

Bev said her dishes needed more flavor and she didn’t need to go back there but I thought mine was delicious as the pork was very tender and surprisingly moist (Mexican restaurants tend to overcook meat) and I thought the sauce was very good.  I can't recall what Kathy said about her meal.  It was obvious the cooks know their local clientele as all of the food was pretty much no-heat.  I’m glad we tried Las Margarita’s, but like Bev, I prefer other Mexican places.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/13/25 event date