Caliente Cab Company

My coworkers and I met last week to send off one of our radio hosts, who was packing up her family and moving across the globe. We picked a spot close to our studio, Caliente Cab Company on 3rd Avenue. This is not my favorite place, but it was within walking distance of the studio and blah blah blah.

Happy Hour is pretty darn decent here, IF you sit at the bar (remember this for later), that is. 4.50 for a house margarita on the rocks? Si, por favor! My coworker and I were closest to the restaurant, so we got there first and grabbed seats at the bar. This was in the final game of the World Cup, and I think we might have been the only 2 people there not really paying attention (until the last minute, that is). We were the only people at the bar, too, but we still had to wait a while to get our bartender's attention, and he was still half-turning away from us before we finished sentences. The hell? We were polite, we weren't demanding, but would it have killed him to at least PRETEND our patronage was welcomed, nay, even tolerated? Sigh.

The 'rita was tart and crisp and hey, for $4.50, I'm happy. It's not a rock-your-socks-off 'rita, but it was cold and icy and tasty. That makes me happy.

We ordered a small portion of the guac (yes this is the SMALL) and even asked if we could have celery sticks instead of deep-fried tortilla chips. They were quite accomodating and we appreciated it. Have you ever put guac on a celery stick? Do it.

The guac was pretty yum--I like some chunks in my guac as opposed to a pea soup-like puree (though I won't ever turn down either!), and the flavors were bright and cooling. My only complaint (a frequent one) is that we ordered medium spicy and we clearly got mild. In fact, it was so mild it might have actually sucked the heat out of other nearby dishes as well. It was perfectly salted, though, so I'll end on an upbeat comment there. ;)

More folks arrived after our first round, and the guest of honor ordered her favorite, a raspberry margarita (hello! Who loves raspberry? THIS GAL!), which I didn't even consider because I assumed that meant frozen (the frozen ones are just too sweet and hit me too hard too fast).

I was WRONG. It was on the rocks--and I quickly ordered one for myself. This is sweet, yes, but has a strong raspberry flavor. Not too bad. Did I mention $4.50???

Sadly, I had to leave just as the party was starting, but I came by later at the end of the night, when the whole group was supposed to be there. Half the folks had left, but the party had moved... OUTSIDE. (Say it with me.. NOoooooo!!) Well, guess what? Everything ordered outside was now double and triple the price. What I hate, or at least resent, about CCC, is that they seem to go out of their way to mislead people. My first trip there, it was CLEAR we thought Happy Hour extended outside. We even asked our server how much time was left in HH, etc, only to receive a crazy, full-priced bill. Well guess what happened again in my absence? The same damn thing. Service is also pretty bad. I don't know if the waitstaff have a horrible working environment or everyone is always having a bad day, but this was CCC's third and final strike with me. If you're in the neighborhood and need a cheap 'rita fix, pop in...but don't invite me to join you! Okay..maybe for just one...but then I'm LEAVING!