In terms of restaurants and bars, no neighborhood in OKC has boomed quite like The Plaza District. Recent years have seen the openings of Ma Der Lao Kitchen (and its newly minted noodle shop spin-off, BAR SEN), Good For A Few, Takaramono, RADBAR and Osteria. And just when it seemed the only thing missing was a patio party spot, along comes The Margarita Garden to fill a void and quench that thirst.
Owned by Luis Rodriguez and Jeremy Cifuentes, the newly opened agave watering hole is both a culmination and a homecoming. “I was born and raised in OKC, specifically around this area in The Plaza District,” said Cifuentes, recalling memories of the neighborhood before it was the hottest dining spot in town. Rodriguez, meanwhile, was born in Mexico, and moved to Oklahoma when he was 7. He’s been in the restaurant industry for 20 years, including at Chiltepe’s Latin Cuisine and Bar, a bygone Plaza restaurant owned by Cifuentes’ family. In their own ways, opening a bar in a neighborhood that’s proven so seminal is a return to form. And it’s all thanks to margaritas.
“We always talked about opening a bar when the opportunity came,” Rodriguez said. “On Mondays, we would go have happy hour margaritas at Republic (Gastropub) and we decided that would be a staple for us.” In one of their conversations, Rodriguez’s wife jokingly asked, “Why don’t y’all call it Margarita Garden, since y’all love margaritas?” The idea stuck, and the concept bloomed from there, as a neighborhood bar centered around quality margaritas, a peerless patio and a playlist that Rodriguez billed as a combo of old-school R&B, hip-hop and Latin music.
“Since we are Latinos, we want a little bit of our culture, especially since we grew up in the Plaza,” Rodriguez added. “Jeremy’s family had a store where Bad Granny’s is now, then moved it to where The Mule is now. I lived on 16th Street, four houses down from the store where The Mule is, so I’ve known the Cifuentes family since they opened.”
The menu, naturally, is all about margaritas.
“We have a variety of different types of margaritas,” explained Rodriguez. “Some are just lime and agave, others are made with an orange juice or Mandarin.” He stressed the importance of living up to The Margarita Garden moniker, offering cocktails made with quality and care using their own house mix, without any concentrates or powder-based mixes. These include house margaritas, as well as variations like the spicy Itty Bitty Chile. The Margarita Garden also offers other cocktails and mocktails — including Guatemalan rum drinks that have become a hit, like La Chatia, made with Quetzalteca blackberry rum and edible hibiscus flowers.
They’re planning on expanding the kitchen, and creating more “shareable bar food with a twist,” but for now guests can pair their tequila with tacos, nachos and quesadillas — ideally on the idyllic patio, poised to become a warm-weather sensation.
“We want everyone to feel like when they come in it’s a party, and have fun and enjoy the music and their drinks,” Rodriguez said. “We want to be the party spot for the Plaza.”
