La Condesa’s margaritas and tasty plates make for a pleasing addition to downtown’s Second Street District

To celebrate a job offer for Shannon’s roommate, Maggie, we went out to La Condesa for some celebratory margaritas and Mexican food.  While waiting to be picked up, we sampled a microbrewed brown ale, which was hand-crafted by my friend Ash, as part of his fledgling Robot Brewing enterprise.  The dark ale was delicious, with a sweet aftertaste that reminded Shannon of apricots (although Ash says that he didn’t put any fruit in this batch, and the sweetness may be the result of some of the chemicals that the yeast produces).

Upon arriving at the restaurant, located downtown on Guadalupe and 2^nd Street, we ordered some margaritas.  Maggie used some of her business skills to determine that since the “La Clasica Margarita” was $9 per glass, while a pitcher could serve about 7 people at only $40, the pitcher would be the most economically sound choice for the table.  (Some company’s going to be lucky to have her!)  The margaritas, which featured El Jimador silver, Patron’s citronge liquer, and a sugar-and-salt rim, were excellent and addictive.

We ordered an appetizer of Queso Mixto nachos, which consisted of crispy tortilla chips covered in two types of queso, an avocado salsa, and black beans.  The chips didn’t suffer from any sogginess, and the dish tided us over for our other plates.  Shannon and I split an order of the Cangrejo Tostadas, which turned out to be the highlight of the meal.  Mounds of fresh, lump crabmeat covered three small tostadas.  This crabmeat was tender and flavorful; it reminded me of something Truluck’s or Perla’s would serve.  Underneath the crabmeat, a mixture of chipotle mayonnaise, green mango, and grapefruit brought a tangy element to the plate.  Prior to trying La Condesa’s tostadas, my favorite tostada appetizer in Austin was the shrimp-and-guacamole tostada bites at Z Tejas, but the Congrejo Tostadas surpass those in flavor and presentation.

Next, we shared the Taceteño Tacos, which are two small “fresh fish” tacos served on corn tortillas.  On this night, red snapper was the fish of the day, and it was lightly battered so that the fresh snapper provided the predominant flavor, as opposed to the fried cornmeal.  Chipotle-corn slaw and a mild salsa added a little zest to the dish.  As a side dish, we ordered the potato-poblano gratin, which represented a fusion of French and Mexican cuisine.  The cube-shaped gratin consisted of layers of cheese, potatoes, and poblano peppers.  The cheese and potatoes were cooked in the style of a French bistro, while the poblanos provided a mildly spicy kick.  As a sidenote, we all agreed that La Condesa delivers more spice in its dishes than most downtown Mexican or Tex-Mex establishments, but we would prefer the spice level notched up a bit.  Next time, we’ll probably make that request..

The dishes we ordered were all priced under $15, but the menu also contains some main courses that range from $20 to $32.  So, patrons have the option of going for the “fine dining” experience or just meeting with a group of friends for drinks and small plates.  And while Maggie was correct that pitchers of margaritas are more economically feasible than individual drinks, I found myself being an exemplar of the “Tragedy of the Commons,” whereby there’s an incentive to take more of something that’s shared by all.  But as Newton said, “for every action, there’s a reaction,” and I think I got my comeuppance when I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like someone had hit me on the head with a hammer.  Or, that may have been God getting back at me for breaking our Catholic-inspired Lenten week of not drinking alcohol (we rationalized that in a Sunday through Friday Lent, Wednesday functions as the equivalent of a Sunday Sabbath).

-Chris