Restaurant Review: Margaritas Mexican In Toms River

I'm always in the mood for a good margarita and a taco. So you know I couldn’t wait to try Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Toms River. And let's just say, I will go the extra mile for some good mex.

My first visit to Margaritas was shortly after it first opened in November 2016. The décor is typical of a chain Mexican spot; there's a lot of seating and a big bar area for drinks. When a party sits down, everyone gets chips and salsa — that for some reason you just can’t stop eating them. Nevertheless, I was excited and as the taco girl I am, I ordered a beef taco with cheese and tomatoes. My husband ordered the seafood taco trio. We both got margaritas but neither of us were wow-ed. In fact, I was seriously disappointed in my taco. How can you mess up a taco? The service wasn’t so great either, but my husband. being the nice guy that he is, said they just opened so we’ll give them another try down the road.

Some time passed, and my husband headed to Margaritas with his brother. The result? He had a fantastic time and experience. Great food and margaritas! He convinced me to give it a second shot on a Friday night after work for drinks. Sure enough, my drink is watery and I had to send my shrimp taco back — three times. However, my husband said his chile relleno was one of the best things he’s ever had. (He was lucky to get — it’s only available on Friday and Saturday while they have them, and they sell out fast.) During this visit we did eat the Mexican Street Corn which is super delicious but super spicy if you get it with the aioli sauce.

My third visit was for The Patch, but I was also hoping third times the charm! This time I went during lunch hours. I was seated immediately even though the restaurant was a little busier than I would expect for Toms River in the afternoon. I was brought my chips and salsa and ordered a Tropical Breeze Margarita. The salsa for the chips is too spicy for my liking so I end up salting the tortilla chips and eating them plain. Otherwise I would be chugging glasses of water.

Because it was lunch, I was able to order off the lunch menu which is basically the dinner menu, but smaller portions. Since I had the corn last visit, I decided to try the Mayan shrimp appetizer. It had a delicious crispy shell with corn salsa, avocado and fried shrimp — I could have eaten several more! Next up, I have always wanted to try fajitas, so this time I decided to go for it! I ordered steak fajitas which turned out to give me three tortillas. For a lunch portion, I think that’s a good size. I enjoyed putting together my own little burritos. My only gripe was I would have liked my steak to have been cooked longer; however my husband said it was cooked perfect and delicious. (Honestly, with all the fixings on it, I couldn’t tell the difference.) My husband ordered the grilled steak chimichangas which wasn’t on the lunch menu and he had plenty to take home. Unfortunately our margaritas weren't winners during lunch and we left most of them.

Overall, my impression of Margaritas is that it’s a typical Mexican chain, but it's overpriced. You can get a better taco and drink elsewhere for sure. They do offer a point’s card system that gives you 1 point for each $1 spent and a $10 reward for 150 points, double points at lunch and a$10 birthday gift. They have a mobile app so you don’t have to carry the card around either so that’s nice, but the waitstaff could be friendlier.

Will I go again? I’m sure I will — who can pass up a taco and margarita?