Cinco de Mayo in Denver
Get your horses ready to out-flank some Frenchmen in a slippery quagmire (read: drink margaritas). It is time to celebrate the 149th anniversary of Mexico whipping out the whoopass on the French, and telling them to take a hike. This was a momentous occasion in Mexican history (but only observed here in the US, oddly), and we can be certain that the influence from our neighbors to the south wouldn’t be the same if it went down differently (read: no margaritas!). Long before it was called Denver City, our fine capitol marinated in Mexican culture for over 400 years, and now displays a colorful bouquet of flavors and tastes to residents and visitors from around the world. This weekend is no exception, with Denver putting on the largest Cinco de Mayo fest in the nation, spanning two days and attracting close to half a million people.
As we all know, Denver has a great drinking culture, but when it comes to Mexico, I think the country has some of the most fascinating history in terms of alcohol consumption. Such as, the Mayan discovery of chocolate, and how it may have been a mistake when fermenting cacao seeds to make wine? Awesome. When the Spanish arrived, they discovered the natives drinking a milky fermented sap from certain types of agave called pulque. When the conquistadors ran out of brandy? They took the agave and made alcohol like they knew how, in a still, and tequila was born. Living in a city with ties to this history is amazing, and is one of the reasons I love living and drinking in Denver.
So, what are we interested in this week? Celebrating a rich history. Tequila, beer, and wearing sombreros is what we are after. The following list includes places to fiesta.. forever.. all night long:
- Big Margarita Crawl
- Benny’s Restaurant & Cantina – $16 liters of house margs, $3 Corona/Corona Light. Cuervo, XX, and Corona girls will be there giving out samples
- Blue Bonnet – Happy hour drink prices
- El Diablo – Mexican street fair in the back, including luchadores, coupled with outdoor food and drink specials. Dos XX promo girls will be there passing around samples
- Lola – 3rd annual Picnic of the Pig, 5-11pm. Republic tequila margs $6 (classic, jalapeno lime, pineapple basil), $15 Republic tequila flights, $12 buckets of Tecate, live music
- Rio Grande - $2 cuervo shots and $5 patron
- D’Corazon – They didn’t speak English on the phone, but that’s ok. I’m sure they will have something good
- Croc’s – Free tacos and free beer (9-11am), $8 all you can drink (9-11pm), $3 cuervo shots and $4 margs (all day), $15 buckets of mexican beer
- Tamayo – $5 seriously delicious cocktails
- Lime (Larimer) – Mariachi band, $3 prairie fire shots, $3 happy hour margs $4 frozen (4-6pm), $5 margs rest of the night
- Mezcal – Extended happy hour drinks, live music
- Casa Bonita – Just kidding.
Remember there will be a TON of people out at Civic Center Park for Cinco in the Park Saturday through Sunday, and roads will be closed near the capitol. I’m sure I missed a few. Feel free to add anything else going on to the comments!
Tags: benny's, big margarita crawl, blue bonnet, casa bonita, cinco de mayo, cinco in the park, croc's, d'corazon, El Diablo, Lime, LoLa, margarita, Mezcal, rio grande, Tamayo
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 9:00 am by Jim Halligan
Beer, Events, Liquor, Places