Los Charros Cantina Celebrates Reopening and Cinco de Mayo

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Guitarist Ron Murray is performing at Los Charros Cantina in Centerbrook for a celebration of Cinco de Mayo planned by Chef Colt Taylor.

The popular restaurant, which Taylor describes as an “homage to authentic Mexican street food,” is fully reopening, after suffering a burst pipe and devastating flooding in January 2021, with a new game room featuring foosball, darts and shuffleboard, and an ages 21-and-over bar area called Coco X.

Bar Manager Nancy Wood mixed up for us a Jalisco-style punch of tequila, Prosecco, squeezed lime, orange and pineapple, and Jarritos Mandarin soda, that she describes as a “sangria, but with a baseline of tequila.”


Guadalajara Punch

Ingredients

1 liter Tequila Blanco

1 bottle Rosé or Prosecco 

6 limes, juiced 

12 oranges, juiced (or 1.5 liters fresh)

1 large can pineapple juice

1-2 liters Jarritos Mandarin Soda (or other orange soda)

1 fresh pineapple, cubed

4 oranges, cut into wedges

1 watermelon, cut into chunks 

3 lemons cut into wedges

6 limes, quartered

3 kiwis, cut into wedges

2 star fruit, sliced 

Directions

Mix the tequila, wine, lime, orange, pineapple juice and Jarritos soda into a large pitcher. Add all the  fresh fruit. Let sit it for an hour, and chill before serving.


Taylor told CT Examiner that the main dining room and regionally-inspired menus will remain unchanged and feature an informal mix of tacos, Yucatecan-style chicken Pibil, and Birria Quesadilla, among other dishes.

A pineapple salsa drawn from Puebla cooking — Taylor provides the recipe below — is what he describes as “magic” with seafood and simple grilled fish.


Puebla-style Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients

1 pineapple, peeled

1 Tbs salt

1 Tbs sugar

2 Serrano peppers, seeded and diced

10 tomatillos, diced

1/4 white onion, diced

1/4 red onion, diced

1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c olive oil

Directions

Toss pineapple in salt and sugar. Roast for 20 minutes in a 400° oven, or on the grill. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a bowl for one hour.

Dice the pineapple, place in a bowl, and add remaining ingredients.